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Articles tagged "HighTower"

Rudy Adolf: We have more capital than anyone else in the (advisory-buying) industry.

Focus Financial gains access to 'huge money' -- $320 million in credit
The capital hoard positions the big aggregator to double its advised assets, one observer says

Wednesday 2.1.12
Jim Pupillo: I looked at several vendor platforms to support us if we went completely independent.

HighTower stages its first raid of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's elite consulting unit
A famous loyalist, Jim Pupillo crusaded for years to bring about change internally at Smith Barney before finally defecting

Tuesday 1.24.12
Chip Roame: They can offer a traditional payout of 40% or so and pay for personnel, rent, technolog or they can pay a higher payout.

Wirehouses will create their own independent models, Tiburon report says
WIll 2012 be the year that wirehouse 'halfway houses' catch fire?

Thursday 1.19.12
Mike Durbin: We want to have the largest clients with the most assets. We're going after the largest teams and getting them.

Mike Durbin is putting his stamp on Fidelity as an RIA custodian for asset-flush breakaways
The leader is working to improve its customer services as the custodian pours big bucks into upgrading its tech offerings

Tuesday 10.25.11
HighTower plucked Ann Reider from an MSSB branch in close proximity to HighTower's Chicago headquarters

Casting a wider net for talent, HighTower poaches an MSSB branch manager
After three years of relentlessly recruiting brokers from Wall Street firms, the strategic buyer will go to wirehouses to top off its managerial talent

Friday 10.21.11
Scott Dell'Orfano is one of a long line of Fidelity executives internally drafted into new positions.

Fidelity is shopping for new head of sales after Scott Dell’Orfano is tapped for semi-secret mission
Dell'Orfano and his team are developing product services and technology the better to lure major RIAs

Wednesday 10.19.11
Felipe Luna: While the wirehouse model certainly has its detractors the one thing it does really well is it support the advisor on client-based activities and that's why they're so much more productive. That's the crux of our model.

CONCERT Wealth Management nabbed 12 wirehouse teams in the last 12 months and this wirehouse-lite is just getting started
The San Jose-based firm targets advisors with as little as $100 million and it doubled in size in the last year

Tuesday 9.27.11
Jeff Leventhal: One lawsuit in a lifetime is enough. I followed the protocol to the T.

HighTower extends its winning streak of luring breakaways near the nation's capital
The Chicago aggregator has already tied last year's annual recruiting with more than three months to pad the mark

Wednesday 9.21.11
David Darnell spent time today letting Merrill Lynch brokers know that he's a banker sympathetic to generous brokerage compensation.

David Darnell tells Merrill Lynch advisors he won't mess with their pay
But recruiters say all comp factors don't necessarily show up on the official payout grid

Thursday 9.8.11
Margaret Towle: I'm really excited about the partnership structure.

Former Northern Trust CIO brings a cool billion and lofty credentials to HighTower
The RIA-to-RIA spin-away advisor will hold down offices in Seattle and Minneapolis and build support teams from scratch

Monday 8.22.11
Many of Paul Pagnato and David Karp's clientele have security concerns so they keep a low profile - including no photos.

Fearless Merrill Lynch team breaks away with $1 billion in broad daylight
Paul Pagnato and David Karp started their day in Washington DC and ended up in Reston, Va.

Tuesday 8.2.11
Pat Allen: You have to be able to improv with RIAs. They have their own agenda. The whole idea of the ad campaign is passé.

Why RIAs would rather go to Twitter than talk to a wholesaler
Asset managers are cutting out the middle-man by going straight to the Web, study says

Tuesday 8.2.11
Scott Collins: I felt there was a better way. I had one [platform] I could sell. It was like an advisor showing one mutual fund.

Two former LPL execs set up a breakaway boutique that works with Raymond James and Schwab, among others
Flush with IPO cash, Scott Collins and Scott Miller were determined to have open-recruiting architecture and more counseling

Friday 7.29.11
Mike Papedis: HighTower has had five 'eighth-inning' conversation in the last two weeks with with wirehouse teams with a combined $9 billion of assets.

Three telling conversations about where the RIA business is headed
In which RIABiz editor Brooke Southall talks with a recent widow in search of an advisor, the recruiting director of HighTower and the CEO of Focus Financial and gains a snapshot of the RIA arena, circa summer 2011

Thursday 7.14.11
Jeff Grinspoon faced one interesting breakaway challenge relating to his 100 year-old grandmother.

Big Morgan Stanley team on the Beltway hightails it to HighTower on second thought
The learning curve required for complete independence looked unpalatable when it came to decision time

Wednesday 7.13.11
Elliot Weissbluth: I can tell [advisors] life is better for you outside of the wirehouse and I didn’t know this fact three years ago.

HighTower dangles array of hedge funds to lure breakaways
Wirehouses have nothing on independents when it comes to access to hedge funds, firm says citing three-year study

Thursday 6.23.11
Robert Schein: Ten advisors called me. They said: 'You guys moved.' What more is there to the story?

HighTower is starting to run the poaching table in Palm Desert
The Chicago firm's phone is ringing after it wins a top Morgan Stanley team on the heels of nabbing Merrill breakaways

Thursday 6.2.11
Brian Amidei: We’ve gotten flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries.

HighTower wins a Palm Desert Merrill Lynch team in lightning fashion
Amidei, a former gas station owner and bond trader, knew what he wanted and acted fast

Monday 5.9.11
Rudy Adolf: “This is an area we wanted to invest in and we wanted to add additional resources. The thing we’ve figured out better than anyone else is how to invest in entrepreneurs.”

Focus Financial pivots to breakaway strategy with Fidelity recruit
Mark Dupont will put a new spin on the big aggregator but entrepreneurial bent remains

Monday 5.9.11
Dave Emma: Athletes get taken advantage of and that happened to me.

A hockey star went from being a Merrill Lynch client to a Merrill Lynch advisor to the latest Merrill Lynch breakaway
Despite misgivings for 20 years, Dave Emma stayed largely for the culture and then Bank of America came along

Friday 3.25.11
Ed Simmons has a doctorate from Harvard and a 24-year tenure with Merrill Lynch. He became an RIA on Friday.

Merrill Lynch and Bank of America cultural tension may spin out a new round of breakaways, recruiters say
A big Maine team goes to HighTower; more Merrill brokers in pipeline, says Weissbluth

Thursday 2.24.11
Chip Roame: This round of financial advisor aggregators is far better capitalized, and has far deeper management teams – and boards of directors.

This generation of advisor aggregators puts the roll-up ghosts to bed, for now
Questions linger about what some firms will look like post-IPO or merger

Thursday 2.3.11
Matthias Paul Kuhlmey: We’re in the beautiful position to buy best of class (products and services) nevertheless you need an in-house function to hold it together.

HighTower makes an executive out of a partner to fine-tune advisor access to investments
Former UBS advisor will simplify the bewildering investment-related choices afforded by open architecture

Wednesday 1.26.11
Rich Saperstein's practice has doubled its high net worth assets under management since joining HighTower.

Rich Saperstein helps establish new strategy for HighTower Advisors as he transforms his own $10 billion practice
New York practice executes first 'tuck-in' with addition of Steve Bogner

Tuesday 1.11.11
David Wisehaupt: It's "the greatest utility that I have owned in my business life."

Advisor Tested: iPad proves ideal for advisors on-the-go; the surprise is the effect on clients
The rock star of the mobile world evolves into a tool for reassurance and retention

Monday 1.10.11
Mark Hurley touched a nerve in 2010 by questioning the enterprise value of RIA practices.

The next 20 top stories and what they say about where the RIA business is headed
Big companies, big innovators, exclusive conferences and the 401(k) market riveted advisor attention

Wednesday 12.29.10
Shirl Penney: We wanted [the company] built to last rather than built to flip.

What exactly is Dynasty Financial Partners and why is the Smith Barney execs' startup gaining so much attention?
Some combination of a bold business model, powerful backers and good PR -- lawsuit aside -- made for a good break out of the gate

Monday 12.13.10
Barnaby Levin: When Morgan Stanley bought Smith Barney, their priority was to integrate platforms.

Inside the mind of one recent Morgan Stanley Smith Barney breakaway who landed at HighTower
Barnaby Levin chafed at how the wirehouse restricted the way he could serve a client list made up of top execs at start-ups

Monday 12.6.10
Mike Papedis: Elliot [Weissbluth CEO of HighTower] and I have been all over the country and getting sleep-deprived.

HighTower hires top recruiters from Schwab and LPL to help populate five new offices
Explosive West Coast growth -- including new offices in Portland, Scottsdale, LA and San Diego -- coupled with openings in Washington DC and Boston demands hiring more recruiters for more bandwidth

Friday 12.3.10
The Morgia Group breakaway to HighTower Advisors and Fidelity proceeded despite the big snow in Watertown, N.Y.

HighTower veteran helps Morgan Stanley Smith Barney team break away upstate New York style
A breakaway story from the perspective of the facilitator

Tuesday 11.30.10
Elliot Weissbluth: There are so many disaffected brokers at these firms.

HighTower adds an existing RIA and two big UBS producers to a burgeoning Silicon Valley office
CEO Weissbluth says that his company's pipeline is 'massive'

Wednesday 10.27.10
Charles Goldman: Off advisors' minds.

What do advisors care about? The new SEC that emerged in July, for one thing.
Plus, what a Smith Barney breakaway team is finding out about financial plans

Thursday 8.12.10
Andrew Morse: I have yet to work for an investment bank that hasn’t gone out of business or was brought back from the brink.

HighTower wins big UBS team and clinches 'critical mass'
The Chicago-based aggregator is breaking even and signing leases for more office space in three cities

Tuesday 8.3.10
Brett Sharkey: Quite honestly, I was not interested in the idea at first. Look! We have done it; we are out [of Smith Barney]. That taste of freedom is sweet.

HighTower wins its first-ever existing RIA after offering the breakaway a new way to do business -- and a chat with David Pottruck
Three Bridge Wealth Advisors surpised itself by giving up its 'sweet' freedom to regain the advantages of scale

Friday 7.23.10
Matt Camden shows off an iPad that is now compatible with HighTower's tech platform

HighTower Advisors and United Capital seek to stamp out wirehouse feel by embracing Apple technology
The aggregators see risk in standing pat with PC technology when advisors use Macs at home

Thursday 5.6.10
Elliot Weissbluth: The Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley cultures never integrated so you have two cultures taking in a third culture – Smith Barney.

HighTower doubles recruiting staff and seeks green pastures of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokers
Unforeseen interest in potential breakaways accelerates plans of big aggregator

Thursday 4.22.10
Readership on RIABiz has been surprisingly international

What do RIAs care about?
A breadcrumb path through RIABiz into the mind of financial services entrepreneurs

Wednesday 4.7.10
James Poer: NFP Securities has undergone a vast evolution and now aims to serve a broader market.

With Schwab [and maybe Fidelity] as custody partners, NFP is positioned to make a run at the hybrid market
If NFP IndeSuite catches on, the success could make up for some struggles on the roll-up side of the business

Friday 3.19.10
Malcolm Gladwell's insights on entrepreneurs in last week's New Yorker pertain to RIAs

What RIAs can learn from Malcolm Gladwell’s writings on entrepreneurs as risk averse
RIAs' success as entrepreneurs is in keeping with studies covered in a New Yorker article

Wednesday 1.20.10
Elliot Weissbluth is turning his guns on the Los Angeles market now that he's secured $100 million

Weissbluth lands war chest for HighTower Advisors [Updated]
The $100 million haul means the Chicago company can battle wirehouses for talent on equal footing

Tuesday 1.12.10
Matthias Paul Kuhlmey is helping to create a blueprint for globally-minded breakaways

HighTower Advisors nabs a UBS team and shifts to new recruiting gear
Chicago company creates comfy nest for breakaways with overseas clients

Tuesday 11.10.09
Ed Friedman: “We ask them, do you really need somebody just to get lunch and coffee?”

The seven things I learned from roll-up executives in Princeton, including not to call them that
Four CEOs of aggregators choose four different paths to growth

Tuesday 10.27.09
Brian Hamburger: “I’ve been critical of investment advisers. I don’t think they’ve taken advantage of this time [of upheaval].”

Merger and breakaway experts convene near Princeton at old Merrill Lynch lair
Attendees will shares notes on how to dismantle wirehouse salesforces

Thursday 10.22.09
John Furey: Breaking away can still be a rough passage

The transition process is still too rough for gusher of breakaway advisors
Aggregators are showing the way in smoothing the bumps

Monday 8.24.09
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