HighTower Advisors nabs a UBS team and shifts to new recruiting gear
Chicago company creates comfy nest for breakaways with overseas clients
4 min read- HighTower gains UBS team, signaling renewed recruiting efforts.
- Kuhlmey's international expertise creates a niche for wirehouse breakaways.
- HighTower leverages JPMorgan's trading for advisors serving overseas clients.
In a sign that HighTower Advisors’ recruitment is kicking into a higher gear, the advisor aggregator brought aboard two financial advisors on Friday from UBS Financial Services Inc. One of two new advisors has a significant practice in overseas clients, and HighTower executives say they hope to create a niche for wirehouse breakaways with international expertise.
The Chicago-based aggregator of financial advisors reported yesterday that Matthias Paul Kuhlmey and Christopher Towle Davis have come aboard to form a New York-based practice called Davis & Kuhlmey.
It is the tenth practice to come under the HighTower umbrella and the first one reported by the company since Rich Saperstein broke away from JPMorgan and joined HighTower with $10 billion of assets under management in April. HighTower is a venture-backed company. Its management team and its advisors also have an ownership stake in the company. Much of the venture capital it raised is used to help entice advisors to come aboard.
Mr. Kuhlmey has nearly 20 years of experience serving ultra-high net worth private clients who reside overseas. He is skilled in buying and selling of foreign equities not listed on U.S. exchanges within the respective foreign currency. He is the first HighTower advisor to have that level of global experience.
Elliott S. Weissbluth: “It’s not like
we could flip a switch.”
By coupling Mr. Kulmey’s expertise with JPMorgan’s international trading capabilities, HighTower is creating a home for advisors who serve overseas clients.
Significant number
HighTower wins big UBS team and clinches 'critical mass'
There is a significant number of these financial advisors serving overseas clients from the United States. HighTower may unleash pent-up demand from ones that have long desired independence, according to Elliot Weissbluth, CEO of HighTower.
“Many financial advisors – especially out of New York – have clients out of the United States,” he says. “Actually, it’s quite common. What’s rare is that they go independent.”
Wirehouse brokers are loath to leave the international-friendly environs of their Wall Street employers — even if it would only result in the loss of a small handful of clients, Weissbluth adds.
This means that Kuhlmey’s hire sets the tone for the kinds of recruits that HighTower will make for years, he says.
“It’s a precursor,” Weissbluth says.
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Few custodians are prepared to compete with JPMorgan for this kind of international business, he adds. I asked him about State Street where advisors can execute purchases of securities in more than 100 currencies. In addition, Fidelity Investments recently reported a vast upgrade of its international capabilities that includes investing in 12 countries using seven currencies [the Euro covered several of them].
The HighTower advantage, Weissbluth explains, is that besides having JPMorgans’ [formerly Bear Stearns’] international trading, his company can coordinate on behalf of advisors who want to use a judicious mixture of custodians and clearing firms including Schwab Advisor Services and National Financial Services.
HighTower adds an existing RIA and two big UBS producers to a burgeoning Silicon Valley office
Multi-custodial and multi-clearing
“To be multi-custodial and multi-clearing is somewhat unique in our industry,” he says.
Broader capabilities aside, Kuhlmey and Davis mark the first additions to HighTower since Saperstein joined in April.
The giant size of Saperstein’s practice, Treasury Partners, and the ensuing quiet in reporting new breakaways is no coincidence, Weissbluth says.
“It took several months of work and it took time to make sure we were serving the clients in the right way,” he says. “It’s not like we could flip a switch” to integrate a $10 billion practice with specialized services.
Christopher Towle Davis handles clients that
expect the highest levels of fiduciary
care
Indeed, Treasury Partners comprises 15 professionals who serve the cash management needs of clients ranging from private start-up companies to Fortune 50 companies. Saperstein’s practice also serves wealthy private investors and has an online money market portal for companies that manage liquidity using about 150 different money market funds.
Meanwhile, Davis also brings some special expertise to HighTower. He has more than a decade of wealth management experience, specializing in advising foundations, endowments, faith-based institutions, and nonprofit organizations. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Investment Management Analyst and earned an Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation from the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies.
Hectic inside HighTower
Since April, it has seemed quiet at HighTower because new advisors like Davis haven’t been coming aboard. Appearances can deceive, according to Weissbluth.
“It’s been quiet as far as media announcements go but it’s been hectic inside HighTower,” he says.
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