Michael LaMena has left HighTower, a Chicago-based registered investment advisor, to become president and chief operations officer of Bronfman Rothschild.

LaMena was with HighTower for seven years and held the position of president since 2013 during a period of considerable growth for the firm. Rockville, Md.-based Bronfman Rothschild is also growing rapidly and now has $5.2 billion in AUM.

LaMena’s departure reportedly was amicable. Earlier this year, managing director Mike Papedis, a seven-year veteran of the firm who headed RIA acquisitions, left HighTower.

HighTower says it has no plans to replace LaMena.

“We are deeply appreciative of Mike’s years of dedication to HighTower and his many contributions to our firm’s success. We wish him all the best,” a spokesman for the firm said in an email response.

HighTower completed a total of 21 transactions in the first 6 months of 2017, including the financial advisor teams acquired as part of WealthTrust. In 2016, it completed 15 transactions total, which the spokesman said was the firm's best year ever in terms of growth.

"This year, we are on track to far exceed and potentially double that number,” he said.

HighTower ranked sixth in total number of clients, according to the 2017 Financial Advisor RIA Survey and Ranking. It added 2,000 clients during 2016 to boost its total to 12,000 with $30 billion in AUM.

But it also lost some firms, including Kelly Wealth Management, a $2 billion AUM practice that decided  to operate independently as Verdence Capital Partners.

Bronfman Rothschild also has ambitious growth plans. The firm acquired Neal Simon’s Highline Wealth Management, a  $1 billion firm, and made Simon the CEO. The company grew its AUM from $3.6 billion to $5.39 billion in less than two years and continues to grow both organically and through lift-outs. In May, the firm announced the lift-out of John Wolff and his team to a new office in Reston, Va. Earlier this year, the firm acquired TriCapital Advisors in Maryland, and in March the firm added Marilyn Napoli to its New York office.