Hightower, a wealth management firm headquartered in Chicago, announced today in a news release it has acquired Denver-based Investment Security Group Inc., a registered investment advisor with $800 million in assets under management.
Hightower CEO Bob Oros, responding for comment in an August 23 email, said through spokesperson Siobhan Nolan that while his firm does not disclose specifics about its M&A deal structures, the transaction with Investment Security Group was a mix of cash and equity.
“What we can say is that Investment Security Group is joining Hightower,” he said in the email.
Oros expanded on those comments in the news release, describing why he and his firm found the merger attractive to its bottom line.
“Investment Security Group is a vibrant, second-generation wealth management business that is poised for expansion in a highly coveted geography,” Oros said in the news release. “It has a strong management team, high client retention and a growth-minded culture. We ... look forward to supporting them as they look to expand both organically and inorganically in Colorado, the West and nationally.”
Under terms of the transaction, Investment Security Group will leverage Hightower’s business acceleration services, infrastructure and middle- and back-office services to scale its growth.
According to Mitch Power, CEO of Investment Security Group, Hightower offered his firm the essential components of comprehensive support it needed to expand beyond its present capabilities.
“We chose Hightower because everything about the firm—from its technology and compliance services to investment ideas, trust services and digital marketing support—is geared toward helping us grow our business,” Power said in the news release.
Founded in 1992, the practice serves high-net-worth individuals and familites with portfolio manageent, finacial planning, insurance consulting, retirement planning, estate planning and charitable giving advice.
In addition to Power, Investment Security Group is led by CFO Barbara Krause; CCO Marc Friedman; and CMO Odette Sahakian, and has 10 employees that include six advisors.
“Hightower’s culture is about entrepreneurship, independent thinking and leveraging the best ideas to foster growth—so we can put more focus on serving our clients while gaining capacity to add new ones,” Krause said in the news release.
Established in 2008, Hightower has 116 advisory businesses in 34 states and the District of Columbia. As of June 30, the firm reported approximately $125.2 billion in assets under administration (AUA) and approximately $101 billion in assets under management (AUM).