Hightower, a wealth management firm based in Chicago with more than $113 billion in assets under management, hasmade an investment in Bickling Financial Services, a Lexington, Mass.,-based registered investment advisor with $625 million in assets under management and three offices across the state, Hightower announced.
The amount of the Hightower investment in Bickling Financial was not revealed.
Founded in 1984, Bickling Financial is a family-owned business. The firm’s founder, Dorothy Bickling, was one of the first 600 people, and one of the first women, to earn the certified financial planner designation, according to a Hightower press release. Since then her two sons, Spencer Betts and Andrew Betts, joined the firm. The sons, now co-managing principals, helped the firm transition to an independent RIA.
“As a firm, we have experienced tremendous growth over the past few years,” Spencer Betts said in a statement. “To continue achieving our growth goals, we knew we needed a strategic partner that could help us scale the business and invest in its future. Hightower has the right combination of resources and value-added services that will allow us to both serve clients and take the business to new heights.”
With 14 employees, including five advisors, Bickling Financial provides wealth management and financial planning services. The firm serves affluent and high-net-worth client households in New England and the rest of the Northeast.
“We look forward to helping the firm achieve its ambitious growth goals, both organically and through talent acquisition, scale its operations, and develop the next-generation of leaders through programs like our Hightower Center for Leadership,” Hightower Chairman and CEO Bob Oros said in a statement.
Hightower has 132 advisory businesses in 34 states and the District of Columbia that provide a range of financial services.