Hightower, a national RIA headquartered in Chicago, has made a strategic investment in Wellspring Associates, a boutique wealth planning and consulting firm with offices in Atlanta and Dallas, the company announced today in a news release.
Details of the transaction were not released, but a spokesperson for Hightower described the company’s investment in Wellspring as “significant.”
Founded in 1981, Wellspring’s five wealth integration teams, consisting of a total of 15 employees, provide trust, estate planning, and insurance strategies to meet the needs of ultra-high-net-worth families, the release said.
By partnering with Hightower, Wellspring will be able to expand its offering to high-net-worth families with assets of $5 million or more, and will act as a resource for Hightower advisory businesses seeking to provide differentiated planning and wealth transfer solutions to their high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, the release said.
“Hightower is providing us with an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate with its advisors and business development team to find ways to add value to our collective client relationships,” Greg Raabe, managing director at Wellspring Associates, said in the release. “This collaboration, as well as Hightower’s strategic support and operational infrastructure, will help us exponentially grow and scale our client base.”
In addition to capital, Hightower’s offerings include an advanced, integrated platform, including technology, compliance, accounting, payroll, human resources, investment research/due diligence and marketing services, the release said.
Recent Hightower investments have included Schultz Collins, Lexington Wealth Management, LourdMurray, Green Square Wealth Management, WealthTrust and Salient Private Client (now Hightower Texas).
“As an estate and tax-planning business, the Wellspring transaction represents a new dimension of Hightower’s M&A activity,” Bob Oros, CEO of Hightower, said in the release. “We are actively using our size and scale to provide additional resources, capabilities and value to our advisors by giving them access to intergenerational wealth transfer and legacy planning services they may not otherwise have.”
Founded in 1999, Hightower closed out 2019 with about $76.8 billion in assets under administration (AUA) and $57.4 billion in assets under management (AUM).