Hightower, a Chicago-based private equity-backed network of 115 advisory businesses operating in 33 states nationwide, has appointed former Pershing CEO Lisa Dolly and Green Square Wealth Management CEO Darrell Horn to the firm’s Board of Directors, the company recently announced in a news release.
Dolly and Horn join Hightower CEO Bob Oros as the newest members on the Board after Oros succeeded retired board chairman Elliot Weissbluth on January 1, 2021.
In a February 22nd email, Oros discussed his new role as chairman of the board, as well as ongoing role as CEO.
“Since I joined Hightower as CEO in 2019, we’ve had numerous acquisitions—three already this year and nine last year—and have been focusing heavily on both organic and inorganic growth,” he said in the email. “I saw this as a good time for me to step up in the boardroom as we continue to find ways to enhance our support to advisors, add more institutional-class services and ensure steady growth.”
To realize that vision, Oros and the board he now chairs have appointed Dolly, a seasoned leader and industry veteran who has held a number of senior C-suite roles during her 31 years working for Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, and Darrell Horn, CEO of Green Square Wealth Management, a Hightower advisory business.
Dolly said in a news release announcing her appointment to the Hightower board that central to the firm’s business model is the belief that financial advisors are entrepreneurs at heart.
"They need services and support to help them do what they do best: Engage closely with clients and help them achieve balance, security and financial well-being," she said in the news release. "As a new board member, I am excited to support Hightower in its mission to further scale its value-added services for advisors, freeing up their time to deepen and extend their client relationships and grow profitability. I look forward to contributing to the next chapter of Hightower's growth."
Darrell Horn brings more than three decades of experience in financial services to his role on the Board as well. His Memphis-based ultra-high net worth wealth management business, Green Square Wealth Management, joined Hightower in April 2019. When Hightower took over Green Square's middle and back-office operational activities, it freed up Horn's team to attract and service new clients, allowing the group to grow its assets under advisement (AUA) by over $900 million in less than two years, to $3.8 billion.
"Hightower's business acceleration services are specifically designed to help its advisors catalyze organic growth, and Green Square has directly benefitted," Horn said in the news release. "I am honored and excited to be joining the Board to provide an advisor's perspective on new services and solutions that will energize advisors and support them in helping their clients achieve true 'wealth'."
In addition to Oros, Dolly and Horn, the Hightower Board of Directors members also include Gurinder Ahluwalia, executive advisor to Thomas H. Lee Partners and co-founder and CEO of 280 CapMarkets; Moss Crosby, co-founder and managing director, Twickenham Advisors; Ganesh Rao, managing director, Thomas H. Lee Partners; Richard Saperstein, managing director, principal & CIO, Treasury Partners at Hightower; and Ed Shahnasarian, principal, Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Founded in 2008, Hightower reported $102.5 billion in assets under administration (AUA) and $79.6 billion in assets under management (AUM), as of December 31, 2020.