HighTower Picks Up $1B RIA in Massachusetts
The team has 11 advisors and will be the 99th advisory business to join the rollup firm.
HighTower said it has bought a stake in Lexington Wealth Management, an advisory group in Massachusetts that works with $1 billion in assets under advisement. The team, started in 2000 by Michael Tucci and Kristine Porcaro, has 11 advisors and 6 other staff members.
RIA HighTower now has 99 advisory businesses that have about $70 billion in total client assets (as of June 30). LWM is the firm’s 24th external RIA transaction and its third in 2019.
“We view the addition of LWM as a key anchor in a very attractive market. The combination of their growth orientation along with access to HighTower’s scale, sophistication and capital is a powerful formula,” according to CEO Bob Oros. He adds that the RIA-rollup firm “looks forward to helping them grow their business to serve more clients in the Boston area and beyond.”
For its part, LWM executives say they chose to join HighTower after the group considered “strategic partnerships with a number of other entities, including banks, private equity and wealth management firms.”
LWM CEO Tucci said he hopes HighTower’s support and capital “will allow us to grow, both organically and through acquisitions.” The new group also is eager to join “a community of nearly 100 advisory businesses across the U.S., with whom we can collaborate, share ideas and knowledge.”
According to LWM President Porcaro, “Bob’s approach to supporting advisory businesses and their clients inspired us to join HighTower.”
Chicago-based HighTower is backed by the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston.
For the deal — which should close in the third quarter — LWM was advised by Raymond James | Silver Lane Advisors.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.