Hightower Completes Largest RIA Purchase in 12-Year History
Hightower, a registered investment advisor, has purchased Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC, a Los Angeles-based RIA.
Hightower, a registered investment advisor, has purchased Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC, a Los Angeles-based RIA with $8 billion in assets under management, from Fiera Capital Corporation (TSX: FSZ). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Bel Air provides investment and wealth management services to ultra-high net worth individuals, families, trusts and foundations with $20 million or more in investable assets. This is Hightower’s largest acquisition in its 12-year history.
As of September 30, 2020, Hightower’s assets under administration were approximately $81.4 billion and its AUM was $61.6 billion. Hightower has 114 advisory businesses in 33 states.
Founded in 1997, Bel Air has 43 employees, including 10 advisors, and was acquired by Montreal-based Fiera Capital, a public company, in 2013. Bel Air’s move to Hightower returns the firm to private ownership, with Bel Air’s founders and leaders in key roles with equity in the company.
Bel Air Chairman Todd Morgan began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in Los Angeles. After co-founding Bel Air, he oversaw the growth of the firm, now recognized as one of the nation’s largest independent advisory businesses for the ultra-high net worth segment of the private wealth market.
Including Bel Air Investment Advisors, Hightower’s mergers and acquisitions team has completed 14 M&A transactions since early 2019.
Hightower is a wealth management firm that provides investment, financial and retirement planning services to individuals, foundations and family offices, as well as 401(k) consulting and cash management services to corporations.
