Hightower announced plans to acquire The Bahnsen Group, a Newport Beach, Calif.-headquartered registered investment advisor with $9.5 billion in assets under management.
Founder and Managing Partner David Bahnsen created the firm as a lift-out from Morgan Stanley in April 2015, with eight other team members and $600 million in assets. The firm received transitional support from Hightower and opened a satellite office in New York City in 2017. Since then, the firm has grown to nearly $10 billion today, with 12 locations and 100 employees across key markets in the U.S., including New York, Nashville and Palm Beach, Fla.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. The Bahnsen Group will become another hub within Hightower for integrating other advisory firms. It will maintain its existing brand, adding “A Hightower Company” at the end.
“This is a natural evolution of a highly successful partnership,” Hightower CEO Larry Restieri said in a statement. “This next phase allows us to further align strategically and bring the full capabilities of Hightower to support their continued growth—both organically and through acquisitions.”
In a statement, Bahnsen said the deal signals his firm’s next phase of growth.
“With deeper integration across Hightower, we are well-positioned to continue investing in our team and pursuing both organic growth and strategic opportunities,” he said.
Last June, the RIA appointed Joseph Klein, who previously led the firm’s family office division, as its new president. It was one of several leadership shifts, which also included the promotion of a chief financial officer and the hiring of a new family office director to succeed Klein. Luis Garcia took the role of CFO (also new) after overseeing the firm’s operations for a year.
Last October, Hightower announced the launch of Hightower Signature Wealth, its branded W-2 channel. Since then, Hightower has added several firms representing more than $29 billion into that channel.
