Skip to content
Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · Today’s edition, 6:30 a.m. ETTue, Nov 3 · 6:30 a.m. editionSign inMy Desk 0EditionsSign in
NewsM&A

Hightower adds $9B Altium practice to Signature Wealth

The practice, part of Hightower's network since 2022, brings a 10-person investment team into the firm's broader Hightower One platform.

$9BAltium practice to Signature Wealth

At a glance

  1. The addition pushes the channel past $50 billion in assets, above the $40 billion to $50 billion range Hightower's leadership set for it by year-end, InvestmentNews first reported.
  2. Altium has been part of Hightower's network since 2022, when Hightower took a stake in the Purchase, New York, practice.
  3. Advisors across Hightower's network will work with Altium's 10-person investment team, which takes a larger role inside Hightower One, the firm's broader platform, on portfolio construction, complex asset transitions and ongoing investment management.

Hightower Advisors added Altium Wealth, an affiliated practice managing more than $9 billion, to Hightower Signature Wealth, its W-2 advisory channel. The addition pushes the channel past $50 billion in assets, above the $40 billion to $50 billion range Hightower's leadership set for it by year-end, InvestmentNews first reported.

Altium has been part of Hightower's network since 2022, when Hightower took a stake in the Purchase, New York, practice. The addition moves an existing affiliated practice onto the W-2 channel. Terms were not disclosed.

Advisors across Hightower's network will work with Altium's 10-person investment team, which takes a larger role inside Hightower One, the firm's broader platform, on portfolio construction, complex asset transitions and ongoing investment management. Hightower Signature Wealth counts more than 175 advisors across upward of 45 locations, according to Hightower, and the addition expands its Northeast presence.

Altium was founded in 2010 and serves individuals, families and institutions from offices in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. It builds customized portfolios for clients with complicated finances, pairing asset allocation and risk management with attention to taxes and costs. In 2024, Hightower brokered Altium's combination with Boston family wealth advisor Kimberly Clouse, which brought Altium's assets to more than $6 billion at the time. The practice now reports more than $9 billion.

"Altium brings meaningful scale, an experienced advisory team and sophisticated investment capabilities to HTSW," said Larry Restieri, Hightower's chief executive. Jim Dowling, Altium's founder and a partner at the firm, said the structure lets the practice stay focused on client relationships, investment discipline and entrepreneurial culture while gaining resources for its team and continued growth.

Hightower launched HTSW in October 2025 as its first national direct-to-consumer advisory practice. Dallas-based Frontier Investment Management, a $3.3 billion firm, was the first to join. Form ADV filings show Hightower reported $198.6 billion in regulatory assets, which puts the $50 billion W-2 channel at roughly a quarter of the firm.

Reported by the M&A desk from InvestmentNews and Form ADV (SEC IAPD). Published . Corrections

Related

Moves

Hightower hires Vanguard's De Freitas, and the mandate is integration

The aggregator's number-two seat now carries operations, technology and AI at a $198.6 billion firm whose hard part is absorbing what it buys.

Moves

Hightower's new president is a bet on the operating layer

Marco De Freitas will run the platform, data and AI at a firm whose growth has outrun its operating layer.

By the Numbers

Hightower hands Dispatch the keys to its data layer

The Signature Wealth deal is a bet that the next phase of RIA M&A runs on integration, not aggregation.

M&A

Bluespring buys Whitaker-Myers wealth business with $920M in client assets

The deal takes River Valley, Bluespring's platform, to $2.4 billion in client assets and 44 team members across three states.

M&A

Carson Group adds $1.6 billion Marietta Wealth in Georgia

The four-partner firm joins Carson's integrated channel, where acquired practices become fully branded Carson Wealth offices.

Private Wealth DailyThe morning edition

The private wealth industry in four minutes, every morning at 6:30 a.m. ET. Free.

Free. Every morning. Unsubscribe from any edition in one click.

From other sections