HighTower Growth Continues With Andriole Group From Merrill

So why has HighTower succeeded in attracting so many high-powered advisors from the wirehouses? "I think that's because we've cracked the code," said HighTower Executive VP Papedis in an interview Monday. HighTower, he said, provides "the best of both worlds for these large, sophisticated advisory firms" who want "autonomy but in a collegial environment."

Firms like Andriole and Klein reflect a change on Wall Street, he argued. "In general, teams who want to be entrepreneurial and who are seeking a fiduciary model have outgrown Wall Street firms," he said, and "along their road to independence, we intercept them."

Rather than the wirehouses' "corporate, top-down approach," at HighTower "all decisions orginate with advisor partner input," Papedis said. In that collegial partner environment at HighTower, these "top-performing financial advisors are all rooting for their fellow members," share best practices and sometimes partner with each other, all "with the foundation of 'clients first.'"

Beyond the partner level, though, Papedis says HighTower invests "significant time and resources" with the partners' "field professionals," i.e., their sales assistants and other staff members, aiding in those members' own staff developments. That investment includes holding national gatherings for staff members twice a year, along with smaller "strategic councils" that meet from time to time.

As for Wall Street's culture, in his interview Andriole said that "the business has changed significantly in the last five to seven years," particularly in client expectations — something that HighTower recognized early, he says. Clients, Andriole said, "want us to think independently, transparently, with no obstructions or biases," and to follow "the fiduciary model, the legal duty to act in our clients' best interests."

So how have clients responded to Andriole's decision to cast its lot with HighTower? "There's been an exceptional response from clients—more congratulations than we could have imagined," he said. In addition, he said he's received "numerous congratulations" from executives he knows at wirehouse firms. "We couldn't be happier, and more confident," he concludes.

Papedis said that adding teams like Andriole's has another positive effect beyond strengthening the existing HighTower partnership. "None of our advisors breach any employment contracts they have" with their former employers, he said, but when "we attract these high-performing teams, our pipeline deepens and our phones light up."

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