HighTower CEO Bob Oros.
DeVoe & Co. played a significant role in the "strategic investment" that RIA HighTower said it made in San Francisco-based RIA Schultz Collins, which oversees $1 billion in assets under advisement.
"We introduced the two of those firms [because] we just really felt like they both shared a culture that would be a good fit," David DeVoe, managing director of consulting firm and investment bank DeVoe & Co., told ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday. HighTower and Schultz Collins also "look at the opportunities in the marketplace similarly," he said.
With assets under management of $59.5 billion and assets under administration of $71.3 billion as of Sept. 30, HighTower's capabilities will "enable the Schultz Collins team to focus on more of what they love doing, which is serving clients," he noted. After all, the investment allows Schultz Collins to "partner with a $70 billion-plus organization and capitalize on the benefits of that scale," including HighTower's operational and technological capabilities, he said.
Specifically, HighTower's "business consulting, capital, and middle- and back-office support will enable Schultz Collins to expand its wealth management services for new and existing clients," according to DeVoe & Co.
HighTower, meanwhile, is "extending its presence in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley areas" via the investment, Bob Oros, its CEO, told ThinkAdvisor. But the main benefits for HighTower are that it gets to leverage the "great leadership team" at Schultz Collins that's "running a strong business with a solid client base," he said.
HighTower didn't specify the exact terms of the investment. "While we do not disclose terms of our transactions, what we can say is that HighTower has taken a significant equity stake in Schultz Collins with a blend of cash and equity," Oros said.
