Hightower will make an investment in Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management, a $1 billion registered investment advisor in Punta Gorda, Fla. The deal also includes Hibiscus Investments, Landsberg Bennett’s sister brand that serves mass affluent clients.
With 14 employees, including five client-facing advisors, Landsberg Bennett works with new retirees, physicians, attorneys, business owners and executives. The Landsberg Bennett brand focuses on ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth clients, while its sister brand, Hibiscus focuses on individuals and families with between $100,000 and $1 million in investible assets.
The firm is led by principals Michael Landsberg, Lew Bennett and Anthony Dubbaneh. The investment will be used to access Hightower’s consulting and operational services “to further scale the business,” according to a Hightower spokesperson.
Hibiscus, given its mass-affluent focus, could be fertile ground to develop a next-generation advisor training program, according to the spokesperson.
Hightower’s services for firms include boosting firms’ organic and inorganic growth through business development consulting, marketing and tech support, as well as compliance, accounting, payroll and human resources services, among other attributes.
Hightower, which is based in Chicago, operates as a registered investment advisor and works with firms in 34 states and the District of Columbia and has $101 billion in assets under management.
The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, follows news in early September that Hightower made a strategic investment in Alexandria Capital, an Arlington, Va.-based RIA with $1.5 billion in client assets.
In August, Hightower announced it would be making a strategic investment in Investment Security Group (ISG), a Denver-based wealth management firm with $800 in AUM. Though CEO Bob Oros noted Hightower was not driven by geography in the investment, he noted that ISG was attractive partly because it was located in a region where Hightower did not have as pronounced a presence.
In July, the firm purchased Farr, Miller & Washington, a D.C.-based RIA with about $2 billion in AUM and offices in Pennsylvania and Florida. Earlier this year, Hightower purchased Bel Air Investment Advisors, a Los Angeles–based RIA with $8 billion in managed assets. The deal was Hightower’s most sizable acquisition to date.