Hightower said Monday it acquired Bickling Financial Services Inc., a registered investment advisor that oversees $625 million in assets and has three offices in Massachusetts.
The firm was founded in 1984 by Dorothy Bickling, who was one of the first women to earn the certified financial planner designation.
Her sons, Spencer Betts and Andrew Betts, are now co-managing principals of the firm; Spencer Betts joined the firm in 2000 and Andrew Betts in 2007.
Bickling has five advisors and 14 employees overall.
Hightower, a Chicago-based RIA aggregator, said that at the end of 2022, it had $144.3 billion in assets under administration and $113.7 billion in assets under management.
Last week, Hightower announced that it had facilitated a merger between one of its units, TC Wealth Partners, and EFG Advisors, a wealth management firm overseeing more than $800 million in assets.
The "Crypto Mom" departure would leave the SEC commission with just two members and no Democratic commissioners on the panel.
IFP Securities’ owner, Bill Hamm, has a long-term plan for the firm and its 279 financial advisors.
Meanwhile, a Osaic and Envestnet ink a new adaptive wealthtech partnership to better support the firm's 10,000-plus advisors, and RIA-focused VastAdvisor unveils native integrations with leading CRMs.
A former Alabama investment advisor and ex-Kestra rep has been permanently barred and penalized after clients he promised to protect got caught in a $2.6 million fraud.
As more active strategies get packaged into the ETF wrapper, advisors and investors have to look beyond expense ratios as the benchmark for value.
Wellington explores how multi strategy hedge funds may enhance diversification
As technical expertise becomes increasingly commoditized, advisors who can integrate strategy, relationships, and specialized expertise into a cohesive client experience will define the next era of wealth management
