Hightower, NorthRock Partners, and OnePoint BFG are ending September on a high note as they each announce new deals adding to their footprints across the American Midwest and the East Coast.
Hightower Signature Wealth, the W-2 advisory platform run by Hightower Advisors, is taking on Sandy Cove Advisors. Sandy Cove is based in Hingham, Massachusetts, and managed approximately $752 million as of June 30, 2026.
Deirdre Prescott, Sandy Cove's founder, president and chief wealth strategist, runs the firm with Chief Investment Officer Kate Saltonstall, a CFA charterholder. The practice offers investment management, financial planning and family-office services. It works alongside clients' tax and legal advisors and focuses on legacy planning and major life events such as divorce.
"Sandy Cove was built on the belief that great financial advice begins with listening," Prescott said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hightower said the deal, which is the platform's third external acquisition of the year, will take HTSW's assets past $40 billion when it closes at the end of the third quarter. That would push the company within its expected growth goal for Signature Wealth, which it projected in March would reach $40 billion to $50 billion by year-end. More recently this month, the platform expanded in the Northeast with a $1.6 billion Boston-area firm.
"Deirdre, Kate and the Sandy Cove team have built a firm with strong client relationships and deep roots in their community," said Jenn Frazier, president of Hightower Signature Wealth.
Minneapolis-based NorthRock Partners announced that Triumph Wealth Management has joined the firm, bringing approximately $350 million in additional AUM, along with three advisors and six team members.
Triumph was founded by Nathan Brinkman, its president and CEO. The practice works mostly with owners of closely held businesses and high-net-worth families, helping them plan for business transitions and pass wealth to the next generation.
The deal is NorthRock's fourth partnership this year following its addition of Minneapolis-based Kowalski Financial in July.
The Triumph team will open a NorthRock office in Madison, Wisconsin. It will also add an advisor and staff to the firm's Milwaukee operation, which NorthRock established after it acquired Vantage Financial Partners in April.
"Our business has always been personal," Brinkman said. "We've spent years building relationships with clients and thinking about how we could give them the level of advice and coordination they really need. NorthRock gives us the opportunity to deliver on that vision much more fully."
NorthRock says it serves more than 7,000 clients and oversees upward of $13.7 billion.
OnePoint BFG, the Parsippany, New Jersey, firm which until last year operated as Bleakley Financial Group has welcomed two advisor teams with about $235 million in combined assets on the East Coast.
The first team is led by Theodore "Theo" Kuczarski joins as a wealth management advisor in Tampa, Florida. With nearly 20 years in the business, he has established a reputation for helping clients with holistic advice around retirement, tax efficiency, insurance, estate planning and life-stage decision-making.
“My practice has always centered on understanding what clients are trying to accomplish and helping them make thoughtful, confident decisions along the way,” said Kuczarski.
Meanwhile, Mark Hoffman is moving his practice from Lanier Asset Management to OnePoint BFG's Atlanta office. His clients are mainly business owners and philanthropically minded families across Georgia and Kentucky.
"From the beginning, our priority was finding a firm that shares our values and takes the same long-term view of client relationships," Hoffman said. "OnePoint BFG is the right cultural and strategic fit for our team and our clients, and we are excited about what we can build together in the years ahead."
OnePoint BFG, which is backed by Rise Growth Partners, currently reports more than $18 billion in AUM as of June 30.
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