Superstar snatched from ruins of Wall St. to fledging RIA

Wall Street is likely to lose yet another superstar securities broker to the investment advisory side of the business, as Richard Saperstein prepares to leave JPMorgan Securities and take his $10 billion book of business to a startup, according to sources. According to people familiar with Mr. Saperstein’s plans, he is in the process of moving his high-net-worth and institutional client accounts to HighTower Advisors LLC of Chicago, a fledgling registered investment adviser and independent broker-dealer that is looking to land such elite brokers. He leads a team of representatives and advisers who make up one of the top groups in the country: He ranked number eight of the top 100 advisers in the United States, according to a recent ranking in Barron’s magazine, based on a variety of factors, including assets overseen by advisers. In October, New York-based JP Morgan Securities Inc. merged with Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., also of New York. If Mr. Saperstein charges clients 0.35% to 0.4% as a fee for his bond and cash management — standard for the industry — that means he and his team could generate about $35 million to $40 million in revenue for HighTower, an astonishing windfall for one firm to land in one fell swoop. So far, HighTower, which is backed by such industry kahunas as Philip J. Purcell and David S. Pottruck, has had some success in luring big brokers away from the ruins of Wall Street. In November, Nick Bapis left Morgan Stanley of New York, where Mr. Purcell reigned as CEO until 2005, to join HighTower. Mr. Bapis, who is based in Salt Lake City, manages $1.3 billion, according to published reports. Mr. Saperstein is planning to move to HighTower in May, said a client who was informed recently about Mr. Saperstein’s plans and who asked not to be named Mr. Saperstein and Elliot Weissbluth, chief executive of HighTower, did not return calls for comment. The former potentially stands to have a stake in HighTower when his move is complete. The firm has set aside 25% of the company’s equity for financial advisers who join the firm. For the full story, see the upcoming May 4 issue of InvestmentNews.