HighTower has agreed to acquire Houston-based Salient Private Client, the wealth management business of Salient Partners, adding trust capabilities and $4.5 billion in client assets to the registered investment advisor. This marks HighTower’s largest single RIA office acquisition and its first foray into Texas. About a year ago, the firm announced its largest RIA acquisition of WealthTrust, with $6.4 billion in client assets, from private equity firm Lee Equity Partners. After the deal closes, HighTower will have about $55 billion in client assets and 209 advisors on 92 teams. Salient will be rebranded HighTower Private Client.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde
International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde sees benefits to bitcoin and blockchain, according to MarketWatch. Lagarde wrote in a blog post that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have the power to minimize transaction costs, while the blockchain technology that underlies them could improve efficiency and increase safety. Lagarde’s comments helped push bitcoin higher—up to $8,094.52 as of noon on Tuesday. The price has jumped by as much as 20 percent in the past week, recording back-to-back weekly gains for the first time in 2018.
Geneos Joins Cybersecurity Co-op
With cybersecurity experts headlining wealth management industry events, firms are taking extra steps to make sure their customers’ data and assets are secure. Geneos Wealth Management said they’ve joined the ranks of cybersecurity co-op cleverDome Inc., which will provide the broker/dealer with a “community-based solution” to data protection. Having completed the due diligence requirements and cybersecurity assessments mandated for all cleverDome members, Geneos will have access to the co-op’s private and secure internet. “Cybersecurity is not an area where firms should be competing against each other,” explained Dean Rager, executive vice president of Geneos. Co-op stakeholders take a hybrid approach to cybersecurity, combining best-practice commitments from members with technical controls designed to thwart hackers. “Our goal should be to work together to move the financial services industry to a higher level of data security,” Rager added. “This requires that we act together to set standards and solve the cybersecurity issues that are facing our industry.”
