Hightower has announced its first acquisition of 2021 and its largest ever. The firm said it was purchasing Bel Air Investment Advisors, a Los Angeles-based registered investment advisor with $8 billion in client assets, from Fiera Capital Corporation, a Montreal-based publicly traded investment management firm.
Bel Air, which has 43 employees, 10 of which are client-facing advisors, serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts and foundations with $20 million or more in assets. The RIA was purchased by Fiera Capital in 2013, and the acquisition by Hightower brings it back to private ownership.
The RIA was founded in 1997 by Chairman Todd Morgan and Senior Managing Director Reed E. Halladay, who both came from Goldman Sachs.
“Joining Hightower will enable us to continue to operate and build our platform while leveraging the firm’s strategic advice, scale technology, and infrastructure,” said David Sadkin, president of Bel Air Investment Advisors, in a statement.
Hightower has acquired acquired 14 RIAs since early 2019, the most recent being Austin-based Hart Financial Group, with $800 million in client assets, in October.
