Hightower Advisors: Platform Profile

Overview

Hightower Advisors is an SEC-registered investment adviser built around a network of Advisor Practices.

That structure is the central fact for evaluating the firm.

Hightower generally does not set:

But individual Advisor Practices can impose their own minimums and pricing.

Hightower also does not publish one universal current AUM percentage.

Current fee methods can include:

• flat percentage of AUM;
• tiered waterfall;
• tiered floating/cliff;
• hourly fees;
• flat fees;
• retainer/service fees;
• combinations.

May fit better for

• investors who want a dedicated adviser practice backed by a national platform;
• clients seeking discretionary or non-discretionary advice;
• households with complex planning needs;
• high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families;
• clients seeking family-office services;
• investors who value access to affiliated and third-party managers;
• eligible investors seeking alternatives or private markets.

May fit less well for

• users who want standardized pricing across every office;
• investors seeking a single firmwide account minimum;
• clients who want a low-cost algorithm-only robo;
• households uncomfortable with affiliated-manager conflicts;
• investors who assume wrap pricing eliminates all underlying product costs;
• clients who want one universal custodian.

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Hightower Advisors, LLC is the adviser

Current regulatory information:

• Investment adviser: Hightower Advisors, LLC
• CRD: 145323
• SEC number: 801-69625
• SEC registration effective: 2008-10-03

Current Form ADV Part 1 was amended July 17, 2026.

Current Part 2A is dated March 31, 2026.

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Hightower Securities is a separate broker-dealer

Current Hightower legal page:

• Affiliate broker dealer: Hightower Securities, LLC
• Broker CRD: 116681
• FINRA member: Yes
• SIPC member: Yes

Hightower Holding, LLC owns both Hightower Advisors and Hightower Securities.

Store the entities separately.

Brokerage compensation in a separate capacity is not the same as the advisory fee.

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There is no general firmwide minimum

Current 2026 Part 2A:

• Advisor Practice minimums possible: Yes
• Strategy minimums possible: Yes

Certain affiliated or third-party managers and private placements can have separate minimums.

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Pricing is Advisor-Practice-specific

Current fee methods:

• Fee methods:
• flat AUM percentage
• tiered waterfall
• tiered floating/cliff
• hourly
• flat fee
• retainer/service fee
• combination
• Fees negotiable: Yes

Two clients using similar investment strategies can have different fee structures.

The advisory agreement controls.

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The old 2.5% numeric guideline is stale

Older Hightower disclosures stated a 2.5% aggregate-fee guideline.

The March 31, 2026 Form ADV Part 2A and current wrap brochure retain an "Aggregate Fee Guideline" section but no longer state that numeric 2.5% threshold.

Hightower caps aggregate fees at 2.5%.

That is not supported by the current 2026 brochure.

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Hightower predominately uses discretionary advisory services

Current 2026 Part 2A:

• Discretionary management: Yes
• Non discretionary management available: Yes

In non-discretionary relationships, client consent is required before executing the recommendation.

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Hightower One is a current proprietary program

The March 2026 brochure added new disclosure for Hightower One.

Hightower One:

• is discretionary;
• uses Hightower Investment Solutions;
• can use affiliated and third-party managers;
• can include proprietary strategies;
• can include custom/direct indexing;
• uses a home-office trading and operations function.

The possibility of added affiliated-manager fees creates a conflict.

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Manager fees can layer on top

Current brochure states clients can pay:

• an Affiliated Manager Fee;
• a Third Party Manager Fee.

Affiliated manager economics can give Hightower or an adviser an incentive to allocate assets to an affiliated solution.

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Private markets are substantive

Current brochure allows:

• alternative investments;
• hedge funds;
• private equity/debt funds;
• private placements;
• pooled vehicles;
• private-market allocations.

Internal product fees are separate from Hightower's account-level advisory fee.

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Hightower does not charge ordinary account performance fees

Current March 2026 Part 2A:

• Performance based advisory fee: No

However, Hightower can receive revenue sharing related to alternative products where a third-party sponsor earns performance-based compensation.

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Custody generally uses Fidelity, Schwab and Pershing

Current 2026 Part 2A:

• Recommended custodian:
• Fidelity
• Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
• Pershing
• Hightower directly holds client funds or securities: No

Clients can request another custodian.

Custodian programs can provide:

• research;
• software;
• transition support;
• practice-management support;
• referral relationships.

Those benefits create economic conflicts.

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Current family-office expansion is broader than ordinary portfolio management

In June 2026 Hightower announced an expanded Hightower Family Office for ultra-high-net-worth families.

Services can include:

• institutional investment consulting;
• advanced planning;
• family governance;
• tax and estate strategy;
• business advisory.

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Scale figures need entity and date labels

Current March 2026 Part 2A reported, as of December 31, 2024:

• Discretionary AUM: $187.612 billion
• Non discretionary AUM: $8.173 billion

Hightower also markets broader network/affiliate asset figures and the Hightower Signature Wealth brand separately.

Assessment

Hightower should not be evaluated as if it were one standardized national adviser office.

The current firm structure delegates meaningful client pricing and practice design to its Advisor Practices.

That makes three questions more useful than a generic fee quote:

1. What does this specific Advisor Practice charge?
2. Which managers or Hightower programs add another fee?
3. Which custodian and referral economics apply?

The current 2026 brochure also makes an important historical correction: the older numeric 2.5% aggregate-fee guideline should no longer render as a current cap.