Hightower advisors will gain access to sophisticated business and individual tax and advisory services – including full service CPA capabilities – for their clients and their families.

Chicago-based Hightower has made a strategic investment in GMS Surgent, a Philadelphia-based tax and advisory firm.

GMS Surgent provides high net worth and business clients with tax advice and advisory services, including accounting, tax preparation and other tax and wealth planning capabilities. Through the partnership, Hightower advisors will have direct access to tax management services for their clients and their families, the firm said in a statement.

This marks Hightower’s ninth deal of 2023, another example of the M&A and consolidation activity that has become a feature of the North American wealth management sector in recent years.

“We are thrilled to welcome GMS Surgent into the Hightower community, enabling us to provide advisors with a vetted resource to deliver comprehensive tax services to clients via a seamless experience,” Hightower chairman and CEO Bob Oros, said.

Led by managing partners Brian Gallagher, Jack Surgent, and Lauren Adamski, GMS Surgent's mission is: "Personal Attention – Valuable Results." Established in 1992, and with a team of approximately 30 employees, the firm is renowned for the expertise of its tax and advisory services.

“As we work closely with Hightower, we are excited to have the opportunity to enhance the client experience with our knowledge of tax planning and business consulting,” said Gallagher.

The partnership represents the latest investment in Hightower’s Wealth Solutions platform, a suite of services that enable advisors to deepen client relationships by meeting their financial needs. As a wholly-owned tax subsidiary, the GMS Surgent team will add to the suite of tools Hightower already offers which include trust services, estate planning, insurance placement, business owner services and more.

“GMS Surgent” is the brand name under which GMS Surgent and GMS Surgent Advisors, independently owned entities, provide professional services in an alternative practice structure in accordance with applicable professional standards, the firm continued. GMS Surgent is a licensed CPA that provides attest services, and GMS Surgent Advisors provides tax and business consulting services.

The GMS Surgent transaction closed June 30, 2023. Berkshire Global Advisors served as the exclusive financial advisor to GMS Surgent.

As of March 31, 2023, Hightower's assets under administration were approximately $148.2 billion, and assets under management were $119.9 billion, an increase from $113.7 billion as of December 31, 2022. 

In June, Hightower made a strategic investment in Meyer Capital Group, a $1.6 billion firm with offices in Marlton, New Jersey, and Naples, Florida, as well as in Boston Hill Advisors, a $1 billion RIA that is based in North Andover, Massachusetts, with three offices in the state. In early June, it also invested into Vigilant Wealth Management, a firm with offices in Portland, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (It manages around $2.3 billion in client assets.) In February, it invested into Bickling Financial Services, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based registered investment advisor.