The carousel of M&A deals in the North America wealth management space continues to spin fast.

Chicago-based Hightower has made a strategic investment in Altium Wealth Management, a $2.7 billion firm in Purchase, New York that serves high and ultra-high net worth clients and families.

Park Sutton and Alston & Bird advised Altium Wealth Management on the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

The acquisition continues a run of deals made by Hightower over the past year, contributing to a bumper M&A era in North American wealth management. Earlier in 2022 Hightower bought TC Wealth Partners, a wealth management, trust and retirement plan services company based in Chicago and Downers Grove, Illinois, holding about $1.65 billion of client money. The sheer volume of deals involving RIAs – and to a lesser extent, multi-family offices – has prompted worries that the process may not reap the rewards which some acquirers seek. See an analysis here from regular FWR contributor Charles Paikert.

The Altium business was founded in 2010 and it specializes in risk-based, low-cost and tax-efficient portfolios delivered via its consulting and proprietary direct indexing solution. It employs 39 people, including 18 advisors.

“Altium is a fast-growing business that is passionate about providing clients with tax-aware planning and portfolios that align with their individual goals, delivered via personalized consulting and their direct-indexing solutions,” Bob Oros, chairman and CEO of Hightower, said.

The firm has notched up double-digit organic growth over the past 12 years. 

The Hightower group of advisory business runs to 123, covering 34 states in the US. As of December 31, 2021, Hightower's assets under administration stood at about $144 billion and its assets under management were $117.8 billion.

As reported here, valuations for wealth management firms in merger and acquisition deals are rising but at a slower pace with buyers becoming choosier, figures on the US sector show. The numbers, from Advisor Growth Strategies, come after several years of strong M&A activity in the space.