Insight
Oros: Unlimited custody choice for advisors does not necessarily create value
“Having unlimited choice of where you custody assets doesn't necessarily create value.”
Disclosure
Oros: Hightower always legally enforces restrictive covenants against departing advisors
“We have the occasional advisor who departs and tests those things. And we always protect them because we need to protect the business.”
Opinion
Oros: Private equity institutionalized RIA cottage industry to clients' benefit
“I actually think for the industry, private equity has been overall very good, because it forced an industry that was very cottage, very subscale to run in a much more rigorous way, which I, for one, think is good long-term for clients, because if you're runnin…”
Assertion Supported
Oros: Majority of RIAs grow via market lift, not new clients
“The majority of advisors really grow when the market goes up. They struggle to generate net new client growth.”
Insight
Oros: Acquirers cannot turn a non-growing RIA into a grower
“No, because we know if there's growth, we can improve it. But what we don't try to do is convince ourselves we can take someone who's not growing and turn them into a grower.”
Disclosure
Oros: Hightower acquired NEPC to centralize investment operations
“We also just made an acquisition of a business called NEPC, one of the largest institutional consultants in the U.S. And we made that acquisition and wanted to have NEPC part of Hightower specifically so we could start to centralize more of the investment oper…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Oros: Hightower private market allocation will reach 12% to 15% in five years
“We think that number is going to be 12 to 15% over the next three to five years.”
Insight
Oros: Advisors outsourcing investment management slower than industry expected
“Advisors are increasingly Showing a desire to let go of the investment side of it. Probably a little slower than the industry expected, but it is happening.”
Insight
Oros: Asset managers should pitch Hightower corporate office, not 1,000 advisors
“I would tell you come to the center, meaning come to the corporate teams, the home office, as opposed to trying to go out to a thousand advisors individually, which we still have managers trying to do that. That's just a hard road.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Oros: Large RIA platforms will merge to reach $200B-$300B scale
“You're going to see more meaningful consolidation, including big firms that come together. Because think about if you're a 20,000,000,030 billion dollar AUM RIA, That's a big RIA, but you're still a long ways from a 200,000,000,300 billion dollar firm with rea…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Oros: High-profile manager blowups would severely hinder retail private market adoption
“The big gotcha will be if we have some really visible blowup of a manager that we've put a broader set of retail investors into, that could create a pretty significant headwind.”
Disclosure
Hightower rejects RIA sellers wanting to immediately exit
“One, it starts with advisors who still want to continue to work in their business. We're not the place to come. If you just want to sell and go, there are others who would be okay with that. We want you to continue to run your office in most cases.”
Disclosure
Hightower buys 100% of RIA assets but flexes retained economics
“Where we can be quite bespoke is the way we structure the deal from an economic standpoint, meaning we do typically asset purchases. So we're buying a hundred percent of the assets, which in these businesses are mainly the client relationships. Where we can be…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Oros: Hightower expects client loss after acquired founder steps down
“So the ending hasn't been written yet, Ted, on this one, but it did force us into some rapid planning, which rarely is good, and we certainly will expect we'll have some client loss as a result, because the individual departing is such a visible part of the te…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Oros: Hightower portfolios average 5% to 6% allocated to private markets
“Today, on average, across all of Hightower, think of us as five to six percent allocated to privates.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Jun 2028
Oros: Hightower expects at least $100M raised per NEPC private vehicle
“So we're going to roll our first one out the first half of this year with any PC. Our expectation is We're gonna get at least a hundred million dollars of capital raised with each one of these.”
