Hightower Advisors, a Chicago-based wealth management firm with more than 800 advisors, will work with fintech Dispatch to provide advisor transitions, client account opening and management, and data syncing across platforms for Hightower Signature Wealth, its new nationally branded employee advisor practice launched last year under CEO Larry Restieri.
The move is another boon for growing data infrastructure firm Dispatch, which launched in late 2022 as OneAdvisory and then rebranded in 2024 on the heels of additional seed funding. The firm has raised a total of $28 million in funding since its launch, and now has grown its client assets on the platform to more than $9 trillion, according to its most recent count.
Hightower Signature Wealth has also been amassing advisors and assets rapidly, having quickly jumped to $35 blilion in AUM across 30 locations and 100 advisors. The division initially added firms within the Hightower network, but announced its second external RIA acquisition to the channel this August.
According to an August announcement, Dispatch had also recently added former Hightower CEO Bob Oros to its board.
Hightower did not immediately respond to a request for comment concerning its consideration of other back-office vendors.
Under the agreement, the fintech will now provide the movement, validation and synchronization of client data across custodians, including Schwab and Fidelity, and advisory systems, as Hightower brings advisors into Hightower Signature Wealth and manages client relationships.
“Ultimately, this is about making it easier for our advisors to deliver a great experience to their clients,” CEO Restieri said in a statement. “Dispatch provides the data infrastructure that keeps client information accurate and synchronized across the systems that support the relationship, reducing operational friction for advisors and creating a more seamless experience for clients over time.”
In May, Dispatch launched Advisor Transitions, a software designed to move advisors, client accounts and assets between firms, compressing what co-founder and CEO Rob Nance described to Wealth Management as a thorny, painful, and disjointed process that can take months to complete.
Dispatch was one of the first third-party providers to leverage custodian Schwab’s newly created API-based account onboarding processes. Through that process, a Dispatch user can start an account opening directly from their CRM into the Schwab Advisor Center, shortening account-opening time and eliminating the need to leave the Dispatch system to open an account.
“As aggregators move from collections of independent practices to integrated national practices, they need infrastructure that can standardize client data and workflows across custodians, CRMs, and the rest of the tech stack,” Nance said in a statement about the Hightower Signature Wealth agreement.
