$200 Million Merrill Lynch Advisor to Join Hightower's Pagnato-Karp Group

CHICAGO, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- HighTower, a national financial services company serving high-net-worth and institutional clients, announced today that Charles S. Holt has joined HighTower's Pagnato-Karp Group, based in Washington, D.C. as Partner and Managing Director.  A former Senior Vice President with Merrill Lynch, Mr. Holt joined HighTower on Friday, March 23.

HighTower's Pagnato-Karp Group provides wealth management services, strategies, and solutions to a highly dynamic and accomplished group of clients. In his role with the Pagnato-Karp Group, Mr. Holt will develop and implement advanced planning strategies for clients, including preservation of capital, tax minimization and lifetime cash flow needs.

"Charles' experience and commitment to acting in the best interest of his clients makes him the ideal fit for HighTower," said Paul A. Pagnato, Partner and Managing Director at HighTower. "Charles embodies the idea that advisors can regain a fiduciary relationship with their clients once they are completely free of the inherent conflicts of Wall Street's larger firms and wirehouses."

Mr. Holt brings over 20 years of financial service industry experience to his role at HighTower. Prior to joining HighTower, he was Senior Vice President of Investments in Merrill Lynch's Global Wealth Management Group. He received a B.A. in Finance from Michigan State University and in 1998 completed the Merrill Lynch Financial Consultants Program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

"The addition of Charles Holt to our partnership demonstrates that our advisors have the ability to grow their teams by bringing on new partners," said Mike Papedis, HighTower's Executive Vice President of Business Development.  "HighTower has built a model that is completely unique to the financial services industry.  It's so compelling that we're seeing individual advisors eager to join the nation's leading partnership and benefit from what we've built." 

About HighTower

HighTower is a national, advisor-owned financial services company serving high-net-worth and institutional clients. HighTower advisors are experienced investment professionals with large and established practices. As a dually-registered, multi-custodial firm, HighTower provides sophisticated investment solutions as well as an independent and unobstructed view of the markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago and maintains corporate centers in New York and San Francisco and offices across the country. See www.hightoweradvisors.com.

Nicole Kalian Abbott
JCPR
973-850-7315
[email protected]

SOURCE HighTower