# Hightower Signature Wealth adds $1 billion Michigan RIA Synergy Capital Solutions

URL: https://www.financialadvsr.com/article/hightower-signature-wealth-adds-1-billion-michigan-ria-synergy-capital-3593a4
Published: October 8, 2026
By: Grant Whitmore, Moves Correspondent
Section: Moves
Publisher: Financial ADVSR (https://www.financialadvsr.com)

Bloomfield Hills-based Synergy Capital Solutions, a Hightower partner since 2017, joins the firm's W-2 RIA channel, which WealthManagement.com says now exceeds $40 billion in assets.

Synergy Capital Solutions, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich., RIA with $1 billion in assets under management, has joined Hightower Signature Wealth, the W-2 RIA brand of Hightower Advisors, according to WealthManagement.com. InvestmentNews also covered the addition in an RIA moves roundup.

Synergy brings 15 employees to the platform, seven of them advisors, WealthManagement.com reported. Beyond its Michigan headquarters, the firm has offices in Naples, Fla., and Lebanon, Pa. Mark Burns, who co-founded the firm, is its CEO and chief investment officer, per the same outlet.

InvestmentNews reported that Synergy had been a Hightower partner since 2017, so the move shifts an existing relationship into the firm's employee-model channel. A report from Pulse 2 put the closing date at Sept. 30, 2026.

WealthManagement.com described the deal as the fourth external acquisition for Hightower Signature Wealth. The outlet said Hightower announced last January that five partner firms had joined the channel, a count that does not include Dallas-based affiliate Frontier Investment Management, which seeded the brand in October 2025.

With Synergy, the channel's total assets reach roughly $40 billion across more than 160 advisors and 35 locations nationwide, according to WealthManagement.com. Its headline put the figure as over $40 billion. By comparison, InvestmentNews earlier reported the brand at more than $20.8 billion across more than 100 advisors in 19 locations.

FA Magazine reported that Hightower as a whole manages more than $350 billion in assets, which places the Signature Wealth channel as a fraction of the larger platform. The sources do not disclose terms of the Synergy transaction.

The InvestmentNews roundup placed the Synergy addition alongside two other billion-dollar RIA deals, from Merit Financial Advisors and Trilogy Capital. Those transactions are separate from the Hightower news.

Key facts:
- Synergy Capital Solutions manages $1 billion and is based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., per WealthManagement.com.
- The firm brings 15 employees, including seven advisors, and has offices in Naples, Fla., and Lebanon, Pa.
- Hightower Signature Wealth is now at roughly $40 billion across more than 160 advisors and 35 locations, per WealthManagement.com.
- Pulse 2 reported the transaction closed Sept. 30, 2026; InvestmentNews said Synergy has been a Hightower partner since 2017.

Why it matters: The deal shows Hightower converting an existing partner into its W-2 structure, a route that lets a large platform grow a newer channel without recruiting from outside its network. Advisors weighing independence models can read it as a sign that employee-model RIA channels are gaining scale alongside traditional partnership arrangements.

Sources:
- InvestmentNews: https://www.investmentnews.com/ria-news/ria-moves-merit-hightower-and-trilogy-announce-billion-dollar-additions/268538
- WealthManagement.com: https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/hightower-signature-makes-4th-external-acquisition-with-1b-michigan-based-ria
- investmentnews.com: https://www.investmentnews.com/ria-news/ria-moves-merit-hightower-and-trilogy-announce-billion-dollar-additions/268538
- advisorhub.com: https://www.advisorhub.com/merit-buys-1-1b-commonwealth-practice-in-western-ny/
- prnewswire.com: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/merit-financial-advisors-acquires-1-1-billion-moldenhauer--associates-expanding-presence-in-western-new-york-302900390.html
- financial-planning.com: https://www.financial-planning.com/news/most-ex-commonwealth-advisors-dont-go-ria-these-did-with-merit
- wealthmanagement.com: https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/hightower-signature-makes-4th-external-acquisition-with-1b-michigan-based-ria
- pulse2.com: https://pulse2.com/hightower-signature-wealth-brings-in-1-billion-team-synergy-capital-solutions/