In June 2011, financial advisor Jeff Leventhal went to Chicago for a home office visit with HighTower Advisors executives at the firms headquarters. Leventhal was pondering a move from the wirehouse where he worked to a more entrepreneurial practice, but he thought any action was a few years off.Instead, Leventhal brought his team of five to HighTower in Bethesda, Md., within three months. “The home-office visit was the number one thing that solidified my decision,” he says. Leventhal started his career in Merrill Lynchs training program in 1995 and stayed at the firm until 2003, when he moved to UBS. As he learned more about the industry beyond the wirehouses, Leventhal started to wonder whether he was in the best place to serve his clients. The meltdown of 2008 brought this idea into stark relief. Leventhal no longer wanted to be at a firm attached to an investment bank, and he found the fiduciary standard attractive.Leventhals advisor team was one of eight that HighTower brought on in 2011, and in 2012 there were nine more teams. This year, HighTower expects to add even more advisors.

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