Advisors
Brian P. Amidei
Partner, Managing Director
Mr. Amidei is a Partner and Managing Director at HighTower.
Previously he was a Senior Vice President, Wealth Management Advisor with Merrill Lynch for the past thirteen years. Mr. Amidei was a member at the Chicago Board of Trade for three years.
He specializes in creating wealth management strategies, including risk management, insurance planning and estate planning issues working with clients’ advisors in developing their estate plan.
Mr. Amidei holds his Series 6, 7, 31, 63, and 65 licenses.
William F. Blanke
Partner, Managing Director
Mr. Blanke is a Partner and Managing Director of HighTower. He has a 37-year history as an investment professional. He comes to HighTower after 30 years at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, 17 of which as the Branch Manager.
Mr. Blanke focuses his talents on serving the investment needs of corporations and foundations, lending his knowledge to the implementation of wealth management strategies and focusing on Fixed Income investments.
Mr. Blanke holds Series 4, 5, 7, 12, 63, and 65 licenses.
Joseph G. Romano III, CRPC®
Partner, Managing Director
Mr. Romano joined HighTower as a Partner and Managing Director from Merrill Lynch. He works with individuals and business owners to develop financial planning strategies, asset allocation and investment strategies. Mr. Romano's focus is consulting with mid-to-large corporations and public entities on strategies for managing their operating capital, investment portfolios, retirement plans and lending solutions.
Mr. Romano is a member of the HighTower Enterprise Risk Committee (ERC). The group is comprised of four of HighTower's Advisor Partners, five executive members and four committee advisors. The charter of the ERC is to identify and mitigate HighTower enterprise risk in the following areas: credit risk, market and liquidity risk, fiduciary risk, reputational risk, operational risk and compliance risk. In addition, the ERC is charged with promoting an overall culture within HighTower that encourages ethical conduct and compliance with all applicable rules and regulations.
Mr. Romano is an active member in the prestigious Young Presidents' Organization(YPO). A network of over 18,000 young executives from more than 100 countries. Combined members of YPO and its "graduate" branch, the World Presidents' Organization(WPO), lead firms employing over 19 million people and generating more than $4.3 trillion in annual revenue.
He holds his Series 7 and 66 licenses.
Brett C. D'Orlando, CRPC®
Partner, Managing Director
Mr. D’Orlando joined HighTower from Merrill Lynch. He specializes in personal lending, lines and letters of credit, portfolio analysis, asset allocation and business development.
Mr. D’Orlando has his undergraduate in Business Management and Information Systems from Brigham Young University.
He holds his Series 7, and 66 licenses.
Robert L. Schein
Partner, Managing Director
Mr. Schein is a Partner and Managing Director of HighTower and has been an investment professional for over thirteen years.
Mr. Schein comes to HighTower after ten years at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. He held the title of Wealth Advisor — a group of their top 1,000 high net worth advisors. Rob was also selected as Reuters AdvicePoint Top Advisor for 2008. He also earned his Investment Consultant's designation from the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Schein leads the asset allocation, design and implementation of the investment portfolio review process. He stresses a team-oriented philosophy of helping client families craft a set of life goals that are supported by financial planning, cash flow modeling and multigenerational wealth planning.
Mr. Schein holds Series 7, 63, and 65 licenses.
J. Michael Shields
Partner, Managing Director
Mr. Shields is a Partner and Managing Director with HighTower. He spent the last three years at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney as a Financial Advisor. His extensive knowledge in corporate real estate compliments his five years in investment and financial planning.
Mr. Shields spent 15 years in corporate and commercial real estate, both in lending and arbitration. He also has extensive experience in real estate appraisal and consulting.
His ability to break down the data of a client’s statements and project a retirement plan that searches out and solves income gaps is a powerful tool. He is in a constant state of plan evaluation and modification to keep pace with an ever-changing economy.
He has completed coursework for the Certified Financial Planning program, as well as real estate’s CCIM and MAI curriculum. He is a credited Asset Management Specialist and has attended the Graduate Realtor’s Institute.
Mr. Shields holds Series 7 and 66 licenses.
Linda Borses
Client Relationship Manager
Ms. Borses joined HighTower from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where she has been a part of the team for five years. Linda focuses on client management and day-to-day operations.
Formerly, Ms. Borses was in Real Estate for seven years as an owner/office manager. She spent almost 20 years as a teacher, focusing on Business and English.
Diana Cady
Client Relationship Manager
Ms. Cady comes to HighTower from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and has been with the team for over 15 years. She also spent time at Merrill Lynch and has five previous years of transactional experience in mortgage loans.
Ms. Cady focuses on implementing all business management systems and attending to operational support for the team.
Samuel Maggio
Director of Business Development
Mr. Maggio joins HighTower from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. He joined the team in 2008 after a lengthy career in marketing, public relations and advertising.
He keeps the group connected to the community through organizing client and prospective client events. His public relations background helps protect and promote the HightTower brand. He spent over 15 years in Marketing and Corporate Branding and has been on the ground-level of helping two companies grow globally.
Mr. Maggio majored in Public Administration at The University of
Southern California and also has a culinary degree in Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts from The Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona.
Mr. Maggio holds his Series 7 license.
Lisa Kazandjian
Portfolio Manager
Ms. Kazandjian joined HighTower with over 25 years experience in the financial industry. Her focus is the analysis of High Net Worth portfolios to determine appropriate asset allocation and diversity, including the management of the Fixed
Income sector.
Ms. Kazandjian holds her Series 7 license.
Veronica Sickenberger
Client Relationship Manager
Ms. Sickenberger joined HighTower after seven years at Merrill Lynch where she was a client service associate. She spent five years previously with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney as a receptionist, wire operator, cashier and assistant operational manager.
Her concentration is on client service and the implementation of office procedures for the team.
Tamara Spates
Registered Client Relationship Manager
Ms. Spates joined HighTower after spending over 26 years at Merrill Lynch. She began as a wire operator and cashier, was an Operations Supervisor. She also spent 12 years as a Managing Director’s Assistant where she helped manage over 85 Financial Advisors and 22 Sales Support staff.
Her concentration is on proactive client service and administrative oversight for the team.
She holds her Series 7 and 63 licenses.
Augustino V. Suafo'a
Financial Advisor
Mr. Suafo’a joined HighTower from Merrill Lynch. He specializes in retirement analysis and business development.
Before joining the financial services industry he served in the U.S. Navy and continues to do so in the active reserves.
Mr. Suafo’a obtained his undergraduate degree in Business Management and Finance from California State University at San Bernardino.
He holds his Series 7 and 66 licenses.