An experienced executive management team and board, with deep industry knowledge and a long-term commitment to building something compelling and new.
Elliot S. Weissbluth
Chief Executive Officer, Director
Mr. Weissbluth is the Chief Executive Officer of HighTower, a national, advisor-owned financial services company serving high net worth and institutional clients. Prior to co-founding HighTower, he was the President of US Fiduciary, a boutique broker-dealer, and Director of Marketing & Research at RogersCasey, one of the nation’s leading investment research and institutional Registered Investment Advisory firms. Mr. Weissbluth serves on a number of for profit and non-profit Boards, notably as a Trustee of Interlochen, Center for Performing Arts in Michigan.
Larry Koehler
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Koehler was a founder of EVEREN Securities, the 10th largest securities broker dealer and 20th largest majority employee owned company with over 4,000 employees, 2000 financial advisors and 70 Billion of AUM. He spent nearly a decade at EVEREN where he was a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Operating Committee. While at EVEREN, he served most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. After the sale of EVEREN, Mr. Koehler served as Chief Financial Officer of two venture-backed companies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Koehler worked as a Senior Tax Manager at KPMG Peat Marwick in Chicago.
Mr. Koehler holds a BA from Loyola University of Chicago and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Andrew Kornreich
President, Director
Mr. Kornreich was the former Senior Vice President and General Counsel for FreedomRoads, where he executed the successful consolidation of the Recreational Vehicle dealership industry, consummating 27 transactions in 30 months representing nearly $1.3 billion in revenue. In a previous role, he assisted start-up companies with the challenges of growth. Mr. Kornreich began his career as an M&A specialist at the law firm Reed Smith LLP. He earned a J.D. from Loyola Law School in Chicago and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Michael LaMena
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. LaMena has more than 14 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining HighTower, he was the Executive Director of Private Wealth Management Operations at Morgan Stanley. Mr. LaMena has held numerous Operations positions at Morgan Stanley including Executive Director of Private Wealth Management in Asia. He holds FINRA Series 7, 9, 10 and 63 licenses.
Matthew Camden
Chief Technology Officer
Mr. Camden brings more than 24 years of technology and technology management experience to HighTower. He was the first Chief Information Officer at UHY Advisors in Chicago, a top-ten CPA firm resulting from CPA consolidation in 2004. As the Chief Information Officer, he architected a high-performance Enterprise IT infrastructure for the integrated firms. Previously, he spent eight years as partner and CTO at Clifton Gunderson, LLP in Peoria, Illinois, a top-twenty CPA firm, where he designed a data center approach to application access and data consolidation that remains an industry standard. As KPMG’s Midwest MIS Director in Chicago, he streamlined and managed the region’s technology needs as KPMG reorganized along regional districts. Mr. Camden attended Benedictine University, and holds a BA in Literature and Communications.
Mike Papedis
Executive Vice President, HighTower Experience Group
Mr. Papedis brings 16 years of financial industry experience to HighTower. Most recently he was Vice President, Senior Sales at Fidelity Wealth Services where he was responsible for new business development in the Central Region. Mr. Papedis has also held positions at TD Ameritrade and Sit Investment Associates, Inc. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses.
Michael Parker
Managing Director, Business Development
Mr. Parker brings 17 years of leadership and business development experience to HighTower. Prior to joining HighTower, Mr. Parker was Vice President, Business Development at LPL Financial where he was responsible for new business development in the Northeast Region focused exclusively on top performing teams. Previously, he spent nearly 10 years with Smith Barney in various positions in the Northeast including Financial Advisor, Branch Manager and Complex Branch Manager. Mr. Parker earned an MBA from the Sawyer School of Business at Suffolk University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 9, 10, 63, & 65 licenses.
Kevin Geary
Managing Director, Business Development
Mr. Geary brings 17 years of financial industry experience to HighTower. He joins HighTower from Charles Schwab & co., Inc. At Schwab he served in a number of roles. Most recently, he was responsible for business development in Schwab’s Northern California region focusing on recruiting advisor teams.
Ann Rieder
Managing Director, Business Development
Ms. Rieder has over 15 years of branch management and financial services experience, having served at Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney since 1996 in a number of roles across the U.S. Prior to joining HighTower, Ms. Rieder was a Senior Vice President and Branch Manager with the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney office in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, where she led a top Private Client & Corporate Services branch. She holds FINRA Series 7, 9, 10, 63 and 65 licenses. Ms. Rieder holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Drake University.
Dan Lidawer
Executive Director, Client Service
& Practice Management
Mr. Lidawer is a former Partner with William Blair & Company, where he supervised a 150-person department that included 85 of the top investment advisors in the Chicago area. With 26 years of industry experience, Mr. Lidawer began his career on Wall Street, first at Salomon Brothers Inc, and then Lazard Frères & Co. He is the past Chairperson and a current board member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Central States District, and a FINRA arbitrator. He holds FINRA series 7, 9, 10, 24, 28, and 66 licenses.
Mr. Lidawer graduated from The Wharton School and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Robert Pagliuco
Executive Vice President, Accounting & Finance
Mr. Pagliuco has over 25 years of financial, accounting and regulatory compliance experience in the financial services industry. He has served in multi-disciplined capacities as Principal and CFO of registered broker-dealers and Futures Commissions Merchants providing clearing and trading services to professional, institutional and retail customers. Most recently, he was the Americas CFO and CCO of a European based market maker and derivatives liquidity provider and an instrumental manager in the organization’s geometric expansion on major security options and futures exchanges in the United States. Earlier in his career, Mr. Pagliuco served as an Audit Manager of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and was a member of the Joint Exchange Audit and Regulatory Compliance Committees. He holds FINRA series 4, 7, 24, 27 & 63 licenses. Mr. Pagliuco holds a BS in Accounting and Finance from Northern Illinois University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Kristin Love
Managing Director, Capital Markets
Mrs. Love has over ten years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining HighTower, she was the fixed income trader for the ABN AMRO-Lasalle Wealth Management Division in Chicago. Additionally, Mrs. Love began her career in the industry working in a middle markets position for municipal bond dealers and then expanded into the taxable product sector. She holds Series 7, 53 and 63 licenses.
Matt Reynolds
Executive Vice President, Operations
& Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Reynolds was the Chief Operating & Compliance Officer of Advanced Equities, Inc., a privately held venture capital and private equity firm with over $1.5 billion portfolio assets. Prior to this position Mr. Reynolds was the Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Operations Manager at US Fiduciary, where he built out the firm's advisory, broker/dealer, asset management platform and hedge fund-of-funds platform compliance and operations. He also served as Chief Compliance Officer of RogersCasey, a leading investment consulting firm with more than $400 billion in assets under management. Mr. Reynolds is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Professional and holds FINRA series 4, 7, 24, 27 and 66 licenses. He has a degree in accounting, is a graduate of the Executive Education Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and is a member of SIFMA Compliance and Legal Society.
Max Mintzer
Managing Director, Operations
Mr. Mintzer has more than 20 years of operating experience. Prior to joining HighTower, he was the First Vice President and Operations Manager of LaSalle Bank’s Financial Services Group. In that position, he spent the past 2 years overseeing the back office operation for advisors over a broad network of more than 400 locations in Illinois and Michigan. Prior to joining LaSalle’s Financial Services group, Mr. Mintzer implemented LaSalle Preferred Services, the bank’s affluent clientele model, where he led the opening of 8 offices within 12 months. Mr. Mintzer worked with The Chicago Trust Company, serving as the operations manager of the trust, custody and deferred exchange groups. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 24 licenses. Mr. Mintzer holds a BS in Business Administrations from Indiana University and is an honors graduate of the Cannon Financial Institute Securities Operation program.
Liza Tainton
Managing Director, Transitions
Ms. Tainton brings over 20 years of experience to HighTower as a financial services professional and solutions provider. Prior to joining HighTower, she was the Senior Vice President and Regional Risk Officer for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Illinois Region. She has held numerous leadership positions at Morgan Stanley including Executive Director and Divisional Risk Manager for the Northern Division, and Midwest Regional Administrative Manager, Chicago Private Wealth Management. She holds FINRA/NFA 3, 7, 9, 10, 31, 63, 65 and 79 licenses.
Regina Lahsin
Director of Marketing
Ms. Lahsin has over 15 years of experience in financial services business development and marketing and holds an MBA from Loyola University Chicago. Prior to joining HighTower, Ms. Lahsin served as the Director of Markets and Accounts for KPMG where she developed and successfully executed integrated marketing communications plans for KPMG’s investment management, private equity, Insurance and real estate sectors. Ms. Lahsin held numerous positions at KPMG including the Director of Midwest Tax Marketing and Director of the Midwest Marketing Project Management Office (PMO).
Tim Woods
Director, Compliance & Legal
Mr. Woods has over 15 years of industry compliance and legal experience. Prior to joining HighTower in May, 2011, Tim was CCO for Navigant Capital Advisors, and corporate counsel for Navigant Consulting. Mr. Woods was senior compliance officer and associate counsel for ABN AMRO Asset Management, as well as in senior compliance and risk functions for Key Bank/McDonald Investments. He began his career in the industry as a Compliance Examiner for the former NASD District Office in Cleveland. A member of the Ohio Bar, Tim earned a BA from the Michigan State University, as well as MBA and JD from Cleveland State University. He holds the Series 7, 9, 10, 14, 24, 27, 53, 66 and 79 FINRA registrations.