Hightower Advisors Hires Vanguard Executive as New President

Hightower Advisors Hires Vanguard Executive as New President

Tue, September 22, 2026 at 8:29 PM GMT+3 1 min read

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Hightower Advisors has hired Marco De Freitas, the former head of digital and analytics at Vanguard, as its new president, effective in mid-fourth quarter 2026. He replaces Roberto Stewart, who stepped down from the role in June, less than three months after joining the firm.

De Freitas will report directly to CEO Larry Restieri, with responsibility for Hightower's operations, technology, enterprise AI strategy and investment platform.

Prior to joining Vanguard, he spent a decade at TD Ameritrade, where he led digital, client experience, investment products and advice.

"Marco brings deep operating, technology and transformation experience at an important point in Hightower's growth," Restieri said in a statement. "As we continue to scale, we have an opportunity to better connect the resources across our firm and make it easier for advisors to bring the full breadth of our capabilities to clients. Marco's leadership will be critical as we build a more integrated, forward-looking organization."

The firm also announced the appointment of Jennifer Frazier, a partner at Hightower Signature Wealth, as president of the division, which now has more than $40 billion in AUM. Hightower launched Signature Wealth last October as its branded RIA, seeded by Dallas-based Frontier Investment Management, a Hightower partner firm that Frazier was part of. Mike Hirsbrunner, who also came from Frontier, will serve as chief operating officer at HTSW. Penny Phillips will continue to serve as head of advisor growth.

This follows news last month that HTSW added Stearns Financial Group, an affiliate firm with a 30-person team managing about $2.5 billion in client assets.