Michael DiBiasio, who had been chief operating officer for Hightower Advisors for just under two years, left the firm at the end of last year, according to regulatory filings.
DiBiasio had joined Hightower in February 2024 after about 16 years at Morgan Stanley, where he had last held the title of COO of institutional consulting, according to filings and his LinkedIn. The move signals further changes at the top for Hightower under CEO Larty Restieri, who took over in June from Bob Oros to oversee a realignment of the firm after Oros grew it through over 50 mergers and acquisitions.
Hightower declined to comment on the move or whether they are searching for a replacement; DiBiasio did not respond to a request for comment. He had held a stake of less than 5% in the firm before departing, according to the filings.
Restieri has made a number of moves within the firm’s senior leadership team, including, in September, hiring former BlackRock executive Patrick Dunne as head of operations and services. Hightower had billed that position as one that would better connect advisors to the home office.
This year, the firm also announced it had hired Bob Lavigne from Edelman Financial Engines to be chief compliance officer of parent firm Hightower Holdings—a newly created role.
Restieri had been the CEO of Goldman Sachs’ Ayco business before taking over Chicago-based Hightower, which has grown to over $350 billion in assets under management. Strategically, he has been putting effort behind creating a national, branded W-2 employee channel for advisors called Hightower Signature Wealth. To start the year, Hightower said it had added five practices to the channel, bringing its AUM to $20.8 billion.
Another of Restieri’s new hires, Scott Hadley, has been charged with overseeing that effort, which includes speaking to existing Hightower affiliate advisors about joining. Hadley, who had been head of RIA Solutions at Osaic before taking the job, was named one ofWealth Management’s Ten to Watch in 2026.
