Clients First, Always

Joe Lewis’ dream came true when he joined the renowned Bahnsen Group of HighTower Advisors in Newport Beach, California

By Rick Weinberg, California Business Journal

When Joe Lewis heard The Bahnsen Group was leaving Morgan Stanley to join HighTower Investment Group, he was intrigued. He had always been enamored with David Bahnsen and his team and was curious as to why he made the switch.

Well, Bahnsen wanted to be part of the HighTower philosophy, created by CEO Elliott Weissbluth, which is taking the sophistication of Wall Street and its products, trading, engineering and melding it with “fiduciary duty,” which obligates financial advisors to “legally” put the client interest first.

Years ago, Weissbluth saw the dichotomy between part of the financial industry that was upholding the fiduciary duty but didn't have the sophistication of Wall Street behind it. He also saw the sophistication on Wall Street that didn't have any fiduciary duty to put the client interest first. So he thought, “Wouldn't it be a good idea if you could get the best of both of those worlds?”

What emerged from there is one of the most powerful Wall Street firms – with $30 billion in assets -- that only wants to employ the most sophisticated advisors in the country.

Enter Lewis, who caught the attention of Bahnsen through his wide network of Wall Street stars. 

“Joe had a reputation at Morgan Stanley that came highly recommended to me,” says Bahnsen, who spent 10 years at the firm as a managing director. “I know a lot of people there who told me, 'We know what you’re doing at the Bahnsen Group and we think you should talk to Joe.'” (Click here to read the rest of the story https://calbizjournal.com. Direct link to the article https://calbizjournal.com/joelewis/.)