Fireside Chat: Stephanie Link on Independent Wealth Management and What Drew Her to Hightower

In June 2020, Hightower named financial services industry veteran and CNBC commentator Stephanie Link as Chief Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager, heading up Hightower’s Investment Solutions group. The group provides interested Hightower advisors with access to investment strategy and support, including Outsourced Chief Investment Officer services, model portfolios, separately management accounts, investment research and due diligence.

CEO Bob Oros recently sat down with Stephanie to look back on her deep financial services experience, her road to Hightower, and how she became one of CNBC’s most knowledgeable contributors.

Oros: Tell us about yourself and your journey to Hightower.

Link: I was most recently at Nuveen. As Senior Managing Director and Head of Global Equities research, I co-managed the CREF Stock Variable Annuity Portfolio with $170 billion in assets, managed my own US Core portfolio with $3.7 billion in assets and oversaw a team that collectively managed $40 billion. Prior to joining Nuveen, I spent six years as CIO at The Street and was co-portfolio manager of Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust. I also spent 10 years as Managing Director of Institutional Sales and Director of Research at Prudential Equity Group.

After I left Nuveen, I was looking for something different – a company I could grow with. I’ve been watching the independent advisory space over the last 10 years, reviewing the offerings, strategies and competitive environment. Hightower stood out among the rest as a forward-thinking firm with a significant growth trajectory.

I reached out to you and we had a great couple of conversations. I was convinced that independent wealth management was definitely an area of growth, not only because of the industry and the favorable demographics, but also because “size and scale” is Hightower’s #1 mantra.

Oros: How did you end up getting into television? A 10-year run as a contributor is impressive!

Link: My dream job was to be Chris McKendry, a pioneer host on ESPN. The COO at TheStreet.com knew I wanted to be on TV, so he connected me with a contact there. They invited me to speak about Cisco earnings and I was terrified! At the end of my hit, they invited me back for the following week. And over time, my appearances just kept on becoming more and more frequent.

Oros: Discuss your vision for portfolios and strategies that the Hightower advisory businesses could possibly access in the future.

Link: We’ve done a great job so far and the team is phenomenal. We’re just going to expand the products they work on.

I’d love to have a large-cap growth, large-cap value and large-cap core fund that we can offer it to all of the advisors. The portfolio is distinct because it’s an equally weighed portfolio and has a couple of different screens overlaid with fundamentals. Your product is terrific, and we overlapped a lot of names too.

Oros: How do you envision your role with Hightower? For example, what types of events will you be involved with regarding the advisors and/or their clients?

Link: I am here to get to know each Hightower advisory business, and find new ways to help them drive assets, grow and offer differentiated services to clients. Part of this is getting in front of clients to tell the Hightower story, talk about markets and our services. I am here for advisors and whatever they need – calls, virtual or when possible, in-person events. While I’ve met many advisors virtually, I’m looking forward to meeting advisors in person, once travel resumes, to better understand how we can add new and enhanced value to clients.

To learn more about Hightower’s Investment Solutions group, email us at advisorsuccess@hightoweradvisors.com

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