Ken has advised high-net-worth families since 1981. His focus for private clients is on investment strategy, asset allocation and portfolio design. He also specializes in institutional consulting for retirement planning – both for defined benefit and defined contribution plans.Ken joined Hightower in March 2012 after 18 years with the Private Banking and Investment Group at Merrill Lynch. Previously, Ken was with Lehman Brothers for 11 years and E.F. Hutton for 2 years. Before entering the private client advisory business, he served as a corporate strategist for two publicly traded U.S. companies and worked as a research economist for the Central Bank of Israel in Jerusalem.Ken has a B.A. in anthropology, an MBA (with distinction) from New York University and an APC degree (post-master’s degree in econometrics) from the NYU Stern School of Business. He also completed doctoral work in economics and finance at NYU and Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Ken was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He currently serves on the board of several philanthropic organizations including being the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Frisch Academy in Paramus, NJ. He is also involved with AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Ken and his wife, Janet, reside in Teaneck, NJ and have three adult children and two grandchildren.Ken was named as one of Worth Magazine’s Top 250 Wealth Advisors and one of the Top 1200 Advisors by Barron’s in 2008. In 2014, he was named a Top Registered Investment Adviser by Financial Times. He was named a Five Star Professional Wealth Manager as featured in New York Magazine for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. As part of HSW Advisors, Ken was also named as part of the Financial Times Top 300 Teams in 2014, 2015 and 2016.