Focus Financial Partners, the RIA aggregator that was taken private in a sale to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice last year, will combine two of its partner firms, Buckingham Strategic Wealth and The Colony Group, to create a $50.2 billion RIA.
Since CD&R took over Focus, it has been consolidating its 90 independently operated subsidiary practices into a handful of its largest firms. Previously, Focus bought out the management teams of Colony and Kovitz and converted them to “hub” firms that will acquire other Focus partner RIAs.
Adam Birenbaum, currently chairman and CEO of Buckingham, will become the combined company’s new CEO. Michael Nathanson, CEO of Colony who was recently named CEO of Focus, will concentrate solely on leading Focus.
Buckingham’s sister company, Buckingham Strategic Partners, will also continue to operate under Birenbaum. Jonathan Scheid will continue to serve as president of Buckingham Strategic Partners.
Buckingham joined Focus as a partner firm in 2007. It has over 50 offices in 27 states and $30.11 billion in AUM. With Buckingham Strategic Partners, it collectively manages or administers over $70 billion of collective assets.
According to the most recent Form ADV, The Colony Group had 29 locations in 14 states. In March, Colony announced its merger with GW & Wade, a Wellesley, Mass.-headquartered RIA with $10.4 billion in assets. In April, Colony merged with InterOcean Capital Group, a Nashville-based RIA. Both were part of Focus’s “hub” strategy.