Focus Financial Partners announced that it has acquired its 67th partner firm, Seasons of Advice out of New York City.
It is the firm's second partner firm acquisition in a week (after two in the first two quarters combined) and the latest in a salvo of second-half deals that signal what Dave DeVoe of DeVoe & Company has been saying for weeks, RIA M&A is back.
Focus has led the industry in RIA acquisitions since it went public in 2018, which is core to its growth strategy to acquire 100% of partner firms’ equity and then help them grow by providing dry powder for subacquisitions, which it also takes full stakes in.
On its latest earnings call in August, Focus officials said while M&A had slowed during the early months of the pandemic, they expected a stronger deal market in the second half of the year, leading to a slew of closings in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.
Focus did not respond to a request for comment, but company founder and CEO Rudy Adolf said in a statement that Seasons of Advice “will expand our presence in the important New York City wealth management market, and is led by an innovative management team with a strong and diverse group of next generation leaders.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Focus said it is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Charles Hamowy, Christopher Conigliaro and Matthew Woolf founded Seasons of Advice in 2017. The firm currently has $675 million in AUM, according to its most recent filing with the SEC and specializes in financial planning, investment management and insurance services.
In separate news, Focus reported Tuesday that it had acquired GreenCourse Financial Advisors and Baldwin & Associates on behalf of its partner firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth, which gives Focus over a half-dozen subacquisitions this year.