Focus Financial Partners announced that Bergman Investment Management, a fee-only registered investment advisor located in San Mateo, Calif., will join the Focus-owned firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth, a fiduciary wealth management firm overseeing approximately $22.6 billion from its 45 locations across 24 states.
Founded by Doug Bergman in 1995, Bergman provides investment advice to primarily high-net-worth individuals and families and was already a client firm of Loring Ward, a turnkey asset management platform that merged with Buckingham’s parent company, Buckingham Strategic Partners, in 2018.
According to its most recent Form ADV filing, Bergman manages just under $229.5 million in nondiscretionary assets for 59 clients.
Doug Berman
"My clients have trusted me to help build their financial futures throughout the years," said Bergman. "The time has now come for me to plan for the long-term continuity of that trusted fiduciary advice.”
Bergman said his experience with Buckingham's TAMP gives him confidence that this succession plan will continue to provide his own clients with the level of service to which they’ve grown accustomed.
Buckingham CEO Adam Birenbaum said that a shared philosophy and culture between both firms should “result in a seamless transition” for Bergman clients, while Focus CEO and Chairman Rudy Adolf touted his own firm’s experience with succession planning and said the transaction “will strengthen Buckingham's growing Bay Area presence."
Bergman will continue in its relationship with Loring Ward until the close of the transaction, expected in the third quarter of 2022.