Focus embraces hub strategy with CEO hire

After going private and embracing a strategy aimed at consolidating its registered investment advisory firms into hubs, Focus Financial Partners tapped a new CEO to carry out that vision.

The New York-based RIA aggregator hired Michael Nathanson to be its chief while remaining in the same position atop Boston-based The Colony Group, which is one of the "largest operating businesses" of Focus, the firm said April 30. Focus owns 90 RIAs that generated $2.1 billion in revenue in 2022 out of seven countries, the latest available numbers on its website showed. As a privately held company, Focus no longer shares much detail about the size of its business.  

Effective immediately, Nathanson replaced Dan Glaser, an operating partner of private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice who became interim CEO of Focus when longtime chief Rudy Adolf stepped down in October. Glaser is now executive chairman of Focus, which Clayton, Dubilier took private in August as the majority investor in a transaction valuing the firm at more than $7 billion. The firm had appointed Nathanson president in February, a month before The Colony Group unveiled its acquisition of another giant Focus-owned RIA, GW & Wade.

As CEO at Focus, Nathanson will "lead the design and execution of the firm's ongoing strategic priorities, including fostering greater collaboration across the Focus partnership to facilitate the development of best-in-class capabilities and service," the company said in a press release.

"It's been an honor serving as President of Focus and having the opportunity to work alongside Dan to build upon the momentum that he and so many others have created for our firm, our advisors, and our clients," Nathanson said in a statement. "I'm extremely proud of what we've done together. We've made substantial progress already, and I look forward to continuing the work necessary to further evolve Focus into the unequivocal industry leader in the fiduciary-advice space."

Colony emerged in recent years as one of the most active acquirers among Focus partner firms, which have completed more than 270 mergers and strategic hires since Adolf and fellow co-founders Rajini Kodialam and Leonard Chang launched the firm in 2004. 

The combination of GW & Wade's $10.4 billion in client assets with Colony's $21.1 billion in the first quarter created a single firm with $31.5 billion. The deal represented the "second signed intra-partnership merger as part of its new hub strategy" for Focus, the company said at the time of the announcement in March. Earlier in April, another Focus affiliate, InterOcean Capital Group, indicated that it would merge into Colony as well in the second quarter. 

Roughly two months after going private, Focus revealed its new strategy under Clayton, Dubilier in November as part of a vaguely worded press release about four incoming executives. 

"These appointments reflect Focus' strategic evolution as a private company towards a more cohesive organization that seeks a common purpose, higher levels of collaboration and which operates with greater levels of efficiency for the benefit of its partner firms and the clients they serve," the company said.