Focus Financial Partners : News

Focus buys trio of wealth advisers

By Kelly Holman
January 31, 2007

Focus Financial Partners LLC, an acquisitive portfolio company of Summit Partners, said Tuesday, Jan. 30, it acquired three wealth management advisory firms: Buckingham Family of Financial Services, Sentinel Benefits Group Inc., and Quantum Capital Management Inc.

Prices were undisclosed.

New York-based Focus supported its purchases with senior debt via a credit facility with Bank of America NA and cash.

The acquisitions are in line with the registered investment advisory firm's plan to create a national wealth management firm, according to Rudy Adolf, chief executive and founder of Focus Financial.

"We have set out to build the leading independent fiduciary wealth manager in the country," he said, adding, "Our vision is to build a business that has the scale, resources and business model to take on the traditional wire houses that still dominate the registered investment adviser market."

The deals will boost Focus' assets under management to $15 billion and expand its presence through its network of other wealth management firms to 41 states.

Buckingham, whose units include Buckingham Asset Management Inc., is based in St. Louis. Sentinel Benefits is based in Wakefield, Mass., and Quantum is located in Corte Madera, Calif.

The day-to-day operations of the targets will continue to be overseen by the companies' respective management teams.

Adolf said Focus Financial is the largest acquirer of registered investment advisers across the U.S., typically purchasing 40% to 60% stakes in the firms it buys.

The firm has made nine investments in wealth management firms in the last 13 months.

Summit Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm that committed $35 million in equity to support Focus' formation in February 2006, did not invest additional equity to support the acquisitions.

Vinson & Elkins LLP attorney Robert Seber, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP attorney Steven Peck and Hamburger Law Firm attorney Brian Hamburger were counsel to Focus Financial.

"What we found with Focus was a structure and opportunity for us to grow into the next decade and beyond. We see an opportunity to build an even greater brand that stands for quality fiduciary wealth management," said Mont Levy, chief operating officer of BAM Advisor Services LLC, a unit of Buckingham Family of Financial Services.

The acquisitions by Focus follow a spate of other private equity buildups in the wealth-management space.

In January, for instance, New York's Crestview Partners LP announced it had acquired Birmingham, Mich., money manager Munder Capital Management from Comerica Inc. for undisclosed terms.