Focus Financial Partners : News

Focus Financial Partners Announces Two Strategic Hires;
Both Bring Strong Corporate Backgrounds to Help Manage Rapid Growth

(New York, NY – August 21, 2007) Focus Financial Partners, LLC, a leading independent fiduciary wealth management firm, today announced two strategic hires.

Richard P. Gill has joined Focus as Vice President. Formerly of Charles Schwab, Mr. Gill will lead strategic efforts to support brokers in transitioning to independent advisors. In addition, Bettina R. Eckerle has joined as General Counsel, overseeing all legal activities and external law firm relationships for Focus.

“Richard and Bettina bring a wealth of experience and outstanding career track records that will help us build out and enhance Focus’ corporate structure,” said Rudy Adolf, Focus Founder and CEO. “As the leading independent firm in the industry now with more than $20 billion in client assets, Focus has reached a level where these additional roles are necessary to support our rapid growth appropriately. We are pleased to have them join the Focus family.”

Mr. Gill has a strong background in the RIA industry. At Focus, he concentrates on working with brokers and registered reps who have decided to go independent. He helps identify opportunities for these “advisors turning independent” to embrace the fiduciary model and partner with Focus. Mr. Gill joins Focus after his tenure at Charles Schwab where he helped launch new services for Schwab's 5,000 RIA clients, including the commission partnership between Schwab Institutional and Cambridge to provide superior service to advisors turning independent. He also advised Schwab Institutional’s senior executives on potential acquisition targets and coordinated due diligence efforts. Before joining Schwab, Rich was at Silver Lake Partners where he performed financial analysis and due diligence on technology leveraged buyouts. Mr. Gill resides in San Francisco and has a degree from Oxford University.

Ms. Eckerle is responsible for all legal matters at Focus. Prior to joining Focus, she was the General Counsel of DigitalGlobe Inc., the leading company in the commercial earth imagery and geospatial information market, where she developed the legal department and oversaw all of its aspects. She joined DigitalGlobe from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where she spent five years servicing top domestic and international corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions, financings, while also providing general corporate advice. Prior to joining Wachtell, Ms. Eckerle spent four years in the corporate department of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York where she advised clients in a variety of matters, including securities (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions. Her legal experience also includes four years in commercial banking with a top European bank in New York and Munich. Ms. Eckerle received her law degree with honors from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, and her LLM (CJ) from New York University. She is a member of the New York and Munich Bar and the American Bar Association. She resides in New York City.

About Focus Financial Partners

Focus Financial Partners, LLC, is the leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms in the United States. With more than $29 billion in client assets and more than 600 employees, Focus partners provide wealth management, benefit and investment consulting services to individuals, families, employers, and institutions. Clients benefit from the Focus model of independent, personalized investment management and advice under a fee-based structure. Focus also provides an attractive option for advisory firm principals who want to maintain their entrepreneurial independence; benefit from the synergies, scale, economics and best practices of the market leader; and achieve an eventual, smooth ownership transition. For more information, please visit www.focusfinancialpartners.com.