Focus Financial Partners continues to merge advisor firms in its network, announcing today that six business lines of Greenwich, Conn.-based Connectus Wealth Advisors have been accquired by two of its hub firms, the Colony Group and Kovitz Investment Group.
New York-based Focus, a wealth management firm aggregator, said the Colony Group has acquired five Connectus business lines: Atlas Private Wealth Management, Connectus Private, Hunt Valley Wealth, Mid-Continent Capital and NEIRG Wealth Management. Kovitz Investment Group has acquired Connectus brand NorthCoast Asset Management, Focus said.
The transactions closed on June 1, a press release said. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Roughly $5.3 billion in assets has been added to Colony through the deals, while Kovitz has added roughly $3.4 billion, Focus said.
These business combinations are the latest partnerships that have taken place at the RIA aggregator this year. Last month, Boston-based Colony Group was combined with another of Focus’s largest and most successful firms, Buckingham Strategic Wealth.
In a recent interview with Financial Advisor, Focus CEO Michael Nathanson said he's an advocate of shared platforms, but added that firms in the Focus network are not being pressured to consolidate. Those who decide to merge their businesses will be among a “coalition of the willing,” he said.
Connectus, an active acquirer both in the U.S. and globally, was launched in December of 2020. Its U.S. advisors and clients moving to Colony, the release noted, “will benefit from expanded services and deeper capabilities, gaining access to Colony’s open architecture investment platform, in-house tax planning, family office services and more.” It further noted that the transactions “adds senior-level talent to Colony and will strengthen its footprint in key markets, including Chicago, greater Baltimore and South Florida.”
Zinovy Iosovich, president and chief services officer of Colony, said, “Each brings a unique offering and core competency, and we are committed to providing the advisory teams additional depth and broader capabilities to better serve their clients.”
“This deal provides strategic benefits on multiple fronts to multiple beneficiaries,” Nathanson said. “It maximizes the potential and effectiveness of each Connectus business line while adding additional high-quality senior leadership to Colony.”
NorthCoast Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer Patrick Jamin said his firm is “excited to join a firm like Kovitz that shares our DNA in portfolio construction and investment research. ... Joining Kovitz will allow our advisors to continue providing clients with a comprehensive wealth management and planning experience that will be fortified by Kovitz’s resources.”
Mitchell Kovitz, founder and co-chief investment officer of Kovitz and vice chairman of Focus, noted that NorthCoast has "a distinct excellence in offering investment solutions designed for clients with concentrated stock positions, which is an increasingly necessary tool for our clients who are corporate executives.”
In August 2023, Focus was sold to private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier and Rice and Stone Point Capital for more than $7 billion in cash, a deal that took the firm private. Its founders have since left.