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RIA Edge Podcast: The Evolution of RIA M&A With Focus Financial’s Rajini KodialamRIA Edge Podcast: The Evolution of RIA M&A With Focus Financial’s Rajini Kodialam

Rajini Kodialam, Focus Financial's co-founder and chief operating officer, discusses the M&A opportunities that exist today for RIAs.

Mark Bruno, Managing Director, Wealth Management

May 2, 2023

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While there have been hundreds of M&A transactions in the RIA channel in recent years, Focus Financial was one of the first strategic acquirers in the industry more than a decade ago—and has since grown into one of the largest and most influential firms in the wealth management business. 

In this episode of the RIA Edge podcast, Rajini Kodialam, Focus co-founder and chief operating officer, sits with Informa’s Mark Bruno to discuss the evolution of M&A and the opportunities that exist today. Specifically, Mark and Rajini discuss:

  • How RIAs—both as buyers and sellers—are thinking differently about M&A today than they were just 12 months ago, given the changes in markets, economy and cost of capital;

  • What “problem” Focus specifically solves for firms that it acquires or partners with—and how has that evolved over the last decade;

  • How Focus differentiates itself from other professional buyers that have emerged in recent years; and

  • Opportunities for RIAs to go global and enter markets outside of the United States.

Resources:

 RIA Edge Podcast

Connect With Mark Bruno:

Connect With Rajini:

 About Our Guest:

Rajini is a co-founder of Focus and responsible for acquisition, relationship management and value-added initiatives across the firm.

Prior to founding Focus, Rajini worked at American Express where she managed interactive services for the U.S. Consumer Card and Travel businesses. Prior to joining American Express, she was with McKinsey & Company.

Rajini loves to cook, experiment with xeric gardening in her Austin home and aspires to write a sci-fi novel.  Rajini holds an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York, a PGDM from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B.A. from Delhi University, India.

 

Listen to the RIA Edge Podcast

About the Author

Mark Bruno

Managing Director, Wealth Management, Informa Connect

Mark Bruno is Managing Director, Wealth Management at Informa Connect. In his role, Mr. Bruno leads the company’s Wealth Management media and event properties, which currently consists of WealthManagement.com, Inside ETFs and Inside WealthStack. He is also charged with driving several innovative new community and advisor-based initiatives, including the launch of the new RIA Edge podcast, event and webcast series.

In addition, Mr. Bruno is overseeing strategic partnerships and acquisitions to accelerate Informa’s growth within the financial advisor and wealth management communities. Mr. Bruno brings over 20 years of experience in the wealth management and asset management industries to Informa, including prominent leadership roles in industry media, research, and consulting organizations.

Before joining Informa Connect, Mr. Bruno was a Managing Director at ECHELON Partners, where he provided investment banking, consulting and valuation services to wealth managers. Mr. Bruno specialized in helping RIAs with a range of strategic initiatives, and his areas of expertise include organizational design and assessments, compensation consulting and succession and continuity solutions.

Prior to joining ECHELON, Mr. Bruno was the Managing Director and Associate Publisher at InvestmentNews, where he was responsible for overseeing a wide range of businesses, including IN’s research, content strategy, digital, custom publishing and sales groups. Mr. Bruno was with InvestmentNews for 12 years and helped establish the company as the leading B2B media brand in the wealth management industry. He played an integral role in the sale of InvestmentNews from Crain Communication to Bonhill Plc in 2018.

Mr. Bruno is an award-winning journalist, author and researcher who has written and edited for a number of financial publications over the past two decades, including InvestmentNews, Financial Week, Pensions & Investments and U.S. Banker. Mr. Bruno has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Chicago Tribune for his expertise in wealth and investment management. Mr. Bruno has received numerous accolades for his writing and reporting, including the American Business Media's prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award, and for his breaking news coverage and analysis of the financial services industry by The Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Mr. Bruno is the author of Save Now or Die Trying: Achieving Long-Term Wealth In Your 20s and 30s, one of the top-selling retirement planning books of 2007.