Focus Financial Partners, the New York-based RIA aggregator, is continuing to consolidate by merging Gratus Capital, an Atlanta-based partner firm with $3.8 billion in assets under management, into The Colony Group. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
Gratus was founded in 2005 by CEO Hank McLarty and focuses on high-net-worth individuals and families. The firm joined the Focus network in 2014, according to its website.
“Gratus’ expanding team is a strong fit for our organization,” said Adam Birenbaum, who became CEO of Colony after it was recently merged with Buckingham Strategic Wealth. “Their culture and processes have enabled their growth, and the resources we are cultivating at Colony will be deployed to help firms like Gratus maintain and accelerate that growth.”
Last year, Focus went private in a sale to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice. Since CD&R took over, Focus has been consolidating its 90 independently operated subsidiary practices into a handful of its largest firms. Previously, Focus bought out the management teams of Colony and Kovitz and converted them to “hub” firms that will acquire other Focus partner RIAs.
In March, Colony announced its merger with GW & Wade, a Wellesley, Mass.-headquartered RIA with $10.4 billion in assets. In April, Colony merged with InterOcean Capital Group, a Nashville-based RIA. That was followed by the merger with Buckingham in May. In June, Focus moved five business lines from Connectus to Colony, including Atlas Private Wealth Management, Connectus Private, Hunt Valley Wealth, Mid-Continent Capital and NEIRG Wealth Management.
Colony recently named Daniel Anderson, former CFO of Buckingham Strategic Wealth, as its new CFO, replacing Terri Feeney, according to public filings. Sal Papa, general counsel and CCO at Buckingham, will serve as Colony’s chief legal and risk officer, while Justin Ferri, president and COO at Buckingham, will serve as co-president alongside Zinovy Iosovich.