Focus Financial Partners said early Monday that Strategic Wealth Partners, a Deerfield, Illinois-based RIA with $1.4 billion-plus in client assets, had joined its partnership. This means Focus has brought on 23 new partners in 2014.
"We are thrilled to welcome Strategic Wealth Partners to our partnership. Their dedication to client-centric service and their desire to grow make them an excellent fit for our growing partnership of entrepreneurial firms," said Rudy Adolf, founder and CEO of Focus, in a statement.
"Focus has successfully completed 23 RIA and broker lift-out transactions year to date," Adolf explained, "17 of which were on behalf of our partner firms, adding billions in assets along with new talent."
The partnership group, which has yearly revenues of more than $325 million, sees more room for expansion in the nation's third-largest urban area.
"Given the highly fragmented nature of the Chicago RIA market, we see tremendous potential for Strategic Wealth Partners to further establish a regional presence in and around Chicago," said Vamsi Yadlapati, managing director at Focus, in a press release.
Principals David J. Copeland and Neal H. Price, each of whom has been in the investment industry for more than 20 years, founded Strategic Wealth Partners in 2008. It includes 14 staff members.
Copeland cut his teeth in the business at Merrill Lynch (BAC) in the 1980s, while Price started his career at Everen Securities in the 1990s, according to FINRA records.
"We are delighted to partner with a firm that can help us maintain our acute focus on client service, while simultaneously deploying capital and deal expertise to grow through strategic acquisitions," said Price, in a press release.
Other firms that have joined Focus so far this year include Gratus Capital Management of Atlanta; Flynn Family Office of New York; Summit Financial Wealth Advisors of Lafayette, Louisiana; Quadrant Private Wealth of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and IFM Capital Advisors of Denver.
"We ultimately decided that Focus was the right partner for us based on their stellar track record of providing unparalleled access to capital and growth support as well as their ability to attract additional talent to our bench," Copeland said.
