Michael Nathanson Steps Down as Focus Financial CEO
Michael Nathanson, who has served as CEO of Focus Financial Partners for the last year and a half, is stepping down from the role, with current president Adam Birenbaum taking over the position, the firm announced Friday. Nathanson will transition to chairman and member of the board of directors.
In a statement, the company said the move was part of a succession plan designed by Nathanson.
Nathanson has led Focus since April 2024, spearheading its larger effort to consolidate its 90 independently-operated subsidiary practices into a handful of hub firms. Prior to that, he served as president of Focus and CEO of The Colony Group, one of Focus’s largest partner firms. The Colony Group has since been designated as one of Focus’s hub firms and rebranded as Focus Partners Wealth. Birenbaum had served as president of that hub.
“It has been my privilege to lead and guide Focus through the most recent phase of its evolution,” Nathanson said in a statement. “Now that a strong foundation and clear strategy is in place, after consideration with the board, we determined that Adam is uniquely positioned to lead the organization through the next phase of its growth.”
Birenbaum will lead Focus as it continues the transformation from a holding-company model to an integrated business platform, following the firm’s 2023 acquisition by private equity owners Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Stone Point Capital in a deal valued at over $7 billion.
Birenbaum was promoted to the role of president in April 2025. He began his career as an intern with a Focus legacy firm over 20 years ago.
Altogether, Focus Financial Partners’ various business lines collectively oversee more than $520 billion in assets.
In June, Nathanson spoke at the Wealth Management EDGE conference in Boca Raton, Fla., saying that the RIA industry has entered the age of “interdependence,” with large firms that don’t adapt to that evolution potentially “going extinct.” He made the case for the interconnected model, noting that his own firm has been working to bring its national network closer together in what he calls a “coalition of the willing.”
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