Full-Time

Head of Wealth Advisory

Focus Financial Partners

Focus Financial Partners

51-200 employees

RIA aggregator and growth platform

No salary listed

Brisbane QLD, Australia + 1 more

More locations: Sydney NSW, Australia

In Person

Category
Finance & Banking (2)
,
Required Skills
Risk Management
Data Analysis
Requirements
  • 10+ years of progressive experience in wealth management or financial advisory services in Australia, with at least 6–8 years in senior leadership roles (e.g., Head of Advice, Head of Sales etc)
  • Proven track record of building and scaling high-performing advisory teams, driving consistent funds under management (FUM) and revenue growth through organic channels, referral networks, and inorganic initiatives (Mergers and Acquisitions, acquisitions, or integrations)
  • Demonstrated success in leveraging technology (e.g., Customer Relationship Management systems, artificial intelligence/analytics tools, portfolio platforms, automation workflows) to drive efficiency, adviser productivity, and client outcomes
  • Experience driving teams to deliver repeatable, scalable processes to automate routine tasks, streamline operations, and support business growth
  • Expertise in comprehensive wealth planning, portfolio construction, capital markets, alternative investments, tax/estate strategies, client relationship management, and business development via professional alliances
  • Full compliance with Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) professional standards for relevant providers (including meeting the legislated education/qualifications standard as of 1 January 2026 or via experienced provider pathway, registration on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR), and ongoing continuing professional development obligations)
  • Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Commerce, Economics, Business Administration, or related field (Master’s degree, Master of Business Administration, or equivalent strongly preferred)
  • Strategic thinker with strong business acumen, commercial orientation, and experience in evaluating mergers and acquisitions opportunities, partnership structures, and digital transformation roadmaps
  • Exceptional leadership, coaching, and people-development capabilities, with a focus on building growth oriented, client focused advisory teams
  • Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills; able to build trust with sophisticated clients, advisers, external referral sources, technology partners, and Chief Executive Officers
  • Deep understanding of the current Australian regulatory environment (Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Corporations Act, best interests duty, Financial Advisers Register), fiduciary best practices, integration considerations in Mergers and Acquisitions, and technology-enabled compliance/risk management
  • Analytical mindset with ability to interpret performance data, market trends, deal valuation/diligence, and efficiency metrics from automated systems
  • High degree of integrity, professionalism, and commitment to ethical standards
Responsibilities
  • Define and execute the long-term vision and strategy for the Focus Partners Australia Wealth Advisory team, aligning with overall business objectives and prioritising both organic and inorganic growth pathways
  • Drive organic growth in Net New Assets (NNA), revenue, and market share through new client acquisition, deepening existing relationships, expanding service offerings, and cultivating a robust referral ecosystem
  • Build and nurture high-value referral partnerships with external centers of influence (e.g., Certified Public Accounts, Wills & Estates Lawyers, Consultants, and other professionals) to generate consistent, high-quality leads and enhance the firm's reputation in target markets
  • Partnering with the President of Focus Partners Australia to identify, evaluate, and pursue strategic expansion opportunities through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including assessing potential acquisition targets (e.g., complementary advisory practices or teams) and joint ventures
  • Own P&L responsibility for the Wealth Advisory division
  • Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) including NNA growth (organic and inorganic), revenue per advisor, referral-sourced new business, client acquisition/retention, fee realisation, profitability, and M&A pipeline/progress, process efficiency metrics (eg time saved through automation or AI adoption)
  • Provide regular executive reporting and presentations to senior leadership on growth strategies, partnership outcomes, digital initiatives, M&A opportunities and operational efficiencies
  • Lead, motivate, and mentor a high-performing team of private wealth advisors, associate advisors, paraplanners, client service and operations professionals
  • Collaborate with People & Culture (P&C) to foster a culture of growth, excellence, collaboration, continuous learning, and client-first mindset
  • With P&C establish clear performance metrics, compensation structures (including incentives tied to referrals and growth initiatives), and development programs aligned with business goals
  • Ensure delivery of highly personalised, comprehensive wealth advisory services including financial planning, investment portfolio construction, retirement & legacy planning, tax-efficient strategies, risk management, philanthropy, and intergenerational wealth transfer
  • Maintain ultimate accountability for the overall client experience with a focus on client satisfaction and retention
  • Champion the business’s regulatory obligations, best-in-class advice standards and seamless integration of digital experiences (e.g client portals, automated insights) with human led advice
  • Partner with Risk & Compliance, Service Design & CX and technology teams to proactively address regulatory changes, emerging risks, service challenges and opportunities for process automation
Focus Financial Partners

Focus Financial Partners

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Focus Financial Partners supports independent registered investment advisers (RIAs) by building a network of partner firms and providing growth and operational support. Its core product is a customizable platform that helps RIAs grow their businesses and streamline operations, including resources for succession planning and strategic growth. It differentiates itself through a large, PE-backed partnership model that combines growth capital with a network approach, enabling advisors to go independent, merge with or join partner firms, and access scalable tools and services. The company’s goal is to help advisory practices expand, improve client service, and plan for smooth succession while maintaining client relationships.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

New York City, New York

Founded

2006

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Jump AI partnership automates workflows, boosting advisor productivity across 100+ locations.
  • Acquired Churchill adding $9.4B AUM in Q3 2025, Escala expands Australia presence.
  • Birenbaum CEO transition February 2026 strengthens internal leadership continuity.

What critics are saying

  • Trademark lawsuit against ex-Kovitz advisors' Mosaic Value Partners dilutes $1.6B brand Q2 2026.
  • Third CEO change in three years erodes partner loyalty, triggers defections by Q4 2026.
  • CD&R sells Focus in 2027 exit cycle, wiping equity amid lagging organic growth.

What makes Focus Financial Partners unique

  • Focus partners with 60+ independent fiduciary RIAs across US, Australia, Canada, UK.
  • Provides RIAs operational independence plus shared best practices and scale synergies.
  • Supports broker teams launching independent firms via Focus Independence program.

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Company News

T3 Technology Hub
Jan 22nd, 2026
Jump and Focus Financial Partners Launch Partnership to Elevate Advisor and Business Manager Productivity Through Power of AI

Jump and Focus Financial Partners launch partnership to elevate advisor and business manager productivity Through power of AI. * home * posts * tech news * Jump and Focus Financial Partners launch partnership to elevate advisor and business manager productivity Through power of AI. Jump, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for financial advisors and other financial services providers, announced a strategic partnership with Focus Financial Partners ('Focus'), an interdependent partnership of wealth management, business management and related financial services firms that collectively advise more than $500 billion in assets. The collaboration empowers Focus's business divisions to streamline meeting workflows, turn client conversations into actionable insights and accelerate their use of AI-driven productivity tools. The partnership delivers immediate, high-impact value to Focus's advisory teams by reducing administrative burden and freeing up more time for meaningful client work. Jump's ability to integrate directly with CRM and other wealth tech tools should reduce meeting prep time, improve data quality and support more automated workflows. "Partnering with Focus is a powerful validation of our shared vision for the future of advisor intelligence," said Parker Ence, chief executive officer and co-founder of Jump. "Together, we're transforming meeting dialogue into structured, system-ready data that we are confident will expand advisor capacity, strengthen client relationships and drive smarter, more informed decisions across firms." Through this partnership, Focus's advisory teams can: * Spend more time with clients by reducing post-meeting administrative work * Turn conversations into clear next steps without manual note taking or data entry * Improve the consistency of client information across their teams * Rely on smoother, more organized workflows that cut down on tool-hopping "At Focus, our mission centers around clients and equipping our advisory teams with the capabilities and resources to deliver exceptional service to them," said Mark Israel, chief technology officer at Focus. "We believe our partnership with Jump will help our advisory teams spend more time providing quality advice to their clients, strengthen client relationships and allow our team to scale while providing a customized, holistic wealth offering to clients. At the end of the day, it's about delivering an elevated and more personalized experience for clients and the tools that help us get there." This announcement follows a year of significant momentum for Jump, including surpassing 20,000 advisors on its platform and securing notable partnerships with Osaic, LPL Financial, Cetera, eMoney, RightCapital and others - further advancing its mission to shape the future of advisor intelligence. The partnership with Jump underscores Focus's commitment to equipping its business divisions with technology that meaningfully improves efficiency and client service and sets a new expectation for what leading RIAs offer their advisors. To learn more about how Jump can benefit your firm, visit jump.ai.

InvestmentNews
Dec 15th, 2025
'Sudden' succession plan at Focus Financial draws skepticism

'Sudden' succession plan at Focus Financial draws skepticism. Incoming Focus Financial Partners CEO Adam Birenbaum (left) and departing CEO Michael Nathanson Focus Financial says its latest CEO change was part of a succession plan, but the $520 billion RIA's transition gives the market only about seven weeks of public notice. As Focus Financial Partners implements its third CEO in three years, the RIA aggregator's "succession plan" is being questioned by some industry sources due to its abrupt timeline. On the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 12, Focus announced that Michael Nathanson, 58, will be leaving his role as CEO to become chairman effective Feb 1, 2026, with current 47-year-old president Adam Birenbaum named incoming CEO. The change marks a "succession plan designed by Mr. Nathanson in consultation with the Board as part of the company's long-term growth and leadership strategy," according to the press release from Focus, whose affiliates oversee a combined $520 billion in client assets. "When you have a succession plan, if there's an orderly transition intended then usually there's a communication plan around that out to stakeholders, and it's not as sudden. It's going to say, six months from now, whatever it is," said RIA industry lawyer Corey Kupfer. "The fact that it was executed now makes me believe something must have happened." Nathanson became CEO of Focus in April 2024, replacing interim CEO Dan Glaser. Glaser is an operating partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which acquired Focus Financial in 2023 and saw founding chief executive Rudy Adolf depart Focus that same year. "At this time, we are focusing our efforts on implementing this transition, including communicating with our many team members and other stakeholders," a PR spokesperson for Focus Financial wrote to InvestmentNews on Monday. Nathanson previously was CEO of The Colony Group, an RIA acquired by Focus in 2012 that merged in 2024 with Buckingham Wealth Partners, a Focus affiliate led by Birenbaum. Both of those firms were rebranded under the Focus Partners Wealth consolidation announced earlier this year. Louis Diamond, CEO of advisor recruiting firm Diamond Consultants, called Focus's latest CEO switch a "huge surprise" while also sharing the industry's high regard for Birenbaum. "It seemed like having Michael Nathanson become CEO of Focus was a genius move. He was the poster child for Focus. He did one of their first deals, he was the exact success story of showing up with Focus with like a billion, do a bunch of M&A deals, build an insanely valuable enterprise, and then be at the helm for the next phase of growth," said Diamond. "Seeing this was definitely a big surprise because he hasn't been in the seat for that long." Kupfer adds that on the surface, it seemed Nathanson was executing the normal expectations private equity owners have for mega-RIAs they buy into. "They've been consolidating, they were creating these hubs," Kupfer said. "Everything that we've talked about in other transitions that PE wants firms to be doing, under Nathanson it seemed like Focus was on that path." Fellow private equity-backed mega-RIAs Hightower Advisors and Edelman Financial Engines both announced CEO changes in 2025. "Unlike the Edelman situation where there was this view that the market came back and said, from what we understand, that the organic growth rates need to be kicked up, I don't see any particular thing here that wasn't moving in the right direction in terms of what PE would want with Focus Financial," added Kupfer. "I think this is exactly the direction that CD&R has wanted Focus to move, and they moved that way under Nathanson." The Bluerock Private Real Estate Fund ended its first day of trading at $14.70 per share, a 39.7% decline from its value last week. After a record year for RIA M&A, Cohen says deal activity is poised to speed up as private equity-backed firms hit the exit phase of their investment cycle. Meanwhile, Alex David has also left Raymond James to become CEO of Equity Services Inc. Elsewhere, mega-RIA Mercer Advisors expanded in Idaho with a female-led boutique firm, while AssetMark adds another $3 billion in client assets. As generations of women come into their own amid the great wealth transfer, advisors who lean on empathy and language for trust-building are poised for a defining opportunity.

Business Wire
Jul 1st, 2025
Escala Partners Joins Focus Partners Australia

In addition, Travis Danysh is expected to be named as Executive Chairman of Focus' Australian businesses, in addition to his role at Focus Financial Partners.

Memesita
Jul 1st, 2025
Focus Financial Partners Acquires $239M David Wealth Management

Focus Partners’ Wealth Grab: Is This the Start of a Consolidation Frenzy in RIAs? Okay, let’s be honest, the financial world can feel like a giant, slightly confusing game of Jenga. One minute...

FinanceLand
May 31st, 2025
Focus Financial Makes First External M&A Foray Since Rebrand

Recent changes In early May, Focus named Zinovy Iosovich as chief growth officer of its Focus Partners division.