Hill Investment Group to Join Focus as a Partner Firm, Further Strengthening Focus’ Presence in the Midwest

New York, NY –  January 15, 2021 – Focus Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: FOCS) (“Focus”), a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms, announced today that Hill Investment Group, LLC (“Hill”), a registered investment adviser headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, has entered into an agreement to join the Focus partnership. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2005 by Rick Hill and Matt Hall, Hill is a fee-only firm that provides wealth management services to a diverse array of high net worth families. Hill is respected as one of the outstanding boutique, evidence-based firms in the country. The firm has a motto of “take the long view,” which teaches patience and discipline to wealthy clients throughout the U.S. and beyond.

“When Rick and I launched Hill, we knew we wanted to build a great team so that we could deliver an exceptional client experience. I’m proud to say that over the last 15 years our business has grown because our talented team members have consistently put our clients first. When it came to choosing Focus as a strategic partner, we reached the same conclusion,” said Matt Hall, Co-Founder and President of Hill. “Through its independent partnership model, Focus embraces Hill’s mantra to ‘take the long view.’ We expect our strategic partnership with Focus to keep our clients front and center while accelerating our growth trajectory . Access to Focus’ capital, scale and value-added resources will also help us further enhance our clients’ experience,” added Matt. “We look forward to our partnership with Focus as we enter our next chapter of growth.”

“We are honored to welcome Hill to our partnership,” said Rudy Adolf, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Focus. “Matt and his impressive team of next-generation leaders share an entrepreneurial mind-set and passion for serving their clients that make Hill an ideal Focus partner. These attributes, combined with Hill’s high-touch service model and well-defined brand, make them an excellent firm to grow through M&A. We believe the Hill team will take full advantage of the breadth of resources Focus has to offer and continue their robust growth track record as they build their business.”

About Focus Financial Partners

Focus Financial Partners Inc. is a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms. Focus provides access to best practices, resources and continuity planning for its partner firms who serve individuals, families, employers and institutions with comprehensive wealth management services. Focus partner firms maintain their operational independence, while they benefit from the synergies, scale, economics and best practices offered by Focus to achieve their business objectives. For more information about Focus, please visit focusfinancialpartners.com.

About Hill Investment Group

Founded in 2005, Hill Investment Group, LLC is an evidence-based investment advisory firm serving a select group of clients nationwide. The firm’s holistic service offering includes fee-only investment management and deep financial planning and wealth mapping intended to transform the financial lives of its clients.  Hill’s team serves clients through a clear and transparent process that navigates clients through all of life’s milestones. For more information about Hill, please visit www.hillinvestmentgroup.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect Focus’ current views with respect to certain current and future events. These forward-looking statements are and will be, subject to many risks, uncertainties and factors relating to Focus’ operations and business environment, including, without limitation, uncertainty surrounding the current COVID-19 pandemic, which may cause future events to be materially different from these forward-looking statements or anything implied therein. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Focus on the date of this release. Focus does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any statements expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additional information on risk factors that could affect Focus may be found in Focus’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor and Media Contact

Tina Madon
Senior Vice President
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Focus Financial Partners
P: +1-646-813-2909
tmadon@focuspartners.com

Here at HIG, we are passionate about service and hospitality. What does this really mean for you and your financial life? Listen to John Reagan talk about it in this short message.

This month, our team read the new Morgan Housel book, The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness.  It is THE best personal finance book we have read in a long time. Why? It is filled with real stories that show, instead of just tell, the real impact investing behavior has on people’s financial lives. Matt Hall recently interviewed Morgan Housel on his podcast, and Housel shared some of these astounding stories and more. Listen here!

Our favorite takeaways:

Rich vs. Wealthy

Rich is out in the open like a flashy sports car, while wealth is the money that you don’t see but has the capacity to change lives – yours or others. “Rich” is empty. Wealth is rock-solid. How do we get wealthy? Save a bit more than you spend over a long period of time, and try not to interrupt the compounding. Sound familiar?

The importance of time, and the magic of compounding 

Compounding is so hard to imagine because it is by definition not intuitive. Warren Buffet is 90 years old, and he’s worth roughly $90 billion. That’s a huge number. It gets even crazier when you realize 99% of his net worth came after his 50th birthday, and 97% came after his 65th birthday. That’s worth repeating – 99% of his net worth came after 50. The lesson: once wealth starts compounding over time, the numbers get bigger faster than you can imagine. Also, it’s really never too late; however, starting today (or yesterday) is the best. That’s the long view in neon lights! 

How to feel “better off”

If the more you make the more you spend, it will always feel like the goal line is moving. To feel better off, growing the gap between what you earn and what you spend is key. One exercise that has helped our clients is understanding what “enough” means for them. From a place of enough, any additional dollar earned contributes to growing wealth. 

So how do you define “enough”? In our experience, a simple dinner conversation with family is a great place to start. If you want help facilitating that family conversation, let us know – family meetings are one of our favorite services to provide. 

Do you eat your own cooking?

At HIG, we “eat our own cooking.” Translation: we invest our personal investments the same way we invest our client’s. While that sounds like an obvious statement, it is not the norm in the financial advice world. Sadly, not even close. Morgan talks about how important it is to ask experts how they apply their expertise to themselves or their family. For example, ask your doctor what kind of care they would want if they were in your shoes. You might be surprised by the answer.  Curious to learn more? Give us a call.