ARS Wealth to Join Focus as a Partner Firm, Establishing Focus' Presence in the Florida High Net Worth Market and Broadening Its National Scale

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 1, 2021 / Focus Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ:FOCS) ("Focus"), a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms, announced today that ARS Wealth Advisors, LLC ("ARS Wealth"), an integrated wealth management firm headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, has entered into an agreement to join the Focus partnership. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

ARS Wealth was founded in 1997 to provide its clients with fiduciary wealth management services tailored to their unique circumstances and needs. Today, ARS Wealth provides comprehensive investment management, wealth planning, tax preparation and planning, trust and estate planning, and insurance review and consultation services to high-net worth clients in Florida and more than 30 other states.

"Choosing a strategic partner was not a decision we took lightly," said Tony Anderson, Managing Partner and CEO of ARS Wealth. "After years of consideration, it became clear Focus was the one partner that could provide the capital and value-added services necessary to help our firm meet the expanding needs of our clients and staff. Focus has a long record of partnering with many of the most successful RIA firms in the country and allowing them to maintain their entrepreneurial independence while simultaneously providing outstanding value-added services. This made the decision to join Focus an easy one for my partners, Mike Murray and Drew Swenson, and me."

"We are thrilled to welcome the ARS Wealth team to Focus as our fourth new partner firm this year," said Rudy Adolf, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Focus. "ARS Wealth has structured its business as a family office for high-net worth clients, which is an attractive and differentiating characteristic of its client service model. It will expand Focus' footprint into Florida, an important wealth market and one that is experiencing enormous growth.

"ARS Wealth has a young and energetic management team with a strong growth mind-set, which positions them to benefit substantially from partnering with us. Our focus on empowering the entrepreneurs that characterize the fiduciary wealth management business is highly distinctive. Our scale advantages, the broad and deep resources we offer our partners, and our M&A expertise are also significant competitive advantages in this market. Joining Focus will enable ARS Wealth to take its growth to the next level."