Focus adds $800 million Atlanta adviser

Focus Financial Partners continues to add to its deck of wealth managers, announcing Monday the addition of an Atlanta financial advice firm managing more than $800 million to its network. In a statement, Focus said it had taken a stake in Gratus Capital Management, the tenth largest fee-only advisory firm in Georgia, according to the InvestmentNews RIA Data Center. “Focus has successfully supported more than 40 mergers for our partner firms and we plan to do the same for Gratus as they look to acquire new talent to further establish a regional presence in Georgia and Florida,” Rajini Kodialam, a Focus co-founder and managing director, said in the statement. Both Focus and Gratus were founded in 2006. “As a partner firm, Focus provides us with the capital and deal expertise to grow through strategic acquisitions,” Gratus founder Hank A. McLarty Jr., a former Morgan Stanley broker, said in the statement. Gratus has ten employees, including Mr. McLarty and three other advisers, Focus said. Focus has 31 partner firms.