Kovitz veteran steps into CIO role after Focus Partners Wealth integration

Focus Partners Wealth has tapped a longtime Kovitz investment leader as its new chief investment officer.

In a short LinkedIn post on Tuesday, Joel Hirsh revealed that he's stepping into a new position as CIO at Focus Partners Wealth, one of five wealth hubs at mega-RIA Focus Financial Partners. 

According to the job description on his LinkedIn profile, Hirsh will serve as chief investment officer and chair of the global investment committee. In that capacity, he sets the firm’s overall investment strategy, including strategic asset allocation and oversight of manager sourcing, due diligence, and research across fixed income, public equities, and alternative investments.

Hirsh is taking on the CIO role at Focus Partners Wealth after nearly two decades at Chicago-based Kovitz Investment Group, which he joined in 2006. Most recently, he spent five years as co-chief investment officer at Kovitz starting in June 2020, a period that spanned the pandemic-era market dislocation, rapid rate hikes, and growing advisor interest in private markets.

His move comes shortly after Focus integrated most of Kovitz’s business into Focus Partners Wealth. In a mid-January update, Focus Financial confirmed that Chicago-headquartered Kovitz is shifting the majority of its operations into the hub, with about $35 billion in client assets expected to be added to Focus Partners Wealth’s existing $140 billion as of Sept. 30. 

“We have made rapid, substantial progress in our strategic evolution as a company, thanks in no small part to the visionary, client-first leadership of Kovitz, Focus Partners Wealth, and our other Focus Partners firms,” said Michael Nathanson, chief executive of Focus Financial Partners, when the completion of the Kovitz move was officially announced.

“As we work together to do even more for our advisory teams and their clients, we saw a natural opportunity with Kovitz to continue the convergence of our core US wealth businesses to build on our strong momentum.”

In December, Focus said the $520 billion mega-RIA will transfer the CEO position to Adam Birenbaum on Feb. 1, with Nathanson stepping back to assume a board chair role.

At the time, Dan Glaser, an operating partner at private equity owner Clayton, Dubilier & Rice – which acquired Focus in 2023 – described the transition as “the thoughtful succession plan we have long envisioned,” calling Birenbaum “the right leader to build on the foundation Michael set.”