Focus unwinds another RIA hub and adds, again, to Adam B's internal empire • Top SSGA alts exec resigns after fund kerfuffle • SEC and judge deliver one-two ordering Vanguard to pay investors' legal fees
The New York City rollup doesn't need six hubs • Shewta Narasimhadevara is leaving SSGA after just five months in her current role • Judge blocks what class accepted, telling lawyers there's a better deal on the table
5 min readWith one key subtraction, Focus Financial Partners just added weight, again, to Adam Birenbaum's shoulders – an untold number of staff and about $35 billion of managed assets.
The New York City rollup with $450 billion of AUA across 70 firms added Kovitz Investment Group and its $35 billion of AUA to Focus Partners Wealth's (FPW) $140 billion in AUA, which falls under Birenbaum's auspices.
He took the president's job at Focus Financial Partners, the upstream entity that holds FPW on Apr. 30. See: CD&R again wipes away more vestiges of Focus Financial's 'financial-engineering' legacy by making Adam Birenbaum president.
“Kovitz will be merging into Focus Partners Wealth at the end of 2025 … [and] we intend to provide additional updates later this year,” says a company spokesman, via email.
The zapping of Kovitz as one of the original six 2023-designated hubs represents the latest in a fine-tuning of people and clusters of RIA aggregation.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which acquired the company in a $7 billion 2023 deal, had created the hubs in June of that year. It made Kovitz CEO Mitch Kovitz vice chair in January 2024. It had 90 firms at the time.
The story was first reported by Citywire but confirmed generally by Focus.
With Ray Dalio gone and assets down, Bridgewater wants retail assets, but at arm's length; partner State Street will absorb hassles and risk for branding and fee opportunity
SSGA alts exec leaves following rough rollout of ‘Apollo’ fund
Shweta Narasimhadevara is resigning from State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) after three years at the firm, and about three months after launching an ETF that ended up in headlines when the SEC immediately rebuked it.
The SPDR State Street Global Advisors Apollo Public & Private Credit ETF ran afoul of regulators over the use of “Apollo” in the name, given that Apollo held no official position with the fund. State Street -- under protest – agrees to nix 'misleading' 'Apollo' name.
The fund is now listed as the SPDR SSGA IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV) but it has had tepid uptake from investors, since its launch Feb. 26.
PRIV manages just $54.46 million, despite receiving seed funding of around $50 million. See: The unprecedented and once 'unthinkable' State Street-Apollo ETF rollout is still setting off alarm bells.
“Narasimhadevara has informed us of her decision to leave State Street Global Advisors. We thank [her] for her contributions and efforts over the last three years and wish her success for her future,” says a company spokesman, via email.
Story Timeline
Narasimhadevara spent five months as SSGA's global head of private markets and alternatives – a short stint that included the firm's partnership with Bridgewater, and its smoother launch of another ETF. See: Bridgewater wants retail assets, but at arm's length.
Following Narasimhadevara's departure, SSGA global head of product innovation and strategic partnerships, Mark Alberici, will “assume responsibilities” for the time being for the firm's private markets business, the company confirms.
SSGA declined to answer whether it seeks to hire a full-time replacement.
Briefs: Focus Financial gets second happy Hollywood ending in LA lawsuit • Orion closes deal in record 14 days • iCapital buys ID shop • VC milestones & raises • People moves at Apex, Dynasty & Wealthfront
Judge gives Vanguard investors' $13 million boost in class action settlement
Vanguard Group may have presumed it settled a class action suit at $40 million last fall, but the Securities and Exchange Commission thought the aggrieved investor class sold out too cheaply -- and a judge agreed.
It was a math problem where lawyer fees caused almost as much trouble as they solved.
"The named plaintiffs, their counsel, and Vanguard cannot deny the math," US District Judge John Murphy said.
The 2024 class action settlement obliged Vanguard to pay $40 million to investors hit by an unexpected tax bill. But after subtracting the lawyers' take, investors were only going to net $27 million under the original settlement.
Murphy blocked Vanguard's late 2024 settlement in favor of a January settlement with the SEC where the loser, Vanguard, was obligated to foot the legal bill.
“If a class is guaranteed to get more money, if we reject a proposed settlement, than approve it, are we obliged to reject it? … Our answer is ‘Yes,’” he writes, in a 25-page ruling. See (Briefs): Ding ding ding, SEC Rings Bells at Vanguard.
The dispute was Vanguard's December 2020 decision to cut the minimum bar for its lowest-cost target-date-funds (TDF) from $100 million to $5 million – a move that sparked many richer Vanguard investors to move their assets to the lower-fee funds.
To cover redemptions, Vanguard's higher-fee TDFs had to sell assets, triggering capital gains taxes, even for those investors who sold no fund assets, Reuters reports.
“Vanguard didn't want to see revenue drop; instead, they've now paid [millions] in fines and besmirched their reputation,” wrote RWA Wealth Partners founder and former CEO, Daniel Wiener, in a January LinkedIn post, referring both to the SEC settlement and the 2020 fee changes.
Rely on RIABiz? Tell Google.
Naming us a preferred source puts our reporting first in your Top Stories and AI Overviews. Takes one click, and only you see the difference.