Focus Financial Acquires ML Management Partners

The New York firm, which manages finances for television and film talent, joins Focus's growing business management line.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Financial Planning

Steel-and-glass office tower rising in a dense Manhattan financial district, viewed from street level with reflections of neighboring buildings. — Focus Financial Partners has acquired New York business management firm ML Management Partners, which serves television and film talent, financial terms undisclosed. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Focus Financial Partners has acquired ML Management Partners, a New York-based business management firm that runs the finances of television and film talent. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Why it matters

The acquisition extends Focus's business management offerings into entertainment-industry wealth services, a segment it has been building out for nearly two years. For clients, it adds family office services for high-net-worth individuals backed by greater firm infrastructure.

Focus reported more than $550 billion in advised assets as of June 30, compared with about $500 billion at the start of the year. Financial terms of the ML Management Partners deal were not disclosed.

The players

Focus Financial Partners

A U.S. wealth management firm that has grown through acquisitions of independent registered investment advisers and has built out a business management line.

ML Management Partners

A New York-based business management firm founded in 1988 that handles finances for entertainment-industry clients.

Mark Landesman

The founder and chief executive of ML Management Partners, who has led the firm since its 1988 founding.

The details

ML Management Partners, founded in 1988 by Mark Landesman, originally worked mostly with comedians and now serves on- and off-camera talent, producers, directors, writers and industry executives. The firm has offices in New York City and Los Angeles, and Landesman said the deal gives his firm access to greater resources and infrastructure at Focus.

1988: ML Management Partners is founded by Mark Landesman.
December 2024: Focus names Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman its first business management hub.
May: Focus Partners Wealth agrees to buy EverNest Financial Advisors, a Carmel, Indiana firm with about $960 million in regulatory assets.
June 30: Focus reports more than $550 billion in advised assets.

Market Dynamics

The deal continues a pattern of consolidation among independent registered investment advisers, as Focus has repeatedly acquired firms to expand its platform. It also follows Focus's December 2024 move to name a business management hub, which signals a strategy of building specialized wealth-service lines alongside acquisitions.

For entertainment-industry clients of ML Management Partners, the deal may change the set of family office and wealth services available to them. Clients considering business management or family office arrangements can weigh the expanded resources now tied to Focus.

The takeaway

Clients weighing business management or family office services should compare the scope of services and fee structures across firms. Consolidation can expand the resources a firm offers, but it can also change who ultimately serves a client.