ACA Group buys Focus 1 Associates

ACA Group, a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) consultancy focusing on financial services clients, has acquired Focus 1 Associates, a provider of regulatory compliance services to wealth management, private equity, hedge fund, and diversified financial services firms.

Founded in 2005, Focus 1 specializes in supporting SEC-registered investment advisors with their compliance needs, including annual compliance reviews, mock SEC examinations, compliance training, and other a la carte compliance testing and review services.

The Medford, OR-based firm has 14 employees listed on LinkedIn and serves more than 100 clients in the US and UK.

ACA’s acquisition of Focus 1 will bolster its compliance advisory practice, which has offerings across registration and filing, program development and enhancement, reviews and mock exams, training and education, inspection support, and managed services.

“In an increasingly compliance-driven world, having access to specialized expertise across all areas of compliance is important to our clients,” said Tobin Cochran, managing member and president at Focus 1 Associates. “We’re thrilled to join with ACA, as we have a longtime relationship and have much respect for their culture of high-quality advisory services and technology as the market leader in the space. We’re confident that ACA will help us best serve the growing needs of our clients and are excited to provide them a truly unique offering in GRC.”

Genstar Capital last year merged portfolio company Foreside with ACA Group, forming one of the largest GRC consultancies focusing on the financial services industry. ACA Group today has more than 1,250 employees in the US, UK, and Malta providing GRC advisory and managed services, as well as distribution solutions via its proprietary regulatory technology platform.

“Following our merger with Foreside, we’re focused on acquiring great companies like Focus 1 as we become the platform of choice for clients,” said Shvetank Shah, CEO of ACA Group. “Focus 1’s team and clients will benefit from our industry-leading managed services and Compliance Alpha technology solutions.”

ACA Group earlier this year hired Neeraj Karhade as its chief financial officer.