Atlas
Back to RIA Rollups
Legal / Service Provider·RIA Rollups

Rajini Kodialam

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Focus Financial Partners

New York, NY

RK
LinkedIn
Why they matter

Co-founded and scaled Focus Financial from zero to a $7B RIA aggregation platform, giving her an unmatched network of RIA principals and M&A playbooks.

Background

Rajini Kodialam co-founded Focus Financial Partners in 2004 alongside CEO Rudy Adolf and Lenny Chang, building it from a startup into a $350B-AUM RIA aggregation platform that went public on Nasdaq (FOCS) in 2018 before being taken private by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in a $7B+ deal in 2023. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Computer Science from Delhi University, and previously worked at McKinsey & Company and American Express. After nearly two decades as Focus's COO and board member, she stepped down post-sale and in 2024 co-founded E-3 Tech, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed venture/PE hybrid with Adolf, before stepping back from that operating role in 2025.

Notable deals

  • 2004
    Co-founded Focus Financial Partners with Rudy Adolf and Lenny Chang, later built into a leading RIA aggregation platform
  • 2018
    Led Focus Financial through its IPO on Nasdaq (ticker FOCS), raising ~$615M
  • 2023
    Departed as COO when Clayton, Dubilier & Rice completed its $7B+ take-private acquisition of Focus Financial
  • 2024
    Co-founded E-3 Tech with Rudy Adolf, a venture/PE hybrid firm that landed an Andreessen Horowitz investment

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Co-founded Focus Financial Partners in 2004 with Rudy Adolf and Lenny Chang; served as COO and board member for ~19 years, through the 2018 Nasdaq IPO (FOCS) and the 2023 CD&R take-private at $7B+.
  • Columbia MBA, BS Computer Science (Delhi University); earlier career at McKinsey and American Express.
  • Drove Focus's international expansion and introduced "Connectus," the firm's third partner-acquisition model.

Current focus

  • Co-founded E-3 Tech (2024) with Rudy Adolf, an a16z-backed venture/PE hybrid pursuing programmatic M&A in tech-enabled businesses (including a construction-sector acquisition, Sylvan Inc.); stepped back from an operating role there in 2025 but remains an investor.
  • Active in succession planning and talent development in wealth management; sits on the board of 100 Women in Finance's impact collective.

What she cares about

  • RIA succession planning, practice management, and "hyper-personalization" in wealthtech.
  • Building diverse, durable organizations without formal DEI quotas.

Sensitivities

  • She and Lenny Chang's exits from Focus post-CD&R were reported as effectively forced ("senior advisor" titles); approach the CD&R transition with tact.
  • She has pulled back from day-to-day operating roles twice now (Focus, then E-3 Tech) — probe gently on bandwidth/appetite for new commitments.

Questions to ask

  1. What made certain RIA/broker teams a good cultural and economic fit for Focus's roll-up model, and what would you do differently in today's rate environment?
  2. How is E-3 Tech's programmatic M&A thesis different from traditional PE roll-ups, and where do you see the RIA aggregation space consolidating next?
  3. Post-CD&R, how has ownership structure changed incentives and integration pace at Focus's partner firms?

Outreach draft

Subject
RIA Roll-Up Insights from a Focus Co-Founder
Hi Rajini, I'm reaching out from [Firm Name], where we're evaluating opportunities in the RIA aggregation space. Your run building Focus Financial from founding through its Nasdaq IPO and eventual CD&R take-private makes your perspective on what actually drives successful roll-ups invaluable to us. We'd love 20-30 minutes to hear your take on deal structuring, partner-firm integration, and where you see the next wave of consolidation heading — including any lessons from E-3 Tech's programmatic M&A approach. Would you have time for a call in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Your Name]

Linked companies

Sources