$38bn First Manhattan Hires Dealmaker from Focus

The article below was published in CityWire on October 27, 2026.

New York RIA First Manhattan has a new head of corporate development.

The $38bn wealth manager has hired Allie Silverman, formerly a member of the deal team at RIA financier Focus Financial Partners.

Silverman’s hire to the newly created role marks the first time First Manhattan has established a dedicated, full-time head of corporate development. Previously, corporate development was part of a broader leadership remit, according to a source with knowledge with the situation.

Silverman will lead First Manhattan’s inorganic growth strategy, focusing on opportunities to partner with independent advisory firms.

Silverman initially joined Focus as an M&A associate in 2021, two years before private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) bought the firm and took it private. Over the course of her tenure, she rose to the title of vice president of corporate development and strategy before departing in September.

Prior to Focus, Silverman spent four years at investment manager Dimensional Fund Advisors, where she began her career as an intern and rose to senior associate covering investment strategies and client relations.

Focus declined to comment on Silverman’s departure.

The firm is now hiring an associate on its corporate strategy team, which oversees corporate development and M&A activities across the organization.

As far as First Manhattan’s M&A ambitions, chief executive Zac Wydra said in an interview with Citywire last year that the RIA had been deliberately pursuing a measured approach to inorganic growth. In April of that year, the company acquired Grand-Jean Capital Management, a $500m San Francisco-based RIA, marking its first external transaction since 2022, when it bought $168m New York-based RIA MRJ Capital and $350m New Jersey-based Roanoke Asset Management.

First Manhattan’s most recent deal came in March of this year, when it snapped up $300m Beddow Capital Management in Wyoming.

First Manhattan primarily works with high-net worth individuals. The firm employs around 147 people including 51 registered advisors, it told the Securities and Exchange Commission in August.

Originally launched in 1964, First Manhattan is the RIA arm of parent FMC Group Holdings. The company also operates an affiliated broker-dealer, First Manhattan Securities.

For Focus, Silverman departs at a time of transition. Over the summer, Citywire reported that CD&R is pursuing a sale of a minority stake in Focus. A source said CD&R has retained Goldman Sachs to serve as its financial advisor for the process and is expected to remain Focus’s controlling owner after a new investor is secured.