Expanding wealth manager and Financial Planner Titan Wealth has completed its second acquisition this week with a deal to buy Bristol-based 45-adviser firm Aspira, boosting Titan’s assets under management and advice to over £17.3bn.

Earlier this week it completed the acquisition of Norwich-based Financial Planning firm Loveday & Partners which has around £600m of AUM.

The cost of the acquisitions has not been disclosed.

Bristol-based Aspira has £4bn in AUM. The firm was launched in 2003 and provides independent financial advice and employee benefits guidance through a network of 45 financial advisers. It has more than 15,000 private and corporate clients in the UK.

Titan Wealth says that joining Titan will give Aspira the ability to expand services to clients by accessing the capabilities of other companies in the Titan Wealth group.

Aspira will rebrand as Titan Wealth Planning and be led by current CEO Derek Miles who will also take on responsibility for Financial Planning across the Titan Wealth group.

Andrew Fearon, joint group CEO and head of M&A at Titan Wealth, said: “Aspira is an outstanding firm, with a long track record of delivering fantastic Financial Planning advice for its clients.

“This acquisition aligns with Titan Wealth’s growth ambitions, expands our financial advice offering and strengthens our commitment to delivering a fully-integrated ‘Client to Custody’ offering for our customers and clients. I look forward to working with Derek and the team, to support them on their journey and to grow and develop Titan Wealth Planning.”

Derek Miles, CEO of Aspira, said “We are delighted to be joining the Titan Wealth team. The deal provides us with a fantastic opportunity to deliver the excellent customer service we strive for, as well as securing investment to develop our proposition.”

“As a business, we have always been driven by a commitment to an innovative and integrated approach to financial advice, focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for customers. This is a philosophy that is very much shared by our new colleagues at Titan Wealth, and I’m excited to be driving further innovation and improvements for our customers and staff’.

Titan Wealth offers custody, platform, discretionary fund management and Financial Planning. It is targeting £50 billion in assets under administration over the next three to five years and assets under management of £40 billion.

Titan has taken over several financial and advice businesses in recent times. In March it completed its acquisition of North Eastern IFA Prism Financial Advice, adding £630m in assets under management. Last November it announced plans to acquire Aspira Corporate Solutions Limited for an undisclosed sum.

In October the firm acquired North East IFA Prism Financial Advice, adding £630m in AUM to its books. In June it acquired investment research and consultancy firm Square Mile for an undisclosed sum. 

Earlier in the year Titan acquired the UK investment management arm of investment services provider Ravenscroft for an undisclosed sum and in January it acquired Chartered Financial Planning firm Telford Mann for an undisclosed sum.

Titan is backed by Parthenon Capital Partners and Ares Management. Its management team includes James Kaberry, an entrepreneur and founder of Pantheon Financial Management and Andrew Fearon, founder of a major UK IFA consolidator.

Financial Planning Today Analysis: Titan Wealth's rapid acquisition strategy in recent times, fuelled by private equity money, suggests there is plenty of life left in the adviser M&A market which has slowed of late after a hectic pace over the past few years. Titan Wealth, Söderberg & Partners and others on the acquisition trail are focusing on firms of significant size suggesting an appetite for larger regional firms. It remains the case that good quality Financial Planning and wealth management firms are in demand, despite the economic challenges of the UK, and that seems unlikely to change.