Growth equity investment to accelerate rapid adoption of ASPire’s industry leading open-architecture turnkey platform and transparent fee model
Tampa, Florida – April 23, 2012 – ASPire Financial Services, a leading provider of retirement plan solutions (e.g. 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and IRA) to small and medium sized businesses, organizations and government entities, today announced that FTV Capital has committed $25 million to the company. FTV Capital is a growth equity firm focused on innovative, high-growth businesses and has a strong track record in asset management related businesses.
ASPire has been successfully serving the retirement industry since 2002 with its cost effective proprietary platform, offering a distinct alternative to the traditional bundled service providers and filling a void in the underserved 403(b) and IRA market segments. ASPire helps advisors and third party administrators navigate the significant changes currently underway in the retirement industry including the challenges associated with transparency through fee disclosure reforms within ERISA based plans, the need to provide highly customized program features with flexible investment choices, and the need for efficient interoperability access with multiple service providers.
Proceeds from the growth equity investment will be used to drive continued rapid organic growth through expanded sales and client service teams as well as further development and deployment of key functionality enhancements to ASPire’s operating platform to meet strong customer demand.
“ASPire is uniquely poised to meet the needs of the retirement plan market, especially given the evolving market dynamics around fee disclosure transparency and increased client demand for open architecture,” said Ben Cukier, FTV Capital partner and new ASPire board member. “We are excited to partner with this highly experienced management team, and we look forward to connecting the company with our network of financial industry executives in support of ASPire’s continued expansion.”
“This investment allows us to accelerate the development of game changing technology within the 403(b) and other non-ERISA plan space, as well as provide our core ERISA clients with enhanced tools and services that will afford all participants a higher probability of retirement success,” said Peter Kirtland, President of ASPire. “Our partnership with FTV marks the next phase of ASPire’s evolution and enables us to advance our position as the premier provider of an outsourced retirement platform to the retirement investment community.”
About Aspire Financial Services
ASPire Financial Services is an open-architecture turnkey provider of retirement plan solutions (e.g. 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and IRA) to small and medium sized businesses, organizations and government entities. The company leverages its proprietary technology platform to offer cost-effective and fee transparent services to plan sponsors, third party administrators (“TPAs”) and advisors through a web interface containing research, tools and access to investment products. In addition, ASPire provides the back-office administration and recordkeeping functions to the plan, as well as relationship support to the TPAs and advisors and customer support to participants. The company has approximately 100 employees and more than $10 billion of recordkeeping assets, 8000 plans and 275,000 participants.
About FTV Capital
FTV Capital is a multi-stage growth equity firm that invests in high-growth companies offering a range of innovative solutions in business services, financial services, payments and transaction processing, and technology. FTV Capital provides entrepreneurs with unique access to its Global Partner Network, a group of the world’s foremost financial institutions that have invested in FTV Capital and its portfolio companies for more than a decade. Founded in 1998, FTV Capital has more than $1 billion across three funds, and has offices in San Francisco and New York. For more information, please visit ftvcapital.com.
Contacts
Mark Agustin
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER / ASPIRE FINANCIAL SERVICES
(813) 874-0671 ext. 2230
mark.agustin@aspirefinserv.com