Philly-based retirement plan platform PCS acquires rival Aspire
Two retirement plan record-keeping and software firms merge, and Philly-based PCS leads the combined company.
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Center City-based PCS has acquired Aspire Financial Services in a deal that brings the firm’s total size to more than 300 employees and $23 billion in administered assets, according to founder and CEO Mark Klein.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
It’s the second acquisition in two years, as PCS also acquired PensionSource Corp., a California-based, independent retirement services firm specializing in record-keeping and compliance administration services to plan sponsors of retirement plans.
LLR Partners, a Philadelphia investment firm, in 2017 bought a minority stake in PCS, known as Professional Capital Services, a “no pay-to-play” investment-software record-keeping platform that automates retirement plans for money managers and their clients.
Founded in 2001, PCS said the combined, 300-member organization will now services 16,000 plans and 750,000 eligible participants.
PCS’s “transparent and commission-free” approach to money management gives users price transparency and avoids conflicts of interest among financial professionals selling services to clients, Klein said in an interview. Aspire is based in Tampa, Fla.
Founded by Philadelphia property investor and Valley Forge casino owner Ira Lubert, investment banker Seth Lehr, and accountant Howard Ross, LLR has raised $3 billion from investors, including Pennsylvania state pension funds, since 1999.