An online discretionary investment analyst business has been acquired, it was revealed this morning.

Embark Group has acquired DISCUS via The Adviser Centre Limited, its online adviser research business. No fee was disclosed in the announcement.

Gillian Hepburn and Abbie Knight are the founding directors of DISCUS (Discretionary Investment Services Coming Under Scrutiny). It was established in 2016 to provide content, analysis and insight into the outsourced investment market - particularly discretionary propositions.

Ms Hepburn said: “DISCUS is a relatively new but growing business and this acquisition is an acknowledgement of the value of what DISCUS delivers. In the current market environment, Financial Advisers are increasingly seeking to utilise the services of discretionary investment managers.

“With assistance and additional resources from the Embark Group DISCUS will continue to deliver quality content, research and events for the Financial Adviser community focused on this important growth area.”

The acquisition has completed and takes immediate effect.

DISCUS joins Embark’s existing portfolio of investment insight and research businesses. Each focuses upon assisting the financial adviser community with the selection of appropriate investment solutions and the component building blocks, at no cost.

Phil Smith, CEO of the Embark Group, said: “Through the acquisition of DISCUS, we are demonstrating our commitment to building a portfolio of investment research and financial intermediary service businesses that add real value to the advice sector. Now incorporating The Adviser Centre, Scopic Research and DISCUS, Embark is positioned to deliver an extensive range of research services to financial advisers, covering the full breadth of investment options. These are highly complementary to our core SIPP, SSAS and Wrap capabilities. I am very pleased to welcome the DISCUS team to the Embark Group.”

Embark described itself as “a full scale retirement solutions provider committed to acquiring, holding and developing for the long term, a range of financial services’ businesses in the UK and internationally”.

It has £8.2bn of assets under administration on behalf of over 84,000 clients.