Franklin Templeton has moved into the UK wealth-management market with the acquisition of a “material stake” in Embark Group, the consolidator that has bought up several fund supermarkets this year.

In a November 26 statement, Embark said the US asset manager would become “one of Embark’s largest cornerstone investors”, without disclosing the size of its stake. It joins existing backers BlackRock and Legg Mason, the asset managers, financial technology group FNZ and Merian Global Investors’ Chrysalis fund.