Titan AM wins Court of Appeal case over Tavistock MPS claim

Titan Asset Management (Titan AM) has successfully overturned a High Court decision that had permitted Tavistock Investments and its affiliates to introduce a counterclaim alleging breach of confidence in respect of Titan AM’s model portfolio service (MPS).

In a judgment handed down today, the Court of Appeal held that the proposed amendment from Tavistock was “incoherent, self-contradictory and insufficiently particularised”.

The dispute arose from the 2021 acquisition by Titan Wealth Services of Tavistock Wealth (now Titan AM), which managed a series of investment funds including the Acumen Funds.

Following the acquisition, the parties entered into an outsourced management agreement under which Titan AM continued to provide investment management services, including research and investment recommendations, to Tavistock’s retained MPS.

Tavistock had sought to allege that Titan AM misused Tavistock’s confidential information to create a rival MPS.

However, the Court of Appeal found fundamental flaws in Tavistock’s pleaded case and identified that the premise of Tavistock’s claim – that Tavistock had communicated confidential information to Titan AM – did not correspond with reality.

Instead, the Court found it was Titan AM that carried out the investment research and made recommendations to Tavistock under the outsourcing arrangement.

A spokesperson for Titan said: “We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has vindicated our position. This counterclaim was always without proper foundation and we are glad that the court has recognised the importance of requiring properly particularised claims.”

The underlying proceedings between the parties, which concern alleged breaches of the share purchase agreement, remain ongoing and are scheduled for trial next year.

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