For what ails the well-heeled, Aspiriant hopes to get the call

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When the investment advisory firms of Kochis Fitz in San Francisco and Quintile Wealth Management in Los Angeles decided to merge last fall, they said they’d pick a new name for their combined $5-billion-asset shop, which they believe is the largest independent wealth management firm in California.

The company announced the name choice on Monday: Aspiriant.

Hmmm. ‘Too much like aspirin?’ I asked Tim Kochis, the company’s chief executive and a longtime leader of the independent-advisor industry.

‘You’re not the first person to say that,’ he said. ‘We tried it out on some of our clients. One said, ‘I’ll take two and call my doctor.’ ‘

Nonetheless, Kochis said, the company’s principals decided that Aspiriant speaks to the firm’s mission: to help their well-heeled clients ‘integrate all the financial aspects of their lives, so they can be confident of achieving their aspirations over generations.’

The combined firm provides financial advisory services to about 60 wealthy families and more than 300 corporate executives and other individuals.

Rob Francais, who had headed Quintile and is Aspiriant’s chief operating officer, said the company didn’t have much choice but to create a name because it wanted something it could trademark and take national as it expands. ‘You have to make up a name -- everything else has been taken,’ he said.

Maybe they made the right choice. The runner-up name, according to Francais: Aquidia.