Carson Group welcomes Envestnet alum Ramesh Vaswani

Carson Group is doubling down on its technology focus as it welcomes a tech industry veteran from Envestnet to its C-suite.

The firm announced Monday that it has appointed Ramesh Vaswani as chief technology officer, tasking him with overseeing the firm’s technology strategy and aligning its business and digital initiatives. The firm, which manages more than $41 billion in assets, announced the leadership addition as part of its ongoing focus on technology-driven solutions for financial advisors.

“We are delivering industry-leading technology solutions to support our advisors, and we're thrilled to have Ramesh join the team to bring the required experience, expertise, and diligence to accelerate on the delivery of that vision,” Dani Fava, chief strategy officer at Carson Group, said in a statement Monday.

Vaswani joins Carson Group from Envestnet, where he served as global group head of engineering. In that role, he led a team of more than 250 developers, architects, and analysts focused on automation, cost optimization, system reliability, and enterprise-wide artificial intelligence adoption. Fava, who herself was previously with Envestnet, joined Carson in April last year along with Heather Randolph Carter, who came from LPL.

The past several months have seen some significant changes at Envestnet. After confirming it would be purchased by an investor consortium led by Bain Capital, and Reverence in July, the firm appointed software industry veteran Chris Todd as its new CEO in January, replacing interim chief executive Jim Fox.

Vaswani brings more than 20 years of experience in technology leadership, digital transformation, and product development within the financial services sector. He was at Envestnet for almost a decade, having joined the firm in 2015.

“We can all agree that technology is changing the way we operate, and investors expect their advisor to be up to date on the tools that make their experience the best it can be,” said Burt White, CEO of Carson Group. “We're constantly thinking about how we can make it easier for our advisors to best serve their clients, and we recognize the tremendous role technology plays in this mission.”

Vaswani said he sees technology as a key driver of Carson Group’s next stage of growth. “I'm passionate about aligning business and technology to drive results, and I see an incredible opportunity to integrate technology in a way that promotes growth and creates ease and confidence for our advisors,” he said.

Carson Group serves more than 51,000 client families through its network of more than 150 partner offices, including over 50 Carson Wealth locations.

Other firms have appointed new leaders to head their own tech strategies in recent weeks. In late February, Raymond James announced it had promoted Stuart Feld, previously senior vice president, head of front office technology, to the newly created role of chief artificial intelligence officer. Around the same time, Savvy Wealth also welcomed Erik Hurkman as its first-ever chief technology officer.

Vaswani's transition to Carson comes a week after Bill Crager, who stepped down as CEO of Envestnet at the end of March last year, officially joined the board of directors at FIDx, a platform that specializes in delivering insurance solutions to wealth advisors.