Mercer Advisors hires Goldman alum Cynthia Loh as first-ever chief platform officer

Mercer Advisors has brought on a former Goldman exec as its first-ever chief platform officer, putting a seasoned industry veteran in charge of nationwide team spanning technology, digital product, design and operations as it expands its executive ranks while also reworking its balance sheet.

Cynthia Loh is joining the Denver-based registered investment adviser from Goldman Sachs as the private equity-owned firm explores a billion dollar-plus leveraged loan to refinance existing private credit debt, a move that would save it millions in borrowing costs per year.

Loh, who also brings experience from her time at Schwab and Betterment, will report into the firm's executive leadership team and oversee the operating platform that underpins both the advisor and client experience at Mercer Advisors.

Loh most recently served as senior vice president and head of Beyond the Card at Capital One. Before that, she was head of product for Goldman Sachs' Workplace Wealth unit, where she led the product organization behind the firm's wealth offering for Fortune 1000 employers.

Earlier in her career, she oversaw the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios platform at Charles Schwab and built and launched the 401(k) business at Betterment, with additional stops at PIMCO and Merrill Lynch.

Chief executive Dave Welling said in a statement that Loh has spent her career "at the intersection of advice, product and technology," building platforms that reach large numbers of investors without losing the human relationship advisors maintain with clients.

“Delivering technology-enabled integrated advice at scale in a way that preserves the human relationship is one of the hardest problems in wealth management," Loh said. "I believe Mercer Advisors has the in-house expertise, the fiduciary-first model and the technology foundation to do it."

President Daniel Gourvitch framed the hire as part of a broader commitment to reinvest in the firm's technology as it grows. Mercer Advisors, which at last check reported $111 million in AUM, officially crossed the $100 billion asset threshold in June. 

Read more: Mercer Advisors crosses $100B threshold as organic growth accelerates

On the tech front, the firm recently unveiled the second generation of Aspen, its proprietary AI-enabled platform for family offices, now deployed across more than 1,100 of the firm's wealth professionals.

"I’m excited to ... identify ways that technology, including AI, can make the experience simpler and more effective for advisors and clients," Loh said. "The goal is to give advisors the tools and support they need to spend more of their time focused on clients.”

Loh's hire follows a string of additions to Mercer's leadership team this year, including Melissa Nims as chief solutions officer, Jeremiah Barlow as chief commercial officer and Jimmy Zhao as chief corporate development officer.

Read more: Mercer Advisors, Alaris Acquisitions hire new M&A leaders

While building out its executive leadership, Mercer has also reportedly been reshaping its capital stack. As per a Bloomberg News report last week, the mega-RIA is looking to take on a $1.65 billion leveraged loan to refinance existing private debt. The seven-year loan would cut Mercer's borrowing margin by 1.75 percentage points and save about $29 million a year, according to a source familiar with the matter.

“This refinancing is a natural next step for us,” Mercer CFO Gün Keresteci told Bloomberg, emphasizing that lower costs would allow the firm more financial wiggle room to better serve its clients.