Savvy Wealth hires first-ever CIO in bid to elevate in-house investments

Savvy Wealth has named Anshul Sharma as its new chief investment officer, marking another step in the digital-first RIA’s ongoing effort to scale its investment platform and broaden its reach with high-net-worth clients.

Sharma, who brings more than 25 years of experience from firms including Bank of America, U.S. Trust, and Merrill Lynch, will be responsible for building Savvy’s first institutional-grade investment office. The move comes as the New York-based firm reports surpassing $3 billion in assets under management.

The firm said Tuesday that is aiming to enhance its investment platform beyond its current offerings, which include direct indexed portfolios, alternatives and thematic strategies, 401(k) account management, estate plan modeling, and tax optimization.

In his new role, Sharma will work with Savvy’s leadership and advisors to bring portfolio strategy in-house, streamline model portfolios, and provide guidance to help advisors articulate the rationale behind investment decisions. He is also expected to expand access to alternative and thematic strategies, and oversee enhancements to Savvy’s proprietary investment platform.

“The chance to define and build a CIO office at a high-growth, tech-native RIA like Savvy is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Sharma said in the announcement. He added that Savvy’s platform, which is designed without legacy systems, “creates a rare opportunity to reimagine how advisors deliver value.”

Ritik Malhotra, founder and chief executive officer of Savvy, described Sharma’s appointment as a key milestone for the firm. Malhotra said Sharma brings “a deep institutional pedigree as well as the vision and energy to make Savvy’s investment office a true differentiator,” and that his expertise will help advisors deepen client relationships and scale their practices.

Sharma's hiring extends a series of C-suite moves at Savvy this year.

In February, the firm announced David Weiner had come on board as chief growth officer, bringing more than two decades of experience at startups and SaaS companies as he leads advisor recruitment and the continued expansion of its advisor platform, Savvy Advisors. Later that month, it hired Eric Hurkman, a fintech veteran with a background at Carta and Say Technologies, to build out its product development, design, engineering, and AI teams.

A few months later in April, Savvy Wealth welcomed Lisandra Wilmott, formerly the general counsel at Pathstone, as its head of legal and compliance.

The firm's first-ever CIO also arrives on the heels of Savvy’s recent $72 million Series B funding round led by Industry Ventures, which included participation from former LPL Financial CEO Mark Casady. 

Casady, who joined Savvy’s board in July, said at the time that he is “looking forward to working alongside the leadership team at Savvy, applying my learnings to further advance the firm’s tech-forward, human-led approach.”