How one entrepreneur’s experience as a wealth management client inspired him to launch his own firm
Serial entrepreneur Ritik Malhotra built Savvy Wealth from scratch using what he describes as cutting-edge technology.
By his mid-20s, Ritik Malhotra needed a crash course in financial planning. He had built and sold two tech companies—Streem, which was acquired in 2014, and Elph, which he exited in 2019—and he had a windfall on his hands. “I went from being a broke college dropout to having a life-changing amount of money," Malhotra recalls. “My parents didn’t come from wealth and so I got the advice to go find a financial advisor."
On our latest episode of The Way Forward: Next Generation podcast, Malhotra talks about what he learned from his first wealth management meetings, how those talks turned into discussions with at least 100 advisors, and why he ultimately decided to start his own firm. The value he could potentially derive from a financial advisor was “very, very high" he says. “But the actual experience of working with a financial advisor was the exact opposite."
Human advisors. When Malhotra first started looking for someone to manage his money, he remembers scanning headlines about robo-advisors taking over the industry. He knew he wanted help from a human and found people ready to help.
Those early conversations led to a few conclusions. Human wealth managers offered many benefits, but their processes were antiquated. Documents were snail-mailed. Phone calls and email proved way more popular than project management dashboards. He wondered why the industry clung to out-of-date practices. “It was always puzzling," Malhotra remembers thinking.
As he explored the industry, Malhotra came to realize that legacy infrastructure was constraining even the most digitally adept advisors. Firms founded decades or even a century ago weren’t built with technology-first thinking.
Independent advisors faced even greater challenges, often spending over half their time on things like billing, onboarding, and compliance while juggling seven to 10 different vendors. “It’s even less time engaging with the client," Malhotra says.
Less admin. These struggles became foundational to Savvy Wealth’s value proposition. In 2021, he launched the firm as a digital RIA, focused on providing independent advisors with administrative and operational help. Previously advisors would have had to stop client-facing work and do what Malhotra calls “middle- and back-office" work that his platform could now help execute.
Savvy Wealth’s platform addresses what Malhotra argues are three important areas for independent advisors. The first two—practice management tools and financial infrastructure—are provided by many vendors. Malhotra says the third area represents Savvy’s differentiator: comprehensive marketing capabilities.
This includes organic lead generation support, content creation—and perhaps most important—removing administrative burdens so advisors can focus on client acquisition. “Given all the other stuff that has to happen, advisors don’t have the time to focus on these types of things," Malhotra notes.
AI offers independence, sooner. Malhotra believes that technology—and especially AI—give advisors seeking to go independent the chance to do so sooner. He points out that aspiring independent advisors once needed a team, a billion dollars in assets under management, and outside capital before leaving the security of a large firm, but that’s all changed.
“You have access to the technology that can automate a lot of the work" he says. “AI acts as your fractional employee and resource. To me, that paves the future for a very prominent independent advisor base."
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