India’s wealth management industry is undergoing a structural transformation as rising entrepreneurship, expanding capital markets, and digital infrastructure reshape how affluent individuals build and manage their portfolios. A new generation of investors – including startup founders, CXOs, and professionals monetising ESOPs and business exits – is increasingly seeking institutional-quality advice delivered through technology-enabled platforms rather than traditional distribution models.
In this interview with Hubbis, Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder of Dezerv, explains how the firm has built a technology-led wealth management platform designed for India’s emerging wealth creators. Founded in 2021, Dezerv combines discretionary portfolio management with a digital-first client experience, aiming to eliminate distribution conflicts while providing transparent, data-driven investment solutions.
The Core Story: “Who Are You and What Do You Do?”
What is your USP? How would you describe your firm’s business model and how it differentiates itself from other private wealth management firms in India?
Dezerv is a tech-led wealth management firm providing comprehensive multi-asset investment solutions to India’s new-age wealth creators. The firm was founded in 2021 by three co-founders – Sahil Contractor, Vaibhav Porwal, and myself
Three things set us apart.
First, we are digital-first – from acquisition to onboarding to engagement and portfolio reviews, everything runs on our technology platform. The Dezerv App has tracked and analysed over ₹2,50,000 crore in assets for more than 7,00,000 Indians. Second, we are always direct-to-client. No broker, no distributor sits between us and the investor. Third, we are discretionary – we own the portfolio’s performance by owning the end-to-end management of client portfolios.
Most wealth management firms in India are still distribution-led businesses with inherent conflicts of interest. We have eliminated that. We offer clients a choice of fee models – a fixed fee structure or a profit-share only model where we earn only when they earn. Giving clients that choice, rather than locking them into one structure, reflects how we think about alignment and transparency.
Today, we manage approximately ₹17,000 crore across PMS, AIF, and distribution assets, serving 6,000+ clients from 900+ pin codes across India, with over 500 professionals across our offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Delhi.
How do you segment your clients? How are client expectations evolving?
We don’t segment clients by AUM thresholds. We segment by investment goals.
Our clients include senior leaders at India’s top companies, startup founders and CXOs, professionals who have built wealth through ESOPs and business exits, second-generation family business owners, partners at PE and VC firms, senior consultants, doctors, legal professionals, and NRIs.
For emerging HNI client cohorts, expectations are evolving from DIY investing to professional management of wealth. For established HNIs, the shift is from accidental portfolios, instruments collected over time with no plan, no structure, and no active management, to a data-led, lean portfolio that is easier to manage and review.
One trend we are seeing across our smartest clients is a growing recognition of asset allocation. 2025, with its muted equity returns, drove that point home. Clients are now proactively asking about our fixed income and alternative investment solutions in their very first conversations with us.
What range of services do you offer, and how do you tailor these services to meet the diverse needs of your clients?
We offer comprehensive wealth management services across equities, fixed income, alternatives, real estate, and precious metals. No two portfolios at Dezerv are the same – each is tailored to the client’s financial goals, risk profile, and life stage.
Our PMS strategies remain the core, but we are building a full-stack platform around it – covering retirement solutions, private credit, AIFs, and manager-selection based investing. The goal is to manage not just an individual’s portfolio but an entire family’s financial life.
How do you identify and attract high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) as clients?
Our technology experience is the biggest draw. When clients interact with the Dezerv App and see a consolidated view of their portfolio across wealth managers and distributors – with deep analysis on each security – it amazes them. It enables them to ask better questions of their existing advisors. We are big believers in delivering value first and letting the second-order effects play out naturally.
Another strong driver is our content. I sometimes think we over-communicate, but I find that better than under-communicating. Every portfolio change, every house view is communicated instantly. The client always knows what we are thinking. That transparency is a big source of peace of mind for them.
Referrals from existing clients have now become a significant acquisition channel. When clients add 40–50% more capital after their first year with us and then bring in their peers, that tells us the experience is working.
What is your firm’s investment philosophy, and how has it evolved in response to market changes?
Our investment philosophy is simple: be data-led, forward-looking, discretionary, and active managers of client portfolios. Our proprietary machine learning model – One Model – analyses over 2 million data points to build our allocation frameworks. We don’t chase past returns. We build portfolios for what lies ahead.
The evolution has been in scope rather than principle. We started with equity PMS strategies. As our clients’ needs and our own capabilities have grown, we have expanded into fixed income, alternatives, and multi-asset solutions but the underlying philosophy remains the same: use data to remove bias, be active, and own the outcome.
Key Priorities
What are your top 3 priorities over the next 12–18 months?
Three things. First, significantly enhance client experience through technology. Second, deepen our investment solutions across asset classes. Third, onboard exceptional relationship management talent and train a new generation of wealth managers.
Are you expanding into new markets or launching new services?
I have always believed that we should be where the talent is. Our clients have been very comfortable engaging with us digitally, and if the need arises for an in-person interaction, we are more than happy to host them at our offices. Our consistent delivery of wealth management experience through digital channels has allowed us to be very strategic with our offline presence.
In terms of new services, we want to address the entire financial need of an affluent family in India today. You will see solutions from us coming around that in the next few quarters.
Are there any digital or operational upgrades underway?
We are always upgrading our digital stack. Every week, we launch a new digital enhancement around RM productivity, client experience, and investment management. A lot of that is only visible to the client and the relationship manager; it is not always front-page news, but it compounds over time.
How are you approaching talent acquisition or retention?
India is creating wealth faster than the industry is creating or training relationship managers. We have almost 10 million rupee-millionaire households in India and about 11,000 relationship managers. That is roughly 1,000 wealthy families per RM. Technology is the only way RMs can serve their clients well.
An RM today has to juggle so many mundane and monotonous tasks, investing time and bandwidth in non-client-facing activities. That time could be spent addressing client queries, deepening relationships, counselling, and talking. Our vision since day one has been to bring all non-client-facing activity for an RM to zero.
We have also developed a robust training programme for b-school graduates where they are immersed in extensive training before they do any client interactions.
Into the Future
How do you see the industry evolving in the next 5–10 years?
With the advent of AI, it is very difficult to predict a 5–10 year horizon for any industry. What I will say is that the regulator and government are doing the right things to allow the industry to innovate. Account Aggregator and other digital public infrastructure will present an opportunity for the industry to become more data-driven, digital, and accurate. It is upon the industry to adopt and embed these gifts from the government into their operations and service stacks.
I also believe the wealth management industry will disproportionately benefit from the India story. With per capita incomes rising and first-generation wealth creators emerging at unprecedented levels, the industry will see growth like never before. I am very excited about it.
In what ways has technology impacted your wealth management services, and how are you leveraging technology and AI to innovate and enhance client experiences?
Technology is the bedrock of everything we do at Dezerv. Institutional memory, automated rebalancing, portfolio review mechanisms – all of this is possible at our scale purely because of technology.
Our AI innovations are more internal than external right now. We have a 110+ member engineering, product, and design team. We are focused on building AI tools for internal use first – improving RM experience, productivity, and decision-making – and then taking those capabilities to our clients.
Getting Personal with Sandeep Jethwani
Where were you born and educated?
I was born in Nagpur. My parents were public-sector bankers. I did my computer engineering from VJTI in Mumbai and then went to IIM Bangalore for my MBA.
What moments or milestones in your career have shaped you the most?
The single most defining moment professionally was during Covid when a friend of mine, a senior partner at a Big 4 consulting firm, shared his portfolio to understand what could be done better. What I saw was a mismatched portfolio with severe over-diversification, high portfolio cost, and no sign of active management. I shared it with Sahil and Vaibhav, and we realised that if smart, successful people are being taken for a ride, the new wealth creator has no chance. That was the eureka moment that led us to co-found Dezerv.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
When you are building a company, the only little spare time is usually reserved for family.
What advice would you give to younger professionals in this industry?
I have a mnemonic: do not forget your ABCs.
A: AI. It is here and will fundamentally alter our careers and those of our clients. Your success will depend on how much you understand it and how well you harness its powers.
B: Body. Your health and physical fitness is the only thing that will allow or not allow you to become successful. Take care of it and it will compound the benefits.
C: Client. Interact with them. As often as you can. When you interact, listen more than speak. Never make them invest in something you would not let your loved ones invest in.
