Vise AI
Description: Building AI for Portfolio Management
Investors: Sequoia
Reference Link to Deck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wIjb8kycvFk2HFioF4U84I96Ipcki5b_/view
Stage: Pre-Seed
Vise AI Pitch Deck
Slide 1 — Title
Vise AI
“Empowering Financial Advisors to Make Better Investment Decisions”
Slide 2 — Problem
Financial Advisors historically restricted to only two of: save time, save money, build customized portfolios
Clients need all three
Venn diagram shows overlap: The Holy Grail is time + money + customization
Slide 3 — Problem (Cerulli Associates report 2016/2018)
Advisors spend 15+ hours/week on investment management
87% of advisors say lack of time prevents business growth
To save time, 83% outsource some investment responsibilities
Slide 4 — Problem (CNBC report 2018)
71% of clients disappointed by financial advisors because of:
Lack of customized advice
Inability to explain rationale
Untrustworthy advice
Slide 5 — Solution
Vise AI is an outsourced solution automating Portfolio Construction & Management
Provides intelligent, low-cost, client-customized portfolios
Three pillars:
Automation: saves advisors’ time, high quality
Intelligence: unique insights, “why” behind portfolios, talking points
Customization: stock-based portfolios tailored by AI
Slide 6 — Market Outlook (Wealth Management)
77%+ RIAs cite automation & digital capabilities as their biggest need
61%+ advisors spend at least 40% of time on investment management
78%+ clients cite use of tech as key factor in advisor choice/retention
Slide 7 — Market Outlook (Wealth Management)
$10T AUM Independent RIAs & Regional Institutions (target market)
<$20B AUM for D2C robo-advisors
$70T AUM Institutional Wealth Management (controlled by <12 institutions)
Stats:
$30B TAM
16.7% YoY asset growth
$285M average discretionary assets per firm
Slide 8 — Business Model
AUM-based fee (all-in)
Vise AI: 0.25% inclusive fee + 1% advisor fee
Industry standard: clearing (0.05%), TAMP (0.10%), manager (0.75%), advisor (1%)
Lower cost, all-inclusive pricing
Slide 9 — Technology
Machine Learning for Portfolio Construction
Predicts returns with proprietary RNN model
Portfolio Intelligence
Explains “why” behind portfolio, NLP processes thousands of reports/filings
Active Portfolio Management & Smart Rebalancing
Real-time portfolio changes & smart-tax based automation
Design & Interface
Customized, modern design integrated into trading platform
Slide 10 — Team
Samir Vasavada (Co-Founder & CEO): startup ops, consulting (Microsoft, BCG, Deutsche Bank)
Runik Mehrotra (Co-Founder & CTO): ML/AI research, consulting (MassMutual, RBC, Blackstone, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley), Wharton/Penn Engineering undergrad
Dr. Marc Ettlinger (AI/ML Engineer): Google NLP AI Team Director, UC Berkeley PhD, Head of AI at Conversant
Dr. Joshua Woodruff (Lead Data Scientist): VP @ Morgan Stanley, Yale/UT Austin PhD, IBM MD, research with Robert Shiller
Dr. Joerg Osterrieder (ML Scientific Advisor): Executive Director @ Goldman Sachs, quant researcher, PhD in Financial Mathematics
Robert Owen (Managing Director & CCO): 10+ years RIA/FA, developed portfolio mgmt platform acquired by E*Trade
Scott Winters (Advisor): CEO of Financial Gravity, founder of EQIS (TAMP for RIAs)
Jon Xu (Advisor): Co-Founder of Future Advisor, acquired by Blackrock
Walkthrough
The Vise AI deck introduces the company as a solution for financial advisors struggling with time, costs, and portfolio customization.
The problem is well framed: advisors spend over 15 hours a week on investment management, most outsource responsibilities, and 71% of clients are dissatisfied due to lack of customized advice or poor communication. Current options force tradeoffs between saving time, saving money, or providing tailored service.
Vise AI’s solution is an outsourced AI platform for portfolio construction and management. It automates workflows, provides portfolio intelligence and rationale, and customizes stock-based portfolios for individual clients. This addresses advisor pain points while boosting client trust and satisfaction.
The market is significant: $10T AUM across independent RIAs and regional institutions, with strong YoY growth. Robo-advisors and institutional markets are either too small or too consolidated to target. Surveys highlight that advisors and clients both demand automation and digital capabilities.
The business model relies on AUM-based fees: a simple 0.25% all-in fee for Vise AI, compared to the layered, higher costs of traditional players.
The technology combines ML-driven portfolio construction, NLP-based portfolio intelligence, active rebalancing, and a modern interface customized to advisor workflows.
The team blends startup operators (Samir Vasavada, Runik Mehrotra) with seasoned financial and AI experts (ex-Google, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Morgan Stanley). Advisors and executives with exits (e.g., Future Advisor acquired by Blackrock) round out credibility.
Vise AI closes by positioning itself as the intelligent outsourced portfolio management solution — reducing advisor workload, cutting costs, and improving client satisfaction through automation, intelligence, and customization.