PE-backed CW Advisors taps Jennifer DeSisto as CIO

After a year marked by several notable acquisitions, Boston-based RIA CW Advisors is continuing to expand its leadership and capabilities with a new C-suite hire.

The RIA announced Tuesday morning that it has appointed Jennifer DeSisto as its new chief investment officer, bringing over 25 years of experience in managing a range of investment portfolios.

DeSisto's extensive career includes roles as CIO at Anchor Capital Advisors, where she managed multi-asset and discretionary portfolios, and as head of research at Fiduciary Trust Company. She also held a portfolio management position focused on global equity markets at Batterymarch Financial Management.

“We believe Jen is the ideal candidate to lead our investment team, with over 25 years of investment experience,” Paul Lonergan, chief executive officer of CW Advisors, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to work with her and think she will be instrumental in structuring our investment platform as we continue to execute our growth plan and enhance our investment operations.”

DeSisto will focus on guiding the investment strategy while expanding the firm's infrastructure.

This comes as CW Advisors solidifies its position in the market following four acquisitions in the past year, including its August acquisition of $1.2 billion fee-only RIA Agili,  picking up Mercadien Asset Management in July, and another July deal for Cubic Asset Management, have added over $3 billion in assets under management​.

The firm boasting $10 billion in AUM across 11 office locations, is supported by a partnership with Audax Private Equity, which manages approximately $19 billion in assets as of June 2024​, that it entered into last year.

"I am excited to join CW Advisors. Our focus will be on continuing to try to provide our clients with exceptional investment and wealth management services, while also offering expanded opportunities to help them achieve their financial goals," DeSisto said.