Long Arc Capital names Robertson Stephens COO Vikram Chugh as CircleBlack CEO

Long Arc Capital said Oct. 20 it named Vikram Chugh chief executive of CircleBlack, moving him from the chief operating officer post at Robertson Stephens.

Lincoln Ross, who has been CircleBlack's chief executive since 2022, will remain at the company as a strategic advisor. Long Arc owns both CircleBlack and Robertson Stephens.

CircleBlack sells software that ties portfolio management, financial planning, reporting, client engagement and operational workflows into one system for advisors and wealth firms. Chugh said in the announcement that wealth management technology "has become too fragmented, creating unnecessary complexity for advisors and, ultimately, for clients." He described his goal as making CircleBlack "the operating system" advisors run their businesses on.

Chugh had been COO at Robertson Stephens for more than eight years, PWD reported earlier today. Robertson Stephens reported $8.8 billion in regulatory assets, 8,592 accounts and 118 employees as of Oct. 17, according to PWD records. Gaurav Bhandari, Long Arc's managing partner and chief investment officer, said Chugh "helped transform Robertson Stephens into one of the fastest-growing firms in wealth management." Bhandari called him well positioned to lead CircleBlack into its next phase of growth.