The firm has evolved since its January 2021 acquisition by private equity firms Motive Partners and CC Capital, who bought out Wilshire’s founder, Dennis Tito. The owners tapped new leadership, appointing a new CEO and other C-suite level executives, while also keeping many Wilshire veterans, like President and recently named Deputy CEO Jason Schwarz and CIO Josh Emanuel. They’ve also bolstered resources, hiring roughly 40 individuals into the indexes group and deepening expertise in alternatives research.
The new regime has emphasized advancing technology and indexes. They’ve centralized the firm’s investment divisions, unifying the teams, and breaking away from its prior four-division structure: Analytics, Consulting, Funds Management, and Private Markets. The firm feels it is a more client-centric framework better suited to serve all investor types. And in March 2023, the firm launched Wilshire Indexes, a joint venture and separate entity housing its indexing business in collaboration with the Financial Times and Singapore Exchange. The moves should improve the firm’s ability to compete in both its growthier and more mature businesses that have become increasingly crowded, but the acquisition and changes remain fresh and require additional time to play out.