TEEING UP THE LONG GAME

When Ariana Bhatia was a student at Lake Forest Academy, there wasn’t a girls’ golf team like there is today. This was a shame because Bhatia was a very good golfer. So, she made a deal with the coach of the boys’ golf team that if she played from the men’s tees and participated in all of the tournaments, she could join their team. And that’s exactly what she did. Bhatia even went on to be the first and only female captain.

This anecdote from Bhatia’s youth was a foreshadowing of the deals she would make in her future, namely as a Private Wealth Advisor with The Bhatia Group at Merrill Private Wealth Management, working alongside her father in the practice he founded more than 40 years ago.

“Anyone who has ever met my dad knows how much he loves what he does,” Bhatia says of her father, Raj. “He’s so passionate about investing and cares so deeply about his clients and that inspired me to want to follow in his footsteps. Very few people have that kind of love for what they do.”

After graduating with honors from Stanford University, Bhatia earned her MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business where she was a Wallman Scholar. Bhatia has spent her career as a private equity, private credit, and real estate investor. She began at Goldman Sachs where she was a member of the Alternative Investments and Manager Selection team, interviewing and selecting asset managers for institutional and private wealth portfolios. Subsequently, she was a member of Goldman’s Special Situations Group, where she focused on asset-backed private equity and private credit investments. Most recently, Bhatia was a Vice President at The Vistria Group, executing private equity deals within the financial services space.

“When I decided to work with my father, I thought about my career in a broader sense,” Bhatia says. “While I loved executing transactions—it’s very exciting—ultimately, I wanted to build long-term relationships. I’ve watched my father build relationships for decades and it is extraordinarily meaningful. One of his clients, who had been a client for almost 40 years, recently passed away at 92 years old. That was really like losing a member of the family. My father treasures these relationships. I look forward to doing the same.”

Prior to joining her father’s group, it was critical to Bhatia that she establish herself in the investment world. “It was important for me to build my own reputation and a solid investment foundation,” she says. “I needed to be sure I was bringing real value to the team. I had reached that point in my career where I felt I had proven this.”

The Bhatia Group is based in Chicago and Naples. Bhatia and the team help high-net-worth clients acquire, grow, and preserve assets, structure wealth for future generations, and assist clients in determining and realizing the purpose behind their wealth. She works with wealth creators from various backgrounds including corporate executives, private investments professionals, company founders, individuals and families, and family offices and foundations.

“We pride ourselves on being a team structured to serve three generations,” Bhatia adds. “We are holding true to that promise and continue to grow in that promise. We currently oversee approximately $2.5 billion in assets for more than 100 families. Our 12-person team offers high-touch, white-glove service. And being there for that next generation of our clients is very important to me.”

In addition to crediting her father as a mentor in her life, Bhatia also gives a nod to the nurturing faculty and staff she was surrounded by in her years at Lake Forest Country Day School and Lake Forest Academy. “It says so much about a school that allows students to have the opportunity to go after what they reach for,” she says, continuing today as an Alumni Advisory Board member of Lake Forest Academy. “The teachers at both schools were absolutely phenomenal—and so supportive of anything I was interested in.”

One such interest is Bhatia’s work with the American India Foundation, which helps underprivileged women and children in India.

“I started the first junior chapter of the American India Foundation in the country when I was in seventh grade at Lake Forest Country Day,” Bhatia remembers. “I worked on that until I left for college. Then, when I was working in New York, I joined the Young Professionals Board. And recently I was appointed to the organization’s Global Board. My charitable giving journey began in grade school with the encouragement to go after what I was passionate about.”

When Bhatia is asked if there is anything in her career she would do differently, she answers thoughtfully. “Honestly, no, I wouldn’t change anything. It takes a long time to figure out what you want to do, and you’re very lucky when you find it,” she says. “I’m fortunate to be in a position where all my prior experiences are directly additive to the work I do every day. Because of my past direct investing experience, I feel confident when I’m making a recommendation to a client. I’m able to understand the strategies inside and out. That’s a really great vantage point to come from.”