Altruist raises $112M Series D to take on Schwab and Fidelity in $128 trillion RIA market
LOS ANGELES – Altruist, the modern custodian built exclusively for RIAs, today announced a new $112 million series D round of funding led by Insight Partners, new investor Adams Street Partners, and continued support from existing investors. Notable industry leaders Bill McNabb, Ron Carson, and Marty Bicknell also participated in the round. This comes just weeks after the acquisition of SSG, an advisory services firm, and the launch of a new brokerage offering that cemented Altruist as the third largest custodian as measured by number of firms served. Altruist’s new funding adds to a previously undisclosed $110 million series C raised in November of 2021 and led by Declaration Partners with Venrock, Insight Partners, and Vanguard participating, bringing its total funding to more than $290 million.
“Great, human financial advice starts with the client relationship”
Altruist’s vertically integrated approach makes it the first company ever to combine clearing, custody, and a complete suite of advisory software into one solution. After a year of unprecedented growth, the company plans to invest the funds to further develop and expand its service offerings to empower a broader segment of the RIA market, including mid-sized firms that manage between $100 million and $1 billion in total assets.
“We’re incredibly bullish on Altruist and the RIA market more broadly,” said Brian Stern, Partner and Co-Head of Growth Equity at Declaration Partners. “I have seen few investment opportunities in my career to back a team with this level of domain expertise and depth of vision, and applied to such a significant and compelling market need.”
The registered investment advisor (RIA) market is booming with $128.4 trillion in assets under management and over 3,000 new firms launched annually. With their personalized service and fiduciary obligations to operate in clients’ best interests, RIAs are rapidly becoming the trusted choice for households seeking support in managing and building their wealth. Yet only 1 in 3 Americans currently work with a financial advisor due to access and affordability. The majority of RIAs that work with legacy custodians are burdened with high operational costs, paper-based processes, and disjointed software preventing firms from servicing more households at a lower cost.
Altruist was created in 2018 by Jason Wenk, an industry veteran who has founded and led multiple billion plus dollar technology-enabled RIAs. As an advisor, he experienced first-hand the unique challenges that inhibit RIA growth and limit the reach of great, affordable financial advice.
“While the RIA industry has evolved rapidly over the past 20 years, the custodians serving them have not,” said Altruist CEO Jason Wenk. “Legacy custodians have little incentive to innovate and rebuild technology that would enable advisors to scale and reach as many people as possible.”
Altruist has taken a fundamentally new approach to bridging the gap between financial services and technology with an exclusive focus on RIAs. The company has rebuilt the advisor technology stack from the ground up, vertically integrating a clearinghouse, custody, and all-in-one software that offers account opening, trading, reporting, and billing. In addition, Altruist is highly praised for its exceptional customer service and a modern client-facing application that gives households complete transparency into portfolio performance.
“Altruist has quietly invested an immense amount of time and resources building a truly modern custodian for RIAs,” said Jon Rosenbaum, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “A vertically integrated platform that puts clearing and custody at the core is a game changer for advisors. It’s a deeply technical problem at every level that the team has solved with an intuitive user experience that’s unlike anything the RIA industry has ever seen.”
Altruist nearly tripled assets under management in 2022 while growing revenue by over 1,700% year over year. While many startups, especially in the financial technology sector, have seen growth slow in 2023, Altruist has rapidly accelerated growth and recorded record asset inflows in Q1 2023. The company also expects to reach profitability this calendar year after less than 5 years of operating history.
“Great, human financial advice starts with the client relationship,” said Chief Product Officer Harpreet Ahluwalia. “We believe our relentless focus on innovation and commitment to help RIAs save time and improve their offer through automation is the only way to improve financial outcomes at scale.”
To learn more about how Altruist is revolutionizing financial advisory services, visit altruist.com and get started for free.
ABOUT ALTRUIST
Altruist is the modern custodian for independent RIAs. Altruist combines a self-clearing brokerage firm with intuitive software for account opening, trading, reporting, and billing – all in one streamlined solution. With Altruist, you can create custom models, trade fractional shares, automate rebalancing, and share performance with clients using a modern mobile app. Learn more at https://www.altruist.com.
“Altruist Clearing” is a marketing name of Altruist Financial LLC. Altruist Corp (“Altruist”) offers technology and tools designed to help financial advisors achieve better outcomes. Advisory services are provided by Altruist LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, and brokerage related products and services are provided by Altruist Financial LLC, a member of FINRA/SIPC. Nothing in this communication should be construed as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Additionally, Altruist or its affiliates do not provide tax advice and investors are encouraged to consult with their personal tax advisors. Clearing and custodying are provided by Altruist Financial LLC. © 2023 Altruist Corp 3030 S La Cienega Blvd Culver City, CA 90232. For more on fees, see our fee schedule at https://www.altruist.com/legal.
