Altruist (company)
Altruist (legally Altruist Corp.) is an American financial technology company headquartered in Culver City, California which provides a digital custodial platform for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs). Jason Wenk founded it in 2018. The platform combines brokerage custody with integrated software for account opening, trading, portfolio management, billing and reporting. As of 2025 Altruist serves nearly 5,000 RIA firms and ranks as the third largest custodian in the United States by number of advisors served. In April 2025 the company closed a $152 million Series F round at a valuation of approximately $1.9 billion, bringing total funding to over $600 million.
Background and founding
Jason Wenk grew up in West Michigan and joined Morgan Stanley at 20, working on investment research and systems development. He later described himself as the youngest professional employee at the firm globally at the time. In 2004 he started Retirement Wealth Advisors, his first independent firm. He then founded FormulaFolios, which grew to nearly $4 billion in assets under management in six years entirely without acquisitions, ranking as high as number 10 on Inc. Magazine's fastest-growing private companies list four years running. Wenk was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018.
What he found running those firms was that legacy custodians were slow, paper-heavy and expensive. In 2018 he started Altruist with a small team of engineers and former advisors out of a modest Culver City office, aiming to build the platform he had always wanted but never found.
Early funding and growth
Altruist launched as an introducing broker-dealer in 2019. In 2021 it raised a $50 million Series B led by Vanguard Group, a notable endorsement from one of the world's largest investment firms. In May 2024 it raised a $169 million Series E led by ICONIQ Growth at a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion, following 550 percent revenue growth in 2023.
Becoming self-clearing (2023)
In 2023 Altruist became self-clearing, achieving fully digital same-day account opening and funding, making it the only full-service custodian built exclusively for RIAs. Revenue that year grew 1,700 percent compared to 2022. The company also raised a $112 million Series D and acquired SSG to strengthen its custodial infrastructure.
Series F (2025)
In April 2025 Altruist closed a $152 million Series F led by GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, with Salesforce Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Baillie Gifford, Carson Family Office and ICONIQ Growth also participating. The round valued the company at approximately $1.9 billion. Investment News reported the raise independently, noting Altruist had tripled assets under management for two consecutive years and that average advisory firm size on the platform had increased 43 percent year over year.
The 2025 T3/Inside Information Software Survey showed Altruist's market share had more than doubled from 2.85 percent to 6.25 percent and rated the company an All-Star in five categories: custody, portfolio management, trading and rebalancing, billing, and cash management.
Hazel AI platform and market impact
In June 2025 Altruist acquired Thyme, an AI productivity platform. In September 2025 it launched Hazel, an AI platform for wealth professionals that integrates custodial data with CRM, email, meeting notes and client documents to automate advisor workflows. Within months over 1,000 wealth managers were using it. Fintech Global covered the launch independently on the day of release.
On 10 February 2026 Altruist launched AI-powered tax planning within Hazel. The tool analyzes clients' tax returns, pay stubs, account statements, meeting notes, emails and CRM data to generate personalized tax strategies in minutes. Investment News described the capability as "unprecedented amongst both RIA custodians and AI products in this industry."
The launch triggered a significant market reaction. Wealth Management magazine reported that shares of Charles Schwab, Raymond James, LPL Financial and Stifel fell between 7 and 9 percent in a single day, as investors worried AbOUT AI disrupting traditional advisory fee models. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Neil Sipes attributed the selloff to "broader concerns about AI disrupting the financial advice and wealth-management model." Seeking Alpha covered the selloff independently the same day, noting Raymond James fell 8.8 percent for its worst session since March 2020. Forbes covered the STOCK market crater independently. CEO Jason Wenk was subsequently interviewed on CNBC about the market reaction.
Spear's, a British wealth management publication, also covered the story, describing Altruist as an AI startup shaking up wealth management internationally and noting the share price drops extended to UK firms including St James's Place, AJ Bell and Quilter.
Product
Altruist's platform combines brokerage custody with front, middle and back-office tools including commission-free fractional share trading, automated rebalancing, customisable fee billing, performance reporting and digital account onboarding. The platform allows RIAs to open and onboard new accounts digitally in minutes, compared to The Two to three week process typical of legacy custodians.
Hazel, the company's AI platform, integrates real-time custodial data with CRM, email and client notes. It is available as a standalone product at $60 per seat per month and also available to advisory firms that do not custody assets with Altruist. Altruist also offers a Model Marketplace with over 500 investment models. The platform operates as a self-clearing broker-dealer through Altruist Financial LLC, a member of SIPC and FINRA.
Industry coverage
Financial Planning magazine published an independent analysis describing Altruist as disrupting a custodian market long dominated by Charles Schwab Corporation, Fidelity Investments and Pershing. Investment News has published multiple independent editorial analyses of the company's growth, including its partnership with Ritholtz Wealth Management, one of the most prominent independent advisory firms in the United States.
Recognition
- Highest rated custodian in the 2026 T3/Inside Information Software Survey
- All-Star in five categories in the 2025 T3/Inside Information Software Survey
- Named on the Forbes America's Best Startup Employers list
- Recognised by Datos Insights for Best Innovation in Clearing and Custody (2025)