Edinburgh asset management group Baillie Gifford has been among the investors in a $152 million Series F funding round by Culver City, California-based Altruist, a “modern” custodian for registered investment advisors.
Altruist is now valued at $1.9 billion.
The funding round was led by Singapore’s GIC.
Salesforce Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Baillie Gifford, Carson Family Office, ICONIQ Growth, and a group of additional partners also participated.
“Transforming the custodial layer of wealth management is no small feat, but Altruist is approaching it with long-term thinking and principled execution,” said Shan Shan, Investment Manager, Private Companies, at Baillie Gifford.
“The firm’s focus on transparency, innovation, and advisor empowerment is just what the growing RIA sector needs.”
Choo Yong Cheen, Chief Investment Officer of Private Equity at GIC, said: “Altruist’s track record of building best-in-class, innovative products has positioned them to serve a large and growing market, bringing modern infrastructure to advisors who have long been underserved.
“GIC looks forward to supporting Altruist in their mission to democratize access to financial advice through our long-term, flexible capital. We are confident in the management team’s ability to deliver exceptional value to advisors and their clients.”
Altruist now serves over 4,700 advisors and has tripled assets under management for two consecutive years.
Altruist CEO Jason Wenk wrote: “Today, Altruist offers automated workflows that support growth and optimization at a scale unmatched by legacy custodians. Our pricing is simple and transparent, our API and integration capabilities are rapidly expanding, and every element of our product roadmap is directly shaped by feedback from our customers. In a nutshell, we’re building a custodian that helps advisors deliver better outcomes to more clients at lower costs.
“This approach appeals to firms managing $50M, $500M, and $5B alike.
“Several major trends confirm that now is the time to double down on this category. First, a massive generational wealth transfer is moving trillions of assets to investors who expect digitally empowered financial advice. Second, AI and automation are unlocking new levels of firm productivity. And third, there’s an industry-wide shift toward the RIA model’s key feature of genuine independence, away from the pseudo-autonomy of independent broker-dealers and the captive environment of wirehouses.
“Unlike our competitors, we have the advantage of being able to skate where the puck is going.”
Arving Ayyala, Partner at Geodesic Capital, said: “Altruist stands apart in the wealth management industry with their vertically integrated technology stack that combines custody services with front, middle, and back-office tools at a fraction of traditional costs, while leading the industry into the AI age.
“Their unified platform eliminates the data reconciliation nightmares plaguing RIAs while delivering a seamless digital experience that reduces labor costs by 40-60%. We’re backing Jason and his team because they’re not just improving the status quo — they’re completely reimagining an age-old industry that has resigned itself to incumbent offerings.”