Altruist, a venture capital–backed fintech platform and digital custodian used by more than 4,000 financial advisors, announced a $169 million Series E round of funding on Thursday.
The round was led by ICONIQ Growth and included a new investor, Granite Capital Management, as well as funding from existing investors Adam Street Partners and Sound Ventures.
Yoonkee Sull, general partner at ICONIQ Growth, will join Altruist’s board of directors.
Although relatively young, having been launched in 2019, Altruist has quickly gained both name recognition and a reputation for a forward-thinking approach. In February, Altruist was listed as the No. 1 custodian that advisors are considering switching to in the next 18 months in an annual advisor software survey.
To date, Altruist has raised more than $450 million and is currently valued at more than $1.5 billion, according to the company.
The firm has seen a lot of recent success, having tripled its assets under management for the second consecutive year and achieved year-over-year revenue growth of 550 percent in 2023. Last year, the custodian became self-clearing, a long-term goal, and acquired the brokerage and custodian platform Shareholders Service Group.
With this raise, the company is planning to continue its investment in technology solutions as well as scaling its staff to grow with its customer base.
“Our ability to resolve issues quickly is one of the main reasons RIAs are leaving legacy custodians and coming to Altruist,” Altruist founder and chief executive officer Jason Wenk said in a statement. “A responsive support organization helps advisors build and maintain client trust.”
As part of its 2024 lineup, the company is planning on launching tax management features. It recently launched a cash management solution with a 5.10 percent annual percentage yield. Altruist also recently revised its fee schedule, eliminating 50 line items, after the company came under fire for raising or adding fees to some retirement accounts.
“With a fully featured and vertically integrated platform built for RIAs, Altruist is breaking through in an industry desperate for innovation,” Sull said in a statement. “It’s rare to see a new company in the custodian space nail the fundamentals while carving out a substantial customer base in a market dominated by legacy financial institutions.”
