Alto, a Nashville-based self-directed IRA custodian and broker-dealer, has agreed to acquire Forge Trust from Schwab, a move that will consolidate more than $20 billion in retirement assets onto a single platform designed for private market investing. The announcement, made Tuesday, comes months after Schwab completed its $660 million acquisition of Forge Global, the private-shares marketplace that owns Forge Trust.
The deal includes Forge Trust Co. and its parent, Forge Services Inc., both subsidiaries of Forge Global. Completion is subject to approval from the South Dakota Division of Banking. Once finalized, the combined entity will hold over 60,000 self-directed IRA accounts with private-market assets, according to Alto. Additionally, Alto's custody-as-a-service business, which provides custody and compliance tools to other firms, will serve more than three million accounts.
Self-directed IRAs offer the same tax advantages as traditional IRAs but allow custodians to hold assets beyond publicly traded securities, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, and private credit. This broader investment universe can present opportunities but also introduces unique risks. In a 2023 investor alert, the Securities and Exchange Commission, along with NASAA and FINRA, warned that alternative assets in self-directed IRAs "have unique risks" including "a lack of information and liquidity – and the risk of fraud."
Alto's acquisition marks a significant scale-up. As of June 30, Alto reported custody of roughly $2 billion in assets across more than 32,000 self-directed IRA investors. The company did not specify how much of the combined $20 billion-plus will come from Forge Trust, but given Forge Trust's 40-year operating history, it is likely to contribute the majority.
"We see an enormous opportunity to bring alternative assets into the financial mainstream by making retirement capital easier to put to work," said Eric Satz, Alto's founder and CEO. Forge Trust's COO, Liz Alexander, emphasized continuity: "Our priority throughout this process has been to ensure continuity for our clients and our people while positioning the business to serve them even better over time."
Schwab's involvement with Forge began in November 2024, when it announced plans to acquire Forge Global for $660 million, or $45 per share in cash. The deal closed in March 2025. Schwab CEO Rick Wurster said at the time that the acquisition would "deepen liquidity, improve transparency, and further democratize access to this increasingly important source of wealth creation."
However, Schwab's ownership has drawn legal challenges. Linqto, a bankrupt pre-IPO investing platform, has sued Forge and Schwab in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Linqto alleges that Forge reneged on its role as trustee of a liquidating trust meant to return assets to over 13,000 customers, citing demands from Schwab. Linqto CEO Dan Siciliano called the situation "intolerable and wrong."
For advisors, the acquisition could enhance access to private markets. Alto's Private Deal Room platform, launched in August, allows RIAs to manage private deals within client IRAs, with Alto handling custody, compliance, and execution. Citing PitchBook, Alto noted that operational hurdles are a major barrier for the nearly 19,000 RIAs in the U.S. A KKR survey found that about 74% of RIAs want to increase client allocations to private markets.
Evan Deussing, Alto's senior vice president of revenue, highlighted the competitive advantage: "Advisors today are competing in an increasingly crowded market, and with more than $18 trillion of investable retirement assets untapped in IRAs, access to differentiated private markets opportunities can be a meaningful way to distinguish their practices."
The transaction underscores the growing intersection of retirement planning and alternative investments, a trend that has drawn regulatory scrutiny. As compliance burdens for alts managers increase, platforms like Alto aim to streamline the process. For a deeper look at how private markets are evolving, see Raymond James's hybrid model portfolios and private credit's role in annuities.
