Equity Trust Company

Equity Trust Company is a directed custodian for self-directed IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts that hold alternative assets. It serves individual investors and, through its Equity Institutional unit, RIAs, broker-dealers, investment platforms, crowdfunding and private equity platforms, precious metals dealers and cryptocurrency providers. The company says it has about 4,000 institutional relationships and $73 billion in assets under custody and administration.

Accounts can hold real estate, private equity, private debt, precious metals, cryptocurrency and traditional securities. For advisors and platforms, EquityConnect provides account-open, transfer and purchase APIs so a firm can offer IRA investing inside its own client experience. The myEQUITY portal handles account opening with e-signature and document upload and lets advisors sort their book by asset or account. Firms receive scheduled workflow reports on account openings, funding, holdings, disbursements, required minimum distributions and pending transfers, and larger relationships can get a dedicated manager and a discounted fee schedule. The Equity Universal IRA combines brokerage holdings, private market investments through the WealthBridge marketplace and digital assets in one account.

Equity Trust is based in Westlake, Ohio. Its predecessor business dates to 1974, and it has been an IRS-approved self-directed IRA custodian since 1983. Brokerage services are offered through ETC Brokerage Services, a FINRA and SIPC member. It publishes an account fee schedule on its site.