Ritholtz Wealth Management Adds Altruist as Custodian

Ritholtz Wealth Management, a $6 billion RIA, has added Altruist as a custodian, alongside Schwab, Fidelity, and Betterment. Altruist, a self-clearing custodial platform, has integrated brokerage services and recently raised $152 million in a Series F funding round, valuing the company at $1.9 billion. The firm has also launched its AI service resource, Hazel, for advisor clients, which provides features such as answering questions, drafting emails, and creating tasks. Altruist now has around 5,000 advisors on its platform.

Ritholtz Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor (RIA) with over $6 billion in assets, has expanded its custodian lineup by adding Altruist. This move comes alongside its existing custodians, Schwab, Fidelity, and Betterment. Altruist, a self-clearing custodial platform, has integrated comprehensive brokerage services, including account opening, reporting, trading, and billing. The company recently raised $152 million in a Series F funding round, valuing the firm at $1.9 billion and bringing its total fundraising to $602 million. The funding will be used to develop new technology, tools, and products.

In a significant development, Altruist has launched "Hazel," its artificial intelligence service resource for advisor clients. Hazel, which marks the first AI product release since Altruist acquired Thyme, an AI-powered assistant, in June, offers a range of features. These include answering questions based on recorded conversations, emails, documents, and CRM systems, as well as market and regulatory information. It can also provide daily snapshots, draft client emails, create tasks following meetings, sync with CRM systems, prep advisors for meetings, take real-time notes, and safeguard client data. Advisors can access Hazel as a standalone platform for $60 per seat monthly or $600 per seat annually. Altruist plans to integrate Hazel into its custodial platform in the coming months.

Two years ago, Altruist launched its own self-clearing platform, Altruist Clearing, which marked the final step in becoming a full-service custodian. Just weeks later, the firm announced plans to acquire SSG, adding more than 1,600 advisors to its platform. Currently, Altruist has about 5,000 advisors on its platform. Last week, Altruist won the Custodians: Technology category at the Wealth Management Industry Awards for its work on feature integrations.

References:
$6B RIA Ritholtz Wealth Management Adds Altruist as Custodian^[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/6b-ria-ritholtz-wealth-management-150109878.html
$6B RIA Ritholtz Adds Altruist as Custodian^[2] https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/-6b-ria-ritholtz-wealth-management-adds-altruist-as-custodian