Alto’s Forge Trust deal would expand the custody network behind private-market IRAs

Alto agreed on 6 October 2026 to acquire Forge Trust Co. and its parent, Forge Services Inc., from Forge Global, Inc., a Charles Schwab company. South Dakota banking approval remains a closing condition; no price or completion date was disclosed.[1]

The prospective combination exceeds $20 billion in custody and administration assets, with over 60,000 self-directed IRAs holding private assets and more than 3 million custody-as-a-service accounts. Alto dates the figures to 30 June 2026. Existing Forge Trust clients need take no action; normal servicing continues, with advance communication promised before changes. Enterprise partners can embed Alto’s custody and marketplace services through APIs.[1]

Schwab completed its acquisition of Forge Global Holdings on 2 March. That transaction brought a private-market platform offering eligible investors direct share purchases and single-company or multicompany funds into the Schwab group.[2]

The economics behind the custody total

Forge’s September 2025 Form 10-Q describes a business earning account, asset and transaction fees, with cash administration supplying most custody revenue. Maintenance charges were generally flat quarterly fees, supplemented for asset types and activity; custody assets were not the basis of a percentage management fee. Client cash balances and prevailing interest rates were separate revenue drivers.[3]

The distinction matters in the historical numbers. Nine-month custodial administration fees fell from $31.828 million to $27.539 million, a calculated 13.5% decline, although period-end custody assets rose from $16.620 billion to $18.448 billion year on year. Forge attributed the fee decline to lower rates and client cash. These are pre-acquisition 2025 figures, useful for understanding the model rather than valuing the current deal.[3]

What an integrated platform charges for

The tariff uses invested capital rather than current market value, and excludes uninvested cash. Marketplace investment processing is listed at $0, integrated-partner processing at $10 and private investments at $75 each. For example, the upper account tier plus one private investment produces $475 in annualised account and processing charges, before other services or issuer fees.[4]

These are Alto’s existing charges; the acquisition announcement does not set a replacement tariff for Forge accounts.[1]

Custody and placement perform different jobs

Alto Securities LLC’s relationship summary, dated April 2023 and still linked on Alto’s site, describes a limited-purpose broker placing private offerings. It does not open retail investor accounts, monitor them or accept discretionary authority. Investments can be held through the affiliated IRA custodian or another willing custodian.[5]

The broker says it receives issuer commissions or revenue-sharing payments, creating incentives around which offerings it distributes. That separates two commercial relationships: administering the retirement account and being paid to place investments into it. Combining them can simplify the workflow, while the customer still needs to identify who holds the assets, who selected the investment and which layer charges the fee.[5]

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