Altruist expands Hazel AI platform with real-time custodial integration

Altruist has rolled out a new integration for its Hazel AI platform, allowing wealth managers to access real-time custodial data during client interactions.

The move announced Tuesday brings together account, beneficiary, household, holdings, and balance information from Altruist directly and in real time into Hazel, aiming to streamline advisor workflows and enhance client personalization.

At the time it was launched in September, Hazel already unified CRM, email, and meeting notes for advisors. Adoption has taken off quickly, with more than 1,000 wealth managers reportedly signing on since then.

With the latest update, the platform can now perform tasks such as household-level concentration analysis, asset-class or sector exposure reviews, and beneficiary summaries, all drawing from current custodial records.

"Hazel is the first AI platform for wealth managers to unify real-time data from a major custodian with CRM, emails, and meeting notes – and Altruist becomes the first custodian to deliver an AI experience with this depth of live account context, enabling precise, reliable answers at speed," according to a statement announcing the launch.

The integration is available immediately to firms using Altruist, but the company is quick to say Hazel is able to support advisors regardless of where they custody assets.

Jason Wenk, founder and chief executive of Altruist, said the custodian is often the “ultimate system of record” for advisors, containing critical details such as beneficiaries and cost basis.

“By wiring our Altruist data directly into Hazel, we’re setting the standard for what AI in wealth management should be – fast, accurate, and truly actionable,” Wenk said in the statement. He also bared plans to expand Hazel with additional custodian integrations and the ability to initiate actions directly from within the platform.

Security remains a focus for the platform, which uses bank-grade encryption and maintains zero data retention arrangements with third-party AI providers.

Before the year ends, Altruist plans to upgrade Hazel with custodial data incorporated into more workflows, such as meeting preparation and email drafting, and expanded reporting features to help advisors identify clients behind on required minimum distributions or with unrealized losses.

The announcement comes after Altruist signed on Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors, a subsidiary of WSFS Financial Corporation, as a new custodial partner last week. Jackie Blue, chief operating officer at Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors, said the partnership aligns with the firm’s goal of providing “client-centric solutions” and scalable services for its advisory teams.

Altruist hasn't exactly made a secret of its AI-led strategy as it looks to go toe-to-toe with Schwab and Fidelity, the uncontested goliaths of the RIA custodial space. To that end, it secured $152 million in a funding round earlier this year, though it had yet to dip into that war chest as of last month.

Last month, news broke that it laid off 50 employees – about one-seventh of its workforce – though Wenk clarified it was a part of a larger strategic shift rather than a pure cost-cutting decision.

“If you expect to compete in any way, shape, or form, you have to operate probably 10x better than them, maybe multiple orders of magnitude. You better build really good products, build them very fast, and have substantial automation,” Wenk told InvestmentNews at the time.

Despite the staff reduction, Altruist continues to hire for engineering and product roles, with Wenk noting that AI has enabled the company to “get a lot more done with less people.”

“What it really impacts is how many customers we can serve without having to have a huge team, and how much we can develop in a relatively short amount of time,” he said.