Just weeks after landing a landmark acquisition agreement by one of the world's largest asset managers, Altruist is extending its reach into alternative investments with a move to offer pre-IPO investing opportunities on its own platform.
The Los Angeles-based custodian for RIAs said advisors can now place eligible clients into late-stage private companies through special purpose vehicles.
A special purpose vehicle, or SPV, is a pooled entity that buys shares of a single private company and sells investors units in it. Under the new setup, advisors can browse live and upcoming offerings and register client interest before a deal opens. They can then complete the subscription with digital signatures and see the resulting positions alongside clients' public and alternative holdings.
Altruist said the paperwork takes minutes rather than the weeks that might have been required for other more traditional private investment processes. The company did not disclose which private companies it would be offering.
The launch comes as advisors confront a wave of client curiosity about the next generation of mega-listings. Anthropic confidentially filed an investment prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1. The Financial Times has reported that the company's investors expect a valuation of $2 trillion or more at listing – which would rival the record $2 trillion SpaceX achieved in its June debut – and The New York Times has reported the offering could raise more than $100 billion.
"Advisors that custody with Altruist now have a simple way to support eligible clients who have expressed interest in investing in late-stage private companies," said Jason Wenk, founder and CEO of Altruist.
For most independent advisors, private-company deals have lived outside the custody relationship. That has typically meant a separate broker, a separate login and a separate process for each client.
Altruist argues the economics of staying private have made that setup harder to justify. Citing Nasdaq research, the company said just 2% of companies that first raised venture funding in 2009 had gone public within seven years, compared with 26% in 1994. Over the decades, the trend of more companies staying private has meant enterprise growth now happens well before firms reach public markets.
"Access to new investment opportunities can be a real differentiator for advisors that are looking to grow their business and attract new clients," Wenk said.
The SPV rollout builds on the alternatives marketplace Altruist launched in June, which includes strategies from Blackstone, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, KKR and Pantheon. That offering, designed to bring private equity, real estate and infrastructure to RIA clients, carried no custody fees for partner funds at launch
The product update comes just weeks after the late-August reveal of the definitive agreement for Vanguard to acquire Altruist, which is expected to close this year. Axios reported that Vanguard is paying $4.6 billion in cash, well above the roughly $1.9 billion valuation Altruist carried after an April 2025 funding round.
Under the agreement, Altruist is set to run as a standalone business with its current leadership, brand and operating model. For advisors weighing what the Vanguard acquisition means for RIA custody, the SPV launch is an early indication that Altruist's product roadmap – including the market-moving unveiling of its Hazel AI platform in February – is not stopping anytime soon.
Pre-IPO deals are largely closed to ordinary investors, as the majority of private-market offerings are limited to accredited investors. Under SEC rules, that generally means a net worth above $1 million excluding a primary residence, income above $200,000 in each of the prior two years, or holding a Series 7, 65 or 82 license.
Even for accredited clients, getting access may not be so easy. Anthropic's website says that it does not permit share sales without board approval, warning that purported third-party sales may not be legitimate. Secondary marketplaces Forge Global and Hiive both state that Anthropic shares are not available on their platforms.
To be sure, not all pre-IPO opportunities are winners, and many over-eager investors have been burned by bad actors. In one recent nightmare scenario, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Linqto founder William Sarris over an alleged $450 million scheme targeting investors who wanted to buy into private companies before they listed. Former CEO Joseph Endoso pleaded guilty and is cooperating with authorities.
Prosecutors said Linqto marketed itself as a gateway for everyday investors into private companies whose shares lacked readily identifiable prices. More than 13,000 customers put money in before the company went bankrupt in mid-2025. Sarris denies wrongdoing.
"William Sarris is innocent of these charges and intends to fight them," his lawyer, Tim Treanor, said in an email to Reuters.
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