Alto Acquires Forge Trust to Scale Private Market Retirement Investing

Nashville-based Alto is acquiring Forge Trust from Charles Schwab, a move that consolidates two major self-directed IRA platforms. The merger creates an entity with over $20 billion in assets under custody and administration, aiming to bridge the gap between massive retirement capital pools and the growing private equity landscape.

Money Talk·October 6, 2026·reads: 1,066

Alto Acquires Forge Trust to Scale Private Market Retirement Investing

The deal combines Forge Trust’s 40-year custodial history with Alto’s modern, AI-driven infrastructure. By integrating Forge’s established client relationships and diverse asset classes, Alto intends to streamline the historically cumbersome process of moving retirement funds into private markets. The combined platform will support more than 60,000 self-directed IRA accounts and over 3 million Custody-as-a-Service accounts.

Currently, more than $19.9 trillion sits in IRAs, yet institutional access to private alternatives remains fragmented. Alto plans to leverage this acquisition to scale its SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA-member capabilities, reducing processing times from weeks to minutes through automated workflows. Eric Satz, founder and CEO of Alto, stated that the integration addresses the lack of connectivity that has long hindered retirement capital from entering private markets.

Forge Trust will continue servicing accounts in the ordinary course during the transition, with no immediate action required from current clients. The transaction remains subject to approval by the South Dakota Division of Banking. While financial terms were not disclosed, the deal marks a significant shift in the retirement infrastructure sector as demand for alternative assets approaches a projected $32 trillion market by 2030.