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Custody & Security: Who Holds Your Money — and How Altruist Protects It
Investment management in Nashville
The most important question to ask any wealth manager is one most prospects never ask out loud: who actually holds my money? At Infinitus, the answer is built on a deliberate separation of duties. We make the investment decisions. Altruist, an independent custodian regulated by the SEC and FINRA, holds the assets. And every account is titled in your name — never ours.
Strategy designed and managed by Erik James Roberts, MBA — Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Infinitus Wealth Management. Wharton MBA · Fee-only fiduciary.
Wharton MBA · Fee-Only Fiduciary · Veteran-Owned · Music Row, Nashville
100%
ACCOUNTS TITLED IN YOUR NAME
$500K
SIPC PROTECTION PER ACCOUNT*
+$40M
EXCESS COVERAGE PER ACCOUNT*
24/7
DIRECT ACCOUNT ACCESS
*SIPC protects securities up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for cash claims). Excess SIPC coverage is provided by underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, subject to a $2M cash sub-limit and a $150M aggregate limit across all Altruist accounts. Neither protects against market losses. See full disclosure below.
A Structure Built to Protect You From Day One
At our Nashville firm, custody is one of the first things we walk new clients through — because the structure itself is a promise kept in advance. In the strongest advisory relationships, three roles stay permanently separate: the advisor who manages the investments, the custodian who safeguards the assets, and the client who owns them.
Your money moves from your bank directly into your own account at Altruist, titled in your name from the first dollar. We bring the research, the strategy, and the daily management; Altruist provides the safekeeping, the settlement, and the reporting; and everything both of us do is recorded and reported to you by a party independent of the other. Each role strengthens the other two.
This separation of duties is the gold standard of the advisory industry — it is how institutions, endowments, and sophisticated families have safeguarded capital for generations. You get professional management and independent verification at the same time, and your ownership sits above both.
Who Is Altruist?
If you are coming from one of the legacy brokerage houses, Altruist may be a new name — and asking about it is exactly the right instinct. Altruist is an independent custodian and built exclusively for registered investment advisers and their clients. In under a decade it has grown into the third-largest custodian in the country by number of advisors served — more than 5,000 advisors and thousands of independent firms custody client assets there — and industry research named it the fastest-growing RIA custodian in the 2025 T3 software study.
Industry figures as of 2026; sources include the 2025 T3 software study and trade press reporting on custodian advisor counts.
That growth is not despite the safeguards — it runs on the same regulatory rails as every major custodian. Altruist Financial LLC is a self-clearing broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC. Client assets are segregated from the company’s own funds, as required by federal securities rules, and its regulatory capital is held at a major national bank.
What Altruist changes is the experience. It was built this decade, for one purpose, with none of the legacy infrastructure older platforms still carry: fully digital account opening, a modern app with real-time visibility into every position and every fee, fractional-share, commission-free trading, and native tax-management tools built into the platform rather than bolted on. For a firm like ours that builds portfolios from individual stocks and bonds, that infrastructure means precise execution and complete transparency for the client, down to each security you directly own.
What "self-clearing" means for you
Altruist settles and holds assets on its own regulated platform rather than renting custody from another firm. Fewer intermediaries between you and your assets means cleaner reporting, faster transfers, and one accountable party for safekeeping — supervised by the SEC and FINRA at every step.
Why Infinitus Chose Altruist
A custodian is one of the most consequential infrastructure decisions an advisory firm ever makes — it is where every client’s assets will actually live. We made this choice deliberately, and it comes down to four things:
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Built for fiduciaries, and only fiduciaries. Altruist serves independent advisers and their clients exclusively. There is no retail brokerage arm competing for your relationship and no house sales force with its own agenda — the platform succeeds only when independent firms like ours serve clients well. Its incentives point the same direction ours do.
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Technology that shows you everything. Real-time visibility into every position, every trade, and every fee — plus fully digital onboarding and fractional-share, commission-free execution. Transparency isn’t a quarterly report at Altruist; it’s the default state of your account. That matches how we operate: our fee schedule is published, and your custodian makes every deduction visible.
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Precision for the way we invest. We build portfolios from individual stocks and bonds — never mutual funds, rarely ETFs. Altruist’s modern, self-clearing trading infrastructure executes that model cleanly, with fractional shares enabling exact position sizing whether a portfolio is $100,000 or $10 million.
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Institutional-grade protection. The layered safeguards above — segregation, SIPC, excess coverage through Lloyd’s of London, the unauthorized-activity guarantee — sit under a platform regulated by the same authorities that oversee the industry’s largest custodians.
The advisory industry has noticed: thousands of independent firms have moved client assets to Altruist, and it now trails only the industry’s two legacy giants in advisors served. What that means for you is simple — a modern, transparent account experience with none of the institutional protection given up to get it. We manage. Altruist holds. You own. Every part of that structure was chosen on purpose.
How Your Assets Are Protected
Asset protection at Altruist is layered. Each layer answers a different "what if" — and it is worth understanding what each one does and does not cover.
Layer one: ownership and segregation
Your securities are titled to you and segregated from Altruist’s own corporate assets. Because you directly own each stock and bond in your portfolio, your holdings are not commingled with the custodian’s balance sheet. If the custodian itself ever failed as a business, your securities remain your property.
Layer two: SIPC membership
Altruist Financial LLC is a member of SIPC, which protects securities in your brokerage account up to $500,000, including $250,000 for claims for cash, in the event a member firm fails financially and client assets are missing. One thing every investor should understand: SIPC does not protect against market losses — it protects against the loss of custody of your assets, which is a different risk entirely.
Layer three: excess SIPC coverage through Lloyd’s of London
Beyond SIPC limits, Altruist carries an excess SIPC policy with underwriters at Lloyd’s of London that extends per-account coverage by an additional $40 million (with a $2 million sub-limit for cash), subject to an aggregate limit of $150 million across all Altruist accounts. Certain instruments — such as repurchase agreements, stock-loan transactions, and some mutual funds — may not be covered by the excess bond; a portfolio of directly owned individual stocks and bonds is the straightforward case this coverage is built around.
Layer four: the unauthorized-activity guarantee
Altruist maintains an Asset Protection Guarantee: if cash or securities are lost from your account due to unauthorized activity, Altruist will reimburse those losses, provided basic account security measures are maintained — a unique password, two-factor authentication, and current contact information.
And your cash: FDIC coverage through the sweep program
Uninvested cash can be swept into FDIC-insured deposit accounts across a network of partner banks, providing access to FDIC insurance well beyond a single bank’s $250,000 limit — up to $3 million on individual, trust, and business cash accounts and up to $6 million on joint accounts through the program’s partner banks. Once swept, those funds are protected by FDIC insurance rather than SIPC.
Clear Authority for Us. Complete Control for You.
Our authority over your account is precise, written, and visible — exactly as it should be. Under the advisory agreement, Infinitus is granted the ability to manage the investments and to deduct the disclosed advisory fee. Everything else stays with you, which is precisely how the structure is designed to work.
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We can: research, buy, and sell individual securities in your account according to your strategy; deduct the quarterly advisory fee, which appears on your custodial statement.
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We cannot: withdraw or transfer your funds to ourselves or anyone else, take possession of your assets, or change the ownership of your account.
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You always can: view every position and transaction in real time, receive statements directly from Altruist, move your money, or revoke our authority — your account is yours before, during, and after the relationship.
This structure also gives you permanent peace of mind about the future: because your assets sit in your own account at an independent custodian, your ownership never depends on anyone else. Whatever the years bring, your securities remain exactly where they belong — with you.
The advisory agreement grants Infinitus narrowly defined authority. Ownership and control of the account remain with the client at all times.
Trust, Then Verify — Every Quarter, Every Day
A custody structure is only as good as your ability to check it. With an Altruist-custodied account, verification is continuous and comes from a party independent of your advisor.
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Statements come from the custodian. Your account statements are generated and delivered by Altruist — not prepared by Infinitus. The numbers you see are the custodian’s records of your account.
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Real-time access, 24/7. Altruist’s app and web portal show every position, every trade, and every fee deduction as it happens. You never have to wait for a quarterly meeting to know what you own.
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Every fee is visible. The advisory fee — billed quarterly in arrears on your daily average balance — appears as a line item on the custodial statement, so what we publish is what you can verify.
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Independent tax documents. Your 1099s and account records come from Altruist, keeping the paper trail independent from the firm managing the portfolio.
Account statements, real-time access, and tax documents flow to you directly from Altruist, independent of the firm managing the portfolio.
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⎯ Frequently Asked Questions
Custody & Security Questions, Answered
Who is Altruist, and is it a real custodian? Yes. Altruist is an independent, self-clearing custodian founded in 2018 and built exclusively for registered investment advisers and their clients. Altruist Financial LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC — the same regulatory framework as every major custodian. More than 5,000 advisors custody client assets there, making it the third-largest custodian in the country by advisors served and, per industry research, the fastest-growing.
Is my money safe at Altruist? Your assets are held in an account titled in your name, segregated from Altruist’s corporate funds as federal securities rules require. Protection is layered: SIPC membership covers up to $500,000 per account (including $250,000 for cash claims), an excess SIPC policy with underwriters at Lloyd’s of London extends per-account coverage by an additional $40 million subject to policy limits, and Altruist’s Asset Protection Guarantee reimburses losses from unauthorized activity when basic security measures are maintained. None of these protect against market losses — they protect the custody of your assets.
What does SIPC actually cover? SIPC protects the securities and cash in your brokerage account — up to $500,000, including $250,000 for cash claims — if a member brokerage firm fails financially and client assets are missing. It is custody protection, not investment protection: SIPC does not cover declines in the market value of your investments, and no coverage does.
What coverage exists beyond SIPC limits? Altruist carries an excess SIPC policy with underwriters at Lloyd’s of London that extends per-account protection by an additional $40 million, with a $2 million sub-limit for cash, subject to a $150 million aggregate limit across all Altruist accounts. Certain instruments such as repurchase agreements, stock-loan transactions, and some mutual funds may not be covered by the excess bond — a consideration that matters less for portfolios of directly owned individual stocks and bonds.
Can Infinitus withdraw money from my account? No. Our authority is limited to managing the investments and deducting the disclosed advisory fee, which appears on your custodial statement. We cannot transfer your funds to ourselves or anyone else, take possession of your assets, or change your account’s ownership. Your money moves between your bank and your Altruist account — it never passes through Infinitus.
What happens to my assets if something happens to Infinitus? Nothing changes about your ownership. Your securities sit in your own account at Altruist, titled in your name, and they would remain exactly where they are. You could continue managing the account yourself, appoint a new adviser, or transfer it elsewhere — the assets are yours and never depend on our firm’s existence.
What happens to uninvested cash in my account? Uninvested cash can be swept into FDIC-insured deposit accounts across Altruist’s network of partner banks, providing access to FDIC coverage of up to $3 million on individual, trust, and business cash accounts and up to $6 million on joint accounts. Once swept to a partner bank, those funds are protected by FDIC insurance rather than SIPC.
How do I get started? Schedule a complimentary, no-obligation consultation directly with Erik James Roberts, Founder and Chief Investment Officer. We’ll walk through your goals and portfolio, and explain exactly how your account would be opened, titled, and protected at Altruist. Contact us at erik.roberts@infinituswealth.com or request a consultation today.
⎯ Explore Further
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Disclosure: Infinitus Wealth Management is a registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee returns or eliminate risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Advisory services are offered only pursuant to a written advisory agreement. Altruist Financial LLC is an independent custodian and broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC, and is not affiliated with Infinitus Wealth Management. Custody, insurance, and protection details described on this page — including SIPC coverage, excess SIPC coverage through underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, the Asset Protection Guarantee, and FDIC sweep program coverage — are provided by Altruist, SIPC, Lloyd’s of London, and FDIC-member partner banks under their respective terms, are subject to limits, exclusions, and conditions, and may change; refer to altruist.com/legal/security and sipc.org for current details. Neither SIPC protection nor excess SIPC coverage protects against declines in the market value of securities. FDIC insurance applies only to cash swept to FDIC-member partner banks under the Bank Sweep Program and is subject to FDIC limits per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. Altruist Financial LLC is not a bank. This page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice.