The Entrust Group

Self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs) offer wealth advisors and fund managers a gateway to expand client portfolios and tap into broader investment opportunities. But there is a caveat to consider. While these accounts open the door to alternatives like real estate, private equity, and crypto, they must be held with IRS-compliant custodians. Choosing the right custodian is crucial to ensure compliance, streamline complex transactions, and provide the transparency and efficiency needed to build client trust and scale the business.

Over 24,000 clients trust The Entrust Group to be their custodian. The company brings over 40 years of experience helping investors and institutions navigate the complexity of alternative retirement investing. The secret behind such longevity is a relentless commitment to one thing: customer-centricity.

“We always look critically at our business to find better ways of doing things, aiming to make the client experience more seamless throughout their journey with us,” says Caroline Baldwin, chief operating officer.

Entrust’s proprietary Entrust Client Portal is the distilled result of this ethos. Developed from scratch over the past decade, the platform is designed to minimize friction and simplify account management, allowing clients to complete transactions quickly, efficiently and securely.

It offers 24/7 access to account balances, statements, transactions and fees. Advisors and clients alike can initiate new investments or make asset payments directly, eliminating unnecessary delays and improving overall visibility. Rather than forcing users through a generic process, the portal asks only what is necessary for the transaction at hand and balances features with the safeguards required in the highly regulated SDIRA environment. Complementing the portal is the Entrust Mobile App, which empowers users to manage accounts on the go, reflecting the company's focus on convenience and accessibility.

That same philosophy inspired OpenAlt—a dedicated B2B portal developed by an affiliated company under the same ownership as The Entrust Group. It gives wealth managers, investment issuers and advisors clear, transparent visibility into their clients' self-directed IRA activities, from account openings to investment progress. Such visibility used to require emails, phone calls, and follow-ups. Now, it's built into the workflow.

A recent example of OpenAlt’s impact involved a private real estate lender looking to streamline investor onboarding. Without the resources to build a custom tech stack, the firm turned to OpenAlt to boost operational efficiency while elevating its brand experience. It transformed investor onboarding from a manual burden into a polished, professional experience, helping the client attract more capital with less administrative drag.

In their words, “The digital tools tie in seamlessly with our internal processes to elevate our professionalism with potential investors.”

Driving Entrust’s excellence is an expert team of seasoned professionals, many of whom have earned the Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP) designation. This depth of expertise enables Entrust to navigate the complex and often exception-filled world of alternative asset investing with confidence. For financial advisors and planners, it means they don’t have to dedicate extensive hours to become experts in self-directed IRAs themselves. Instead, they can rely on Entrust’s in-house specialists to guide their clients through the process.

This strategy is extremely valuable for bridging knowledge gaps in SDIRAs. Since most stakeholders remain unaware of the potential of SDIRAs, the company has developed resources, content, and outreach designed to promote safe and compliant investing. Each month, Entrust invites subject matter experts to lead educational webinars on a range of SDIRA-related topics, like real estate investing trends, key IRA deadlines, and how to invest an SDIRA through an LLC.

By placing transparency, speed, and service at the core of its model, Entrust is helping unlock a retirement market poised for transformation. As financial freedom increasingly involves looking beyond traditional options, SDIRAs represent significant potential. With Entrust as a trusted partner, a new class of investors can pursue that potential with confidence, compliance, and oversight.