Crowd Street Announces a Collaboration with Equity Trust, a Global IRA Leader, to Expand Retirement Offerings Through Self-Directed Private Market Investing
NEW YORK, January 29, 2025 — Crowd Street, a private market investment platform enabling members to achieve their financial goals by providing direct access to investment opportunities, today announced an integration with Equity Trust — a leading financial services company with over 50 years of experience in the self-directed retirement space. This arrangement will provide Equity Trust’s nearly 500,000 members, who have more than $81B in assets under custody, seamless and easy access to Crowd Street’s self-directed private market investment platform through their Wealth Bridge portal.
For many Americans, retirement accounts represent their largest pool of long-term capital, often invested for decades. Private market investments, which typically require multi-year holding periods, are considered by some as naturally well-suited to this type of long-term wealth creation. By leveraging a self-directed IRA, investors can access a broader range of private market opportunities while keeping their retirement capital invested in a tax-advantaged structure that supports long-term growth.
By integrating with Equity Trust, Crowd Street is offering new options that previously weren't available to its members – enabling accredited investors to explore a wider range of assets for their IRAs, beyond public securities.
“Our collaboration with Equity Trust is set up to provide opportunities for millions of investors who want to have control and transparency over their financial investments,” said John Imbriglia, CEO of Crowd Street. “For many Americans who are planning for retirement, the way for them to access the private markets and have personal control over their investments is through a self-directed IRA. After meeting the team at Equity Trust, it became immediately clear that they were a natural fit with us. Their Wealth Bridge integration with our Crowd Street portal will make investing in private market opportunities easier through this seamless interface.”
Through this integration, investors on Equity Trust’s platform will have access to more investment options through Crowd Street’s registered funds across several asset classes.Crowd Street members will also be able to more easily open self-directed custodial accounts with Equity Trust. Most importantly, individual investors will be armed with the educational and support resources to help them responsibly advance on their journey of financial diversification and seek wealth creation opportunities by expanding beyond the public markets and into other alternative asset classes.
“As one of the pioneers in self-directed IRAs, we understand what it means to give investors the tools and resources to take control of their financial future,” said George Sullivan, CEO of Equity Trust Company. “Crowd Street shares that same vision. When we met with Crowd Street, we were drawn to the quality of the assets they are bringing onto the platform and the professionalism of the team running the business. We are excited to bring more access to members of both companies. But more importantly, we are looking forward to our shared initiative being able to help educate more individual investors about private markets, self-directed IRAs, and what can happen when they come together.”
“Many Americans don’t realize that their retirement dollars can be directed into alternative assets or the private markets,” added John Bowens, Head of Education and Investor Success at Equity Trust Company. “By expanding access to private markets through platforms like Crowd Street, we’re helping investors make more informed decisions about how to build wealth for their future.”
With increasing interest in private market investment opportunities, Crowd Street and Equity Trust are removing the historical friction between retirement solutions and private markets, while opening up investment access through a new self-directed distribution channel.
As part of its commitment to investor education, Crowd Street has published in-depth resources on private market investing, including a Guide to Private Equity Investing and a Guide to Private Credit Investing. These guides provide an overview of how these asset classes work, their potential roles in a portfolio, and some key considerations for accredited investors.
About Crowd Street
Crowd Street empowers its members to reach their financial ambitions through self-directed private market investments. The platform offers a carefully selected marketplace of alternative investment opportunities that have historically only been available to a small group of people. In addition to providing advanced tools, research, and insights to help investors confidently explore these exclusive opportunities, Crowd Street is also building a member experience rooted in trust and experience – further bridging the gap between investment opportunities and true financial wealth.
About Equity Trust Company
Equity Trust Company is a financial services company that enables individual investors and financial professionals to diversify investment portfolios using alternative asset classes such as real estate, private equity, cryptocurrency, and precious metals. With $70 billion in assets under custody and administration as of May 31, 2025, Equity Trust supports clients nationwide with education, service, and technology to help them build wealth through self-directed investing.
Equity Trust Company is a directed custodian and does not provide tax, legal, or investment advice. Any information communicated by Equity Trust Company is for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. Whenever making an investment decision, please consult with your tax attorney or financial professional.
