Most conversations around private markets focus on the assets themselves—performance, structure, sector exposure. Less attention is paid to the mechanics surrounding those assets, and how cumbersome the investing process can sometimes be.
How difficult is onboarding? What are the minimum investment requirements? Will this complicate my taxes? These are often the first questions investors ask when considering a private market allocation.
Crowd Street’s platform is built to help simplify the mechanics of private market investing. The firm’s new integration with Equity Trust, a leading self-directed IRA custodian,1 reflects that focus. It allows eligible investors to allocate retirement capital to private assets through a streamlined, in-platform experience.
A Simpler Path to SD-IRA Investing
For many households, retirement accounts represent their largest pool of investable capital. The average IRA balance in the United States is six figures, typically allocated across mutual funds and ETFs.2
When considering private markets, for some, it may be easier to use retirement capital—already designated for investing—than everyday cash. But historically, reallocating an IRA into private markets often involved additional administrative steps. It required setting up a Self-Directed IRA (SD-IRA), which usually meant a lot of paperwork.3
Crowd Street’s integration with Equity Trust is designed to remove much of the complexity surrounding SD-IRA investing. Eligible members can establish, fund, and manage an SD-IRA through the platform.
Generally, the process is as simple as selecting an eligible IRA or 401(k) and initiating a trustee-to-trustee transfer or rollover. Depending on the structure of the transaction and individual circumstances, certain transfers or rollovers may not trigger immediate taxes or early withdrawal penalties. Most often, it is just the movement of assets from one retirement vehicle to another. Investors should consult a tax professional to understand the implications of any transfer or rollover based on their individual circumstances.
The Tax Advantages of Retirement Accounts
For some investors, retirement accounts may complement private market investment strategies.
First, they may offer certain tax advantages. Imagine you’ve invested in an asset like private credit or commercial real estate, and it’s producing regular income. Normally, that income would be taxed at ordinary income rates, which can create a drag on returns over time.
Inside an SD-IRA, investment income can generally be reinvested on a tax-deferred basis until withdrawal. That means less annual tax management, and potentially more efficient long-term compounding.4
Another consideration is duration matching. Retirement capital and private market investments are both built around long-term holding periods. With an SD-IRA, investors can make allocations to assets like private equity with the expectation of longer holding periods, which may align with the illiquid nature of these investments.5
Finally, contribution pacing—also known as dollar-cost averaging. Retirement accounts are often funded through recurring payroll contributions, allowing investors to build private market exposure over time rather than deploying a large lump sum all at once. This can help reduce timing risk tied to entering the market during a single valuation environment or economic cycle. Over long holding periods, that steadier contribution cadence may support a more measured approach to building private market exposure.6
For more on the relationship between private markets and SD-IRAs, read “Tax-Advantaged Investment Accounts—Some Things Investors Should Know” on the Crowd Street website.
Bringing Private Markets into a Modern Platform Experience
Expanding access to private markets is not simply a regulatory mission, but a technological one as well. Historically, individuals could not participate meaningfully in these assets as they remained gated behind administrative friction, fragmented systems, or highly specialized wealth management relationships.
Crowd Street’s integration with Equity Trust reflects our focus on making private market investing more accessible and easier to navigate for individual investors. Through the platform, members can explore SD-IRA-eligible offerings from global asset managers—all through a unified digital workflow.
Explore opportunities with Crowd Street today.
Private market investments are speculative, illiquid, and involve a high degree of risk, including the potential loss of the entire investment. Investments are available only to accredited investors. Crowd Street does not provide any tax, legal, financial, investment, or accounting advice. All investment decisions are made solely by the investor.
