In the News

October 19, 2023

Another new custodian enters the RIA market

The marketplace for custodians looking to work with registered investment advisors in the wake of Charles Schwab Corp.’s acquisition of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. is getting more crowded. Another entrant, a firm with decades of experience as a custodian of self-directed IRA assets, is shifting its focus to smaller RIAs and launching a new business line, called Innovayte, to do so.

Equity Advisor Solutions and ETC Brokerage Services announced Thursday they have formed a custody and clearing company to work with and support entrepreneurial independent RIAs, targeting firms with $100 million to $800 million in client assets. They are affiliated with Equity Trust Co., a provider of self-directed individual retirement accounts and alternative asset custody services that was founded in 1974 and has $37 billion in client assets.

Equity Advisor Solutions and ETC Brokerage Services are owned by Richard Desich and Jeffrey Desich, according to BrokerCheck.

Innovayte, the new company, will be led by Catherine “Cat” Davies, a clearing and custody industry veteran who started in 1999 and has worked at Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments and, most recently, the giant RIA Hightower Advisors…