Vanguard's second acquisition in 51 years: the $4B deal for AI-native custodian Altruist
LexSokolin · x · 2026-09-04
Vanguard is acquiring advisor custodian platform Altruist for $4B — only its second acquisition in 51 years, and the largest check in its history.
- Altruist was founded in 2018 by Jason Wenk, who built custody, clearing, advisor software and the Hazel AI assistant as one vertically integrated stack after years of fighting expensive legacy custodians.
- It now serves roughly 6,500 independent advisors and ranks as the third-largest custodian by firms served.
- Lex Sokolin argues the deal gives Vanguard both a credible third player against Schwab and Fidelity in RIA custody and an AI-native wealth platform that could reshape how financial advice is produced and distributed.
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