What STRATA Trust Company does

STRATA Trust Company is a privately held, for-profit national IRA custodian founded in 2008 and headquartered in Waco, Texas. According to its firmographic profile, the company specializes in self-directed IRAs that hold alternative investments — a niche segment of the retirement custody market encompassing assets such as private placements, real estate, promissory notes, and other non-publicly-traded instruments not typically accommodated by mainstream brokerage custodians. The company operates with a small team of 11-50 employees, consistent with a focused specialty custody model rather than a mass-market retail IRA provider.

The company's specific product surface, pricing model, technology stack, and customer segmentation are not disclosed in the available source data. Its leadership team consists of a President (Kelli Click), COO (Jeff Thompson), CFO (Michele Maruri), and CTO (William Pascarella), suggesting a standard mid-sized trust company governance structure with dedicated functional leadership across operations, finance, and technology. The presence of a CTO indicates some level of technology investment, though specific platform, integration, or digital capabilities are not documented in the input. The company markets itself as a "top-tier national IRA custodian," implying national geographic reach within the United States, though operating geographies, branch footprint, and channel relationships are not detailed.

Business model mechanics — including custody fee structure, account minimums, assets-under-administration scale, and channel partnerships — are not disclosed. As an IRA custodian, the company's revenue would typically be derived from annual account maintenance fees, asset-based custody charges, transaction fees, and ancillary service charges on the alternative assets held in custody. No revenue, AUA, ARR, funding history, M&A activity, or partnership data is available from the source material, representing a significant information gap for any investment thesis. The source profile also lacks patent, certification, regulatory action, and competitive positioning data, limiting the depth of defensible analytical conclusions.

Name

STRATA Trust Company

Website

https://stratatrust.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

STRATA Trust Company is a privately held national IRA custodian founded in 2008 and based in Waco, Texas, specializing in self-directed retirement accounts that hold alternative investments such as private equity, real estate, and other non-publicly-traded instruments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retirement Custody Services

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (525920), Pension Funds (525110), Pension Funds (52511)

SIC

Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal & Family Trust Services (FSAAANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trust & Fiduciary Advisory for HNW/UHNW (Trust Structuring & Trustee Oversight) (FSAAABAF), Estate Planning, Trust Structuring & Governance (FSAAADAF), Personal Trust & Fiduciary Administration (FSAEAKAA), Trust & Estate Tax Planning & Compliance (FSAEAKAE)

Keywords

• IRA custody services
• Alternative investments
• Self-directed IRAs
• Retirement custody
• Custodial services

Headquarters

HQ city

Waco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

STRATA Trust Company is a national IRA custodian that provides custodial services for self-directed retirement accounts, with a specialization in holding alternative investments (such as private equity, real estate, notes, and other non-traditional assets) within IRA structures. The company acts as a regulated custodian, safeguarding client assets and maintaining the tax-advantaged status of retirement accounts that hold alternative asset classes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Self-Directed IRA Custody for Alternative Investments

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves2 records

Direct peers

• IRA Financial Trust: IRA Financial Trust (formerly known as IRA Financial Group) provides self-directed retirement account custody with a focus on alternative and crypto-related investments. It directly competes with STRATA in the alternative-asset IRA space.
• Millennium Trust Company: Millennium Trust is one of the largest specialized self-directed IRA custodians in the U.S., offering custody for alternative investments including private equity, real estate, and promissory notes. It is the closest direct competitor to STRATA in the alternative-asset IRA custody niche.
• Sunwest Trust: Sunwest Trust is a self-directed IRA custodian specializing in alternative assets including real estate, notes, and private placements. It is a direct peer serving similar sponsor and individual investor clients.
• Kingdom Trust Company: Kingdom Trust is a specialized self-directed retirement custodian offering alternative-asset IRA services and was acquired by Acorns in 2021. It is a direct competitor to STRATA in serving alternative-investment IRA clients.
• Equity Trust Company (JTC Americas): Equity Trust is a major self-directed IRA custodian serving hundreds of thousands of accounts with alternative-asset exposure, now part of JTC Group. It competes directly with STRATA on sponsor relationships, fee schedules, and platform integrations.
• Pensco Trust Company: Pensco is a self-directed IRA custodian focused on alternative investments, including real estate, private equity, and precious metals. It is a direct peer in the same niche as STRATA with overlapping sponsor and advisor channels.

Emerging players

• New Direction IRA: New Direction IRA is a smaller self-directed IRA custodian focused on alternative investments. It is an emerging niche player competing with STRATA for sponsor partnerships and advisor relationships in the self-directed IRA channel.

Broad incumbents

• Fidelity Investments (IRA Custody): Fidelity is one of the largest IRA custodians in the U.S., serving tens of millions of retirement accounts. While its core focus is mainstream brokerage assets, it sets the competitive baseline on fees, scale, and digital experience that specialist custodians like STRATA must differentiate against.
• Charles Schwab (IRA Custody): Schwab is a dominant retail IRA custodian offering a broad self-directed brokerage IRA platform. While it primarily serves traditional securities, it represents the mass-market incumbent alternative and a potential channel partner or competitive threat to specialist custodians like STRATA.
• Vanguard (IRA Custody): Vanguard is a leading low-cost IRA custodian primarily serving mutual fund and ETF investors. It is a broad incumbent that defines fee benchmarks in the IRA custody market and competes for retirement dollars that might otherwise flow into alternative-asset specialists like STRATA.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/StrataTrustCo
• Facebookfacebook.com/STRATATrustCo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about STRATA Trust Company