About Our Custodian

In 1974, Equity Trust Company (Equity Trust) Chairman and Founder, Richard Desich, Sr., established a registered broker-dealer firm in Elyria, Ohio. In 1983, the firm became qualified to serve as a non-bank IRA Custodian. Realizing that a trust company could offer more services to its clients, Equity Trust Company was formed in 2003 and a South Dakota Trust charter was obtained. In 2009, Equity Trust acquired assets and business from Sterling Trust and in 2010 Equity Trust acquired the accounts of Trust Administration Services. The company continued to expand with the acquisition of assets from Principal Trust of Delaware in 2014 and American Pension Services in 2015. With offices in Ohio, Colorado, and South Dakota, Equity Trust services over 216,000 accounts in all 50 states and has over $34 billion in assets under custody and administration (as of July 2021).

As an independent trust company, Equity Trust does not offer investment advice, nor does it offer or sponsor any proprietary investment products. Rather, Equity Trust only processes transactions at the instruction of its clients or their designated financial advisors. Equity Trust offers a truly “open architect” approach to investment choices and does not offer, solicit or endorse any investment products or strategies.

Equity Trust’s broker-dealer affiliate, ETC Brokerage Services, is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Client directed brokerage transactions that are effected through the trust company’s broker-dealer affiliate are unsolicited.