$4B Gerber Kawasaki to Use Altruist for New Business
Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based registered investment advisor managing more than $4 billion in client assets, has added Altruist as a custodian.
The RIA, which is run by CEO and President Ross Gerber and Vice President and COO Danilo Kawasaki, will route all new business to Altruist, according to an announcement. The firm cited Altruist’s infrastructure, self-clearing model, fractional share trading capabilities and unified platforms as reasons for adding the custodian.
“We’re entering a rapid growth phase, and Altruist is the partner to help us scale,” Gerbert said in a statement. “As part of this transition, we’re moving all new business to Altruist to streamline operations and accelerate our path to $10 billion.”
Gerber Kawasaki also uses Schwab, Fidelity and LPL Financial for custody.
The firm will also use Hazel, Altruist’s AI platform, launched in September 2025. The platform delivers real-time answers to questions about everything from balances and other account data to beneficiary or household information or holdings.
Hazel made waves a couple of weeks ago when Altruist launched AI-powered tax planning within the platform, enabling advisors to create personalized tax strategies by analyzing clients’ 1040s, pay stubs, account statements and other financial documents. That triggered a selloff in traditional wealth management stocks, with Raymond James, Charles Schwab and LPL experiencing their worst sessions since April.
Wealth Management Senior Technology Editor Davis Janowski, who has covered financial advisor tech for 20 years, wrote that this signals a broader industry disruption ahead.
About three years ago, Altruist launched its own self-clearing platform, Altruist Clearing, the final step in becoming a full-service custodian. Just weeks later, it announced plans to acquire SSG, adding more than 1,600 advisors to its platform.