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Every fund manager faces the same fundamental challenge: finding the right investors and raising capital efficiently. Whether you're closing your first fund or your twentieth, expanding your LP base and accessing new capital sources is always top of mind.
Here's an opportunity many fund managers overlook: self-directed IRA capital. Individual investors are increasingly interested in deploying retirement savings into private funds, but the mechanics of IRA investing have traditionally been complicated, manual, and frustrating for both GPs and investors. As a result, many fund managers simply avoid this capital source altogether—even though it represents substantial, growing demand for alternatives.
That's why we're excited to announce our partnership with Alto, the leading self-directed IRA platform for alternative investments.
Why Alto?
Alto has built something powerful: a platform that makes it as easy for individual investors to put retirement funds into private equity, venture capital, real estate, and credit funds as it is to buy stocks in a brokerage account. They custody approximately $2B in assets for 30,000+ self-directed IRA investors and work with more than 2,500 issuers who've raised capital through the platform.
For fund managers, this represents real opportunity. IRA capital is substantial, growing, and increasingly interested in alternatives. But accessing it requires understanding self-directed IRA mechanics, documentation requirements, and investor expectations—expertise most GPs simply don't have.
What this partnership means for you
Right now, we're focused on three things:
Education and best practices. We're working with Alto to help fund managers understand how to successfully raise from IRA investors. What documentation do you need? How does the investor experience differ? What are the common pitfalls to avoid? Alto has the playbook.
Strategic collaboration. Alto brings deep expertise in self-directed IRAs. We bring specialized knowledge in investor onboarding and KYC/AML compliance. Together, we're creating a framework that makes it easier for fund managers to confidently pursue IRA capital without getting bogged down in complexity.
Future integration possibilities. While this isn't a technology integration today, we're exploring how Alto's platform and Passthrough's investor onboarding workflows could work together even more seamlessly in the future.
The operational reality
Here's what we've learned: fund managers want access to IRA capital, but they don't want to become experts in retirement account regulations. And IRA investors want to participate in private funds, but they expect the same streamlined digital experience they get everywhere else.
The disconnect happens when fund managers try to navigate IRA requirements without the right infrastructure. Investors get frustrated. Fund managers waste time on manual processes. Deals slow down.
Our partnership with Alto addresses this head-on. Alto provides the infrastructure that makes investing with a self-directed IRA seamless and modern, while their customer success team handles the investor onboarding process, keeping fund managers out of the administrative details. Your investors get Passthrough's dynamic sub doc and KYC/AML workflows combined with Alto’s streamlined IRA mechanics–all completed in minutes with the same seamless experience that's earned us 96% investor satisfaction rates across 50,000+ LPs.
Join us for a deeper conversation
We're hosting a webinar on January 29 at 11 a.m. ET with Alto CEO Eric Satz and me to discuss what this partnership means for fund managers. We'll cover:
- How IRA capital fits into your fundraising strategy
- Operational considerations when raising from IRA investors
- Best practices for creating seamless investing experiences
- The broader opportunity for retirement investors in private markets
Whether you're actively raising now or passively considering your next fund, this conversation will give you practical insights into a growing capital source.
Register here
Looking ahead
We built Passthrough because we believe investor onboarding shouldn't be painful. It should be fast, seamless, and professional—for both fund managers and their investors. This partnership with Alto extends that philosophy to IRA capital, giving you more options for building the investor base you want.
If you're interested in learning more about accessing IRA capital for your fund, reach out to your Passthrough account team or contact us.
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