The broader context sits in the family-office guide and the investment-platform map. Primary evidence: SEC IAPD firm record.
Compound Planning is a US investment adviser (CRD 171787 / SEC 801-126007) offering planning, portfolio management, tax and equity-compensation support within a US custody and tax perimeter. Figures are given as at August 2026; fees and client eligibility must be confirmed directly before onboarding.
Legal and operating perimeter
The SEC IAPD record lists Compound Planning as an SEC-registered investment adviser and provides the current Form ADV and relationship summary. The company's merger notice documents the 2023 combination with Alternativ Wealth. Funding headlines and third-party growth estimates do not determine licence status, custody or client eligibility.
| Regulator | SEC; CRD 171787, SEC 801-126007 |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Compound Planning, Inc., an SEC-registered investment adviser founded in 2012 and formerly named Alternativ Wealth; its holding company Alternativ, Inc. (over 75%) acquired Compound Financial, Inc. on September 22, 2023 |
| Who qualifies | Clients who live in the US (public FAQ); confirm individual requirements and any service outside the US directly |
| Account minimum | $25,000, described in the Form CRS as flexible and negotiable |
| Cost | 0.2–2.0% a year for management; total advisory fees are capped at 2% of assets |
| Custody | Charles Schwab and Fidelity, assets in the client's name, SIPC up to $500,000 |
| Scale | $5 billion under management as at January 31, 2026 ($4.85 billion in the Form ADV as at December 31, 2025), 76 investment adviser representatives |
| Disciplinary history | “Yes” in the Form CRS dated March 26, 2026; details sit in the IAPD records |
Product and pricing
The entry point is the Compound Dashboard, an aggregator of the whole balance sheet: more than 1,000 integrations across banks, brokerages, 401(k) plans, mortgages and crypto wallets, automatic import of equity grants from Carta and Shareworks, and a document vault tied to assets. The dashboard works without an advisory agreement: connect accounts, see consolidated net worth, then get introduced to an advisor.
The paid layer bundles planning, investments, taxes and equity. Portfolios are built from ETFs and funds with alternatives layered on top; the Compound Tax arm has filed returns directly in-platform since February 2025, closing the "advisor plans it, accountant files it" loop inside one firm; the house specialty is options and concentrated positions — when to exercise ISOs, how to unwind RSUs, what to do about AMT.
The private-markets shelf runs on the logic of investment platforms: curated feeders into venture, private equity, private credit and real estate funds; the team says it turns down 95% of deals after underwriting the managers, and part of the shelf is open only to accredited investors and qualified purchasers — the standard status gates of the US private market.
Pricing per the Form CRS dated March 26, 2026 runs on five lines.
| Service | Price | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Asset management | 0.2–2.0% per year | Billed monthly or quarterly from the custodial account; the rate is negotiated |
| Project-based planning | $500–10,000 | Fixed price for a defined piece of work outside asset management |
| Hourly consulting | $100–500 | One-off engagements without a standing mandate |
| Turnkey asset management | 0.25% per year, at least $60 a year | Platform for outside advisors: Compound supplies models, trading and reporting, while the client's own advisor selects the model |
| Account minimum | $25,000 | Formal threshold, described in the Form CRS as flexible and negotiable |
The tenfold range is a consequence of the model: the rate is negotiated with the individual advisor and depends on size and complexity. Client accounts sit with independent custodians Charles Schwab and Fidelity: assets stay in the client's name with SIPC protection, while Compound holds trading authority only.
The 2025–2026 technology bet is AdvisorHQ, an internal "advisor operating system" with the CompoundAI core and the Activity Monitor event feed, launched in September 2025. The logic mirrors Arta's AI agents: a digital family office's margin lives in the cost of service.
Competitive context
Five neighbours define the category.
| Alternative | What it gives | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Farther | Venture-backed tech-RIA growing by recruiting advisors, with roughly $15 billion under management as at May 2026 | Compound adds in-perimeter tax filing and a sharper focus on equity-compensated clients |
| Arta Finance | Membership from $100k, a Singapore licence and international onboarding | Onboards non-residents; Compound’s public FAQ describes US-resident clients and does not confirm service outside the US |
| Family office | Concierge depth: bill pay, family accounting, philanthropy | Starts at $10–20 million; a digital stack does not yet replicate it |
| Consolidators (Creative Planning, Mariner) | Growth by buying whole RIA practices | Compound buys individual advisors with their client books, not firms |
| Robo-advisers | Portfolio management at around 0.25% a year | Cheaper, but with no human advisor, no tax filing and no private markets |
Compound's niche: the service stack of a multi-family office with fintech delivery and the entry threshold of an ordinary RIA.
Onboarding and who can join
There are two doors in: request a call with an advisor, or self-register in the dashboard and connect accounts. Then the standard US cycle: KYC, an investment profile, an advisory agreement, ACATS transfers to the custodians. The formal $25k minimum does not describe the real client: by assets in the Form ADV the base splits roughly evenly between mass-affluent and high-net-worth individuals (about $1.5 billion each), although mass-affluent clients outnumber high-net-worth ones almost 18 to 1, and the marketing targets founders, early employees, executives and professionals in private practice.
The public FAQ states that Compound serves clients who live in the US. The app supports US financial institutions only, the tax module files with the IRS and accounts are opened at Schwab and Fidelity. The public FAQ does not confirm service outside the US. For a person relocating to the US, availability and the individual onboarding requirements should be confirmed directly with Compound. For capital outside the stated US-resident audience, confirm availability directly and compare alternatives such as Arta's Singapore lane or an external asset manager setup with a private bank.
How the business is built
The growth engine is an advisor-recruiting conveyor. Thirty advisors joined over 2024, the 50-advisor mark was passed in June 2025, another 24 arrived between January 2025 and January 2026, and the Form ADV of July 6, 2026 lists 76 investment adviser representatives. They come from Edward Jones, Ameriprise, Mercer Advisors, Facet and Motley Fool Wealth, and the teams bring sizeable books: the five advisors who joined in the second quarter of 2025 had managed $835 million before joining, and the seven who joined in the second half of 2025 and early 2026 about $795 million. In April 2026 the firm hired a dedicated Director of Advisor Recruiting, alongside a new Head of Wealth Management, a Director of Tax and a lead product manager.
The model is supported independence: the advisor gets brand, compliance, a tax team, an alternatives shelf and AdvisorHQ while keeping the freedom to run their own practice — much the same logic by which an EAM operates on top of a custodian bank. The economics rest on technology: about 180 clients per representative — some 13,650 clients across 76 representatives in the Form ADV — workable only because AI automates the routine.
The soft spots are visible in the same Form CRS: commissions of affiliated insurance agents, partner compensation from tax and technology platforms, preferred relationships with FT FinTech, which holds a financial interest in Compound's parent company — the conflicts are disclosed, but they are worth reading before signing, not after. The open questions are those of any venture-backed RIA: whether service quality survives a doubling every eighteen months, and what the investors' exit looks like — an IPO, a sale to a consolidator, or slow dividend maturity; client assets stay on custodial accounts under any scenario, but the team and the terms can change.
As an industry case the construction holds three lessons. Distribution can be bought with a merger: product-led Compound, with a beautiful dashboard but no mass client base, combined with advisor-led Alternativ — and growth ran through people rather than advertising. Tax filing inside the perimeter is the strongest retention hook: clients switch investment advisers easily and the person who files the family's returns painfully. And the AI layer pays for itself not in marketing copy but in the clients-per-advisor metric.
Due diligence before signing
The current SEC-filed Form CRS answers “Yes” to whether Compound or its financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history. That single answer does not identify the person or conduct, so review both the firm record and the assigned professional’s IAPD/Investor.gov record before signing. Custody at Schwab or Fidelity also does not insure investment performance: SIPC’s standard ceiling is $500,000 per brokerage customer, including up to $250,000 for cash held to buy securities, and applies to missing cash or securities if a member broker fails—not market losses.
Q/A
Who can become a Compound Planning client?
According to the public FAQ, Compound serves clients who live in the US; individual onboarding requirements should be confirmed directly. The formal $25k minimum in the Form CRS is negotiable; the target segment is high-net-worth. The app supports US financial institutions and accounts are held at Schwab and Fidelity. These product features do not establish individual admission requirements; the public FAQ does not confirm service outside the US.
What does the service cost?
Per the Form CRS dated March 26, 2026: 0.2–2.0% of assets under management per year — the rate is negotiated, billed monthly or quarterly; project-based planning at $500–10,000; hourly consulting at $100–500. Private-markets access sits on top of the advisory relationship and requires accredited-investor status, with qualified-purchaser gates on part of the shelf.
How does Compound differ from Farther and Arta Finance?
From Farther — through built-in tax filing and a focus on option-heavy clients; the underlying mechanics coincide: a venture-backed tech-RIA growing through advisor recruitment. From Arta — through the stated geographic scope: Arta onboards non-residents via its Singapore licence, while Compound’s public FAQ describes clients who live in the US and does not confirm service outside the US. What unites all three is the bet on AI to cut the cost of service.
What happens to assets if the platform shuts down?
Assets do not sit "inside Compound": accounts are held in the client's name at independent custodians Charles Schwab and Fidelity, with securities protected by SIPC within standard limits. The RIA holds trading authority under the agreement only. If the adviser leaves the market, the account stays at the custodian — the manager changes, not the place of safekeeping.
Should the conflicts disclosed in the Form CRS worry me?
They are disclosed, not eliminated, and they are worth reading before signing. The same Form CRS records commissions to affiliated insurance agents, partner compensation from tax and technology platforms, and preferred relationships with FT FinTech, which holds a financial interest in Compound's parent company. Turnkey asset management at 0.25% a year (at least $60) is the price of Compound's platform for clients of outside advisors, not a charge on top of Compound's own fee, which is capped at 2% of assets. Ask which of them touch your own mandate, since the rate itself is negotiated advisor by advisor.