Equity Trust Gold IRA Review
Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission when a reader opens an account through links on this page. The commission has no effect on what you pay or on what we publish. We are not a financial or tax advisor; consult a licensed advisor for your situation. Last reviewed July 2026.
Short on time? The essentials
- Corporate identity per trustetc.com: Equity Trust Company, headquartered at 1 Equity Way, Westlake, OH 44145, main phone (855) 233-4382.
- Founding note on the trustetc.com footer: predecessor business established 1974; IRS approved as custodian in 1983.
- Charter status on the About page: regulated South Dakota trust company, audited by an independent third party.
- Reported scale: $73 billion in assets under custody and administration, 368,000 self-directed accounts, clients in all 50 states.
- Broker-dealer affiliate: ETC Brokerage Services LLC, SEC CIK 0001412885, files an annual X-17A-5 audited statement and is a FINRA and SIPC member.
- Equity Trust is the trustee of record on many dealer paperwork stacks; it does not sell coins or set dealer premiums.
On this page
- What Equity Trust Company actually is
- The custodian role, explained plainly
- The reported scale on file at trustetc.com
- How Equity Trust is regulated and audited
- How Equity Trust fits a Texas rollover
- Which depositories pair with Equity Trust
- How Equity Trust custodian fees are structured
- Opening an Equity Trust IRA through a dealer
- Worked example: a Texas rollover through Equity Trust
- Balanced pros and cons
- When Equity Trust is a bad idea for you
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
What Equity Trust Company actually is
Equity Trust Company is a self-directed IRA custodian. It holds legal title to IRA assets on behalf of the account owner, executes buy and sell instructions, and files the annual tax paperwork with the IRS. It does not sell coins, market gold products, or set dealer premiums.
The corporate headquarters address on the public trustetc.com footer is 1 Equity Way, Westlake, OH 44145, with a main phone line of (855) 233-4382. Client resources sit on a separate portal branded myEQUITY, and outbound investor calls are routed through a counselor line.
The trustetc.com footer includes the following note verbatim: "Founded in 1974 | Self-Directed IRA Custodian since 1983." The About page adds that "predecessor companies have been privately owned by the Desich family since 1974," and that the current entity is "a regulated South Dakota trust company."
Equity Trust also serves other alternative-asset segments beyond precious metals, including real estate, private lending, private equity, and cryptocurrency. The precious metals IRA piece is a subset of the total book, not the whole business. The custody structure is the same across asset classes: the trust company is the trustee of record.
The custodian role, explained plainly
Under 26 U.S.C. section 408(a)(2), an IRA can only be custodied by a bank, a federally insured credit union, a state-chartered trust company, or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee. Equity Trust is a state-chartered trust company under this rule.
The trust company opens the IRA in your name, receives rollover funds from your prior 401(k) or IRA, and executes the buy instructions you sign. When the buy is a precious metals order, the funds move from the IRA cash sub-account to the dealer, and the dealer ships approved coins or bars to an IRS-eligible depository.
The trust company does not choose the dealer for you, does not set the coin premium, and does not underwrite the buyback price. Those are all dealer functions. If the dealer is honest and priced well, the custody piece is boring paperwork. If the dealer runs a high-premium script, the custodian will still process it because the custodian does not police the premium.
This division of labor is why the custodian question and the dealer question are separate. Equity Trust can be the perfect custodian for you while the dealer paired with your account still charges a poor premium. The two decisions deserve their own scrutiny.
The reported scale on file at trustetc.com
Equity Trust publishes several scale figures on the trustetc.com homepage. The company reports 368,000 self-directed accounts with clients in all 50 states, and describes $73 billion in assets under custody and administration. The About page cites "Celebrating 50 Years of Service," consistent with the 1974 founding date on the footer.
These figures are self-reported and were captured from trustetc.com in July 2026. Scale numbers on custody platforms do move quarter to quarter, so treat these as the point-in-time snapshot the website carried when this review was written. The absolute rank ordering has been stable across recent captures we have on file.
Scale is not itself a rating of quality. A large custody book means the trust company has processed a very large number of intake forms, tax filings, and buy orders. It does not tell you whether the coin priced into your account was a fair deal. That belongs to the dealer conversation.
For a Texas reader, the useful takeaway from the scale numbers is operational maturity. A custodian that files hundreds of thousands of Form 5498 and Form 1099-R returns a year is less likely to lose your tax paperwork inside its own workflow. Ask specifically for the copy of your Form 5498 each May.
How Equity Trust is regulated and audited
Equity Trust is described on its own About page as "a regulated South Dakota trust company." South Dakota chartered trust companies are supervised by the South Dakota Division of Banking under state law, and they are subject to periodic examinations and capital rules set by that regulator (source: sdbanking.gov, checked July 2026).
The About page also states that Equity Trust is audited by an independent third party. Trust companies that hold custody of retirement accounts typically publish a SOC 1 or SOC 2 attestation report to institutional partners, though those reports are not always public. Ask the intake specialist whether a SOC report is available under NDA if that matters to you.
Separately, the affiliate broker-dealer ETC Brokerage Services LLC is a FINRA and SIPC member. Its SEC EDGAR record shows Central Index Key 0001412885 and an annual audited financial statement filed as Form X-17A-5 (source: sec.gov EDGAR filings, checked July 2026). The trust company itself does not file with the SEC because it is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser.
What this stack means in plain terms is that Equity Trust operates under a state banking regulator for the trust piece, a federal securities regulator for the affiliated brokerage piece, and IRS non-bank trustee rules for the custody of IRAs. There is oversight at each layer, and it is checkable.
How Equity Trust fits a Texas rollover
Equity Trust does not need a Texas office to serve a Texas resident. The Ohio-based trust company can open a Texas IRA the same way it opens an IRA in any other state, and the paperwork flow runs by email or through the myEQUITY portal. There is no state residency requirement to use an out-of-state trust custodian.
Texas has no state personal income tax on wages or on retirement account distributions (source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, checked July 2026). That means the federal ordinary income treatment is the complete tax picture for a rollover into a self-directed IRA at Equity Trust for a Texas resident.
The regulator that oversees the trust piece sits in South Dakota, not Texas. If you specifically want a Texas-domiciled custodian, Equity Trust is not one. The trade-off is scale and operational maturity on one side, in-state charter comfort on the other. Both are legitimate preferences to weigh openly.
Texas-based readers often pair the custodian question with a storage question. The state-owned Texas Bullion Depository in Leander does hold precious metals IRA assets, and the account paperwork can route to Equity Trust as the trustee while the physical metal sits inside Texas. Ask the dealer specifically for that routing before you sign.
Which depositories pair with Equity Trust
Equity Trust does not physically store IRA metal itself. The trust company holds legal title to the account, and the physical bars or coins are held at an IRS-approved third-party depository chosen by the dealer at intake. Named depositories on partner dealer pages include Delaware Depository in Wilmington, International Depository Services (IDS) with a Texas vault in Irving, Brinks Global Services, and A-M Global Logistics in Nevada.
The specific depository selected for your account is written into the buy instruction you sign at the custodian. If the dealer never mentioned the depository by name, that is the first thing to ask before you sign. Do not accept "we will store it for you" as a written answer.
| Depository | Vault site named on partner pages | Note for a Texas reader |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware Depository | Wilmington, Delaware | Out of state; segregated and non-segregated storage available. |
| International Depository Services (IDS) | Irving, Texas (Dallas County) | Private commercial vault inside Texas borders; not state-owned. |
| Brinks Global Services | Multiple U.S. sites; New York and Salt Lake City listed by dealers | Out of state on the sites we captured; ask which specific vault your metal will occupy. |
| A-M Global Logistics (AMGL) | Las Vegas, Nevada | Out of state; used by several dealers as the default when segregated storage is picked. |
| Texas Bullion Depository (TxBD) | Leander, Texas (Williamson County) | State-owned; confirms IRA storage on texasbulliondepository.gov; ask the dealer whether the Equity Trust paperwork routes to TxBD. |
Source: trustetc.com public pages plus dealer partner pages that name Equity Trust as the custodian, captured July 2026. Confirm the specific depository for your account before signing the buy instruction.
Storage segregation matters here. Segregated storage means your bars sit on your named shelf, and you get back the exact bars you shipped in. Non-segregated storage means you own a claim to like-kind metal from a pooled inventory. Both are legal; segregated costs more; pick knowingly.
How Equity Trust custodian fees are structured
Equity Trust publishes a fee schedule at trustetc.com/resources/fee-schedule/ that we could not fetch through our normal capture route in July 2026 because the page is behind a browser challenge. The generic structure of a self-directed IRA custodian fee stack is well documented and can be described honestly here.
Self-directed IRA custodians typically bill four separate line items. There is a one-time account setup fee at open. There is an annual custodian maintenance fee that keeps the account open. There are per-transaction processing fees on buys, sells, and wires. And there is a separate annual storage fee owed to the depository, not to the custodian.
Some custodians add asset-based fees on top of these. Others use flat fees regardless of account size. The choice matters at higher balances, since an asset-based fee grows with your account while a flat fee does not. Ask the intake representative to state in writing which structure Equity Trust is charging your specific paperwork under.
| Fee line | What it covers | What to request from Equity Trust |
|---|---|---|
| Account setup fee | One-time cost of opening the self-directed IRA at Equity Trust. | Exact dollar figure quoted for your account tier. |
| Annual custodian maintenance fee | Recurring cost of holding the account open across the year. | Whether it is a flat annual figure or an asset-based figure. |
| Wire and processing fees | Per-transaction charges for buys, sells, and outbound wires. | Per-event dollar amount for each expected transaction. |
| Storage fee (paid to the depository) | Recurring cost of physical storage at the depository. | Which depository, which fee tier, and whether it is segregated. |
| Special asset review fee (if any) | One-time or annual charge on non-standard alternative assets. | Whether precious metals fall into the standard tier or a review tier. |
Source: general self-directed IRA custodian fee structure; specific Equity Trust figures should be quoted in writing at intake. Not investment advice.
Opening an Equity Trust IRA through a dealer
Most readers do not open an Equity Trust IRA by walking up to Equity Trust directly. The account opens as part of a dealer intake flow, where the dealer sends the Equity Trust application in a bundle with the buy instruction. The steps below describe that flow from the reader side.
- Ask the dealer which custodian they use. If the answer is Equity Trust Company, ask whether any other custodian is offered as an alternative. Some dealers only pair with one; others let you pick.
- Confirm your source account is rollover eligible. Traditional IRA, 401(k) after separation, 403(b), 457(b), TSP after separation, SEP, and SIMPLE balances generally qualify. A pension in payment status does not.
- Sign the Equity Trust account application. Complete the personal information, beneficiary designation, and rollover instruction. The dealer will forward this to Equity Trust for opening.
- Request a direct trustee-to-trustee rollover. The source plan wires funds straight to Equity Trust. This avoids the 20 percent mandatory federal withholding and the 60-day redeposit clock under IRS Publication 590-A.
- Sign the buy instruction. With cash sitting in the new IRA, sign a written buy direction telling Equity Trust which coins or bars to purchase from the dealer, and at which depository the metal will be stored.
- Confirm the depository routing. Insist that the depository name appears on the buy paperwork you sign. For a Texas reader who wants Texas storage, ask specifically for IDS Irving or Texas Bullion Depository in Leander in writing.
- Save the full Equity Trust fee schedule. Before signing anything final, keep an emailed copy of the setup fee, annual custodian fee, wire fees, and storage fee. Also save the dealer premium per coin and the same-day dealer buyback quote.
Worked example: a Texas rollover through Equity Trust
Worked example
Consider a Houston resident, age 57, rolling a $200,000 traditional IRA to Equity Trust as the custodian, buying gold coins through a dealer that pairs with Equity Trust. Assume a placeholder $50 setup, $225 annual custodian, and $150 annual storage. Real numbers should come from the intake specialist in writing.
A direct trustee-to-trustee rollover moves the full $200,000. An indirect rollover with an in-hand check would trigger 20 percent federal withholding under IRS Publication 590-A. That would send $40,000 to the IRS and leave $160,000 in the reader's hand, with a 60-day clock to redeposit the full $200,000 or lose the withheld amount.
The Texas tax picture on distribution is federal only. The state adds nothing on top, because Texas has no personal income tax. That does not change the federal ordinary-income treatment of any future distribution, and it does not change the 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty under IRC 72(t) if the reader takes an early distribution before age 59.5.
Use the calculator below to model the effective fee drag on your own numbers. Replace the placeholders with the specific Equity Trust figures the intake specialist quotes you in writing, plus the dealer premium and any expected wire charges over ten years.
Texas gold IRA fee-drag calculator
Texas gold IRAs charge mostly flat dollar fees (setup, annual custodian, storage). Flat fees take a much bigger bite out of a small account than a large one. Enter your numbers to see the drag.
Estimate only. Fee amounts vary by provider and are often not published; enter figures you confirm in writing. This tool ignores metal price changes and the dealer spread, which also affect returns. Not financial advice.
Picking a company that explains every fee up front is the first step. Get the free gold IRA company checklist.
Balanced pros and cons
What Equity Trust does well
- Named on many dealer intake stacks, so the paperwork is familiar to specialists across the industry.
- Operates at scale, with 368,000 self-directed accounts and $73 billion under custody per its own disclosure.
- Chartered as a South Dakota trust company, audited by an independent third party per its About page.
- Affiliate broker-dealer files annual X-17A-5 with the SEC, so the group has verifiable federal oversight in one leg.
- Supports alternative asset classes beyond gold, which lets a saver consolidate metals plus other alt assets under one trustee.
Where readers should push harder
- The public fee schedule page is behind a browser challenge; specific dollar figures should be requested at intake in writing.
- Charter sits in South Dakota, not Texas, so a Texas reader wanting an in-state trustee will need a different custodian.
- Equity Trust does not police dealer premiums, so a high-premium dealer stays high-premium even with Equity Trust as trustee.
- The self-directed structure adds paperwork and processing fees that a basic brokerage IRA does not carry.
- The Texas Bullion Depository routing works only if the specific dealer paperwork lists it; the trustee alone does not route metal to Leander.
When Equity Trust is a bad idea for you
Situations where a self-directed IRA at Equity Trust, or any comparable trust custodian, does not fit your goal.
If your rollover balance is small relative to the fixed fee stack, the setup, annual custodian, and annual storage combined can create a fee drag percentage that eats the case for a self-directed IRA at all. On a $10,000 balance, a $50 setup plus $375 combined annual fees is roughly 4.3 percent in year one.
If you expect to need the cash inside three to five years, the buy-sell spread on physical metal is a real cost that a basic ETF or bond IRA does not carry. Selling coins back to a dealer is not the same round trip as clicking sell on a fund; expect a spread on the way out.
If you are under 59.5 and considering an early distribution rather than a rollover, the 10 percent additional tax under IRC 72(t) still applies, plus ordinary income tax on the distributed amount. Nobody can predict where metal prices will go, so early liquidation on a bad tick is a real risk to model before opening the account.
If you specifically want a Texas-chartered trustee for state comfort reasons, Equity Trust is a South Dakota trust company. The scale advantages are real, but the charter sits out of state. That is a genuine trade-off worth naming, not a hidden defect. Consult your tax advisor for your specific situation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Equity Trust Company legitimate?
Yes, on the checkable public record. The trustetc.com About page describes Equity Trust as "a regulated South Dakota trust company" audited by an independent third party. The affiliate broker-dealer ETC Brokerage Services LLC files an annual X-17A-5 statement with the SEC under CIK 0001412885 and is a FINRA and SIPC member.
Where is Equity Trust headquartered?
At 1 Equity Way, Westlake, OH 44145, per the trustetc.com footer. The main phone line printed on the site is (855) 233-4382. Client account resources are on a separate portal branded myEQUITY, and prospective clients call an IRA counselor line for intake.
When was Equity Trust founded?
The trustetc.com footer states "Founded in 1974" and describes the predecessor business established that year by the Desich family. The IRS approved the predecessor as a custodian in 1983. The company's public copy in 2024 referenced 50 years of service, consistent with the 1974 founding date.
Is Equity Trust a bank?
No. Equity Trust is described on its About page as "a regulated South Dakota trust company," not a bank. Under 26 U.S.C. section 408(a)(2), state-chartered trust companies are a permitted trustee category for IRAs alongside banks, federally insured credit unions, and IRS-approved non-bank trustees.
Does Equity Trust have a Texas office?
The corporate address on trustetc.com is in Westlake, Ohio, not Texas. Texas readers open the account by mail or through the myEQUITY portal rather than at a physical office. No Texas state presence is required to use an out-of-state IRA custodian.
Can Equity Trust store my gold IRA metal at the Texas Bullion Depository?
Yes, if the dealer paperwork routes the buy to the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander. TxBD's own site confirms it is available for IRA storage. The trustee is Equity Trust; the physical vault is TxBD; ask the dealer specifically to write TxBD onto the buy instruction.
How does Equity Trust make money on my gold IRA?
Through the account setup fee, an annual custodian maintenance fee, and per-transaction processing fees on wires and buy or sell orders. Equity Trust does not sell the coins directly, so it does not earn the dealer premium. The depository storage fee is paid to the depository, not to Equity Trust.
Who insures the metal held at the depository?
The depository, not Equity Trust, carries the vault insurance policy on the physical metal. Standard depository coverage is a commercial all-risk policy underwritten by a private insurer such as Lloyd's of London syndicates. Ask the depository for the current insurance limits in writing.
What happens to my account if Equity Trust is acquired?
Trust company acquisitions transfer the trustee relationship to the new entity by operation of law, subject to South Dakota Division of Banking approval. Account owners receive written notice with the effective date. The IRA itself does not close, and the metal at the depository does not move as part of the corporate change.
Does Equity Trust file tax forms for me?
Yes, for the events that trigger IRS reporting. Equity Trust files Form 5498 each year reporting the fair market value and contributions, and Form 1099-R when a distribution occurs. You will still owe your own Form 1040 filing and any Form 8606 filing that basis tracking requires; consult your tax advisor.
If you want an outside opinion before you sign anything at Equity Trust.
The dealer we work with the most, Augusta Precious Metals, publishes a 10-point company checklist that covers fee posture, buyback structure, and legal accountability. It is a fair external benchmark for any dealer or custodian pairing you are considering, including one built on Equity Trust as the trustee.
Sources
- Equity Trust Company, About Us page, South Dakota trust company status, independent third-party audit, and Desich family ownership since 1974. trustetc.com/about-us/, checked July 2026.
- Equity Trust Company, homepage, reported scale of $73 billion in assets under custody and administration, 368,000 self-directed accounts, and clients in all 50 states. trustetc.com, checked July 2026.
- Equity Trust Company, footer note, "Founded in 1974 | Self-Directed IRA Custodian since 1983." trustetc.com footer, checked July 2026.
- Equity Trust Company, contact page, corporate address at 1 Equity Way, Westlake, OH 44145 and main phone (855) 233-4382. trustetc.com/contact-us/, checked July 2026.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR filings for ETC Brokerage Services LLC, Central Index Key 0001412885, annual X-17A-5 audited financial statements. sec.gov EDGAR CIK 0001412885, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-A, distributions and rollovers rules including 20 percent mandatory federal withholding on indirect rollovers and the 60-day rule. irs.gov/publications/p590a, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 408, individual retirement accounts, trustee eligibility. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/408, checked July 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. section 72(t), 10 percent additional tax on early distributions. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/72, checked July 2026.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, no state personal income tax reference. comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1010.php, checked July 2026.
- Texas Bullion Depository, official state site confirming IRA storage availability at the Leander vault. texasbulliondepository.gov, checked July 2026.
- South Dakota Division of Banking, chartered trust companies supervisory framework. dlr.sd.gov/banking/, checked July 2026.