Sterling Trust

Equity Institutional (formerly known as Sterling Trust), is a Division of Equity Trust Company, headquartered in Elyria, Ohio. With Equity Trust, they are the industry leader in providing alternative investment custodial services to brokers, advisors and sponsors, with more than $12 billion under custodial administration and serving more than 130,000 clients and 10,000 financial professionals. For decades, we've been making it easier for investment professionals to diversify client portfolios with non-traditional investments like: Public limited partnerships or LLCs Precious metals Private Equity/Private Debt Residential & Commercial Real Estate Managed Futures Hedge Funds Oil and Gas, Renewable Energy And much more Equity Trust is an independent trust company and does not offer investment advice, nor does it offer or sponsor any proprietary investment products. It 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. Formed in 1974 by Chairman and Founder, Richard Desich, Sr., Equity Trust began as a registered broker-dealer firm. In 1983, the firm became qualified to serve as a non-bank IRA Custodian. In order to offer more services to its clients, in 2001 a bank/trust charter was granted establishing Equity Trust. In 2009, Equity Trust acquired substantially all of the assets and business of Sterling Trust and in 2010 Equity Trust acquired the accounts of Trust Administration Services. With offices in four states (Ohio, Texas, Colorado and South Dakota), Equity Trust serves more than 10,000 financial professionals and 130,000 accounts in all 50 states and has over $12 billion in assets under administration. Companies falling under the Equity Trust umbrella include: Equity Trust, Equity Institutional, Equity Advisor Solutions, and ETC Brokerage Services (brokerage).