"Trillions, I Like That": A Q&A with Alto Solutions' Eric Satz

Alto has created a platform for alternative investing using self-directed IRAs.

Number of the Week: $7.4 billion (explanation below)

"Trillions, I Like That": A Q&A with Alto Solutions' Eric Satz

Eric Satz likes really big numbers—think markets that already involve trillions of dollars and are in desperate need of transformation—and solving complex problems with technology, particularly in the world of finance.

The former investment banker-turned-serial entrepreneur did stints at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, UBS and Credit Suisse First Boston before cofounding Currenex, the first online global foreign currency trading platform originally launched in 1999 as fxtrades.com and acquired in 2007 by State Street for $564 million, reportedly returning more than 10x invested capital. It was Currenex and the vast foreign exchange market the trading platform penetrated that whet Satz’s appetite to tackle other financial markets begging to be reimagined, providing users with easy access, fast transaction processing and, most important, the ability to open up once-walled off markets to a larger pool of customers.

His aggregation of financial industry and entrepreneurial experience is what led to the 2018 launch of Nashville-based Alto Solutions, a self-directed individual retirement account (SDIRA) custodian and online platform for accredited and non-accredited investors to make investments in alternative assets using their retirement funds.