Directed IRA: Platform Profile

Overview

Directed IRA is the trade name of Directed Trust Company, an Arizona-regulated trust company focused on self-directed retirement accounts.

It provides custody for accounts investing in:

• real estate;
• private companies;
• private funds;
• private lending;
• precious metals;
• cryptocurrency;
• public securities;
• other IRS-permitted assets.

Directed IRA's most important pricing distinction is a flat annual core SDIRA fee rather than a percentage based on account value.

It also has a tightly integrated Crypto IRA relationship with Gemini.

May fit better for

• investors with larger SDIRA balances who prefer flat fees;
• real-estate investors;
• private-fund investors;
• investors using multiple alternative assets;
• crypto investors who want Gemini inside an IRA;
• investors who value a regulated trust-company custodian.

May fit less well for

• very small retirement balances;
• investors who want free custody;
• investors expecting the custodian to vet private investments;
• high-frequency crypto traders sensitive to transaction fees;
• investors unwilling to manage prohibited-transaction risk.

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Legal status

Directed IRA is a trade name of:

• Legal name: Directed Trust Company
• Headquarters: Phoenix, AZ
• Arizona trust company: Yes
• AZDIFI license: TC-0947181
• Directed custodian: Yes

Current disclosures state Directed Trust Company undergoes annual examination by Arizona banking regulators and outside CPA audits.

Directed Trust Company is not a traditional FDIC-insured bank.

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Directed Trust Company does not provide investment advice

Current disclosures state:

• Investment adviser: No
• Sells investments: No
• Investment due diligence: No
• Tax advice: No
• Legal advice: No

Directed IRA helps process the investment selected by the account owner.

The investor remains responsible for:

• issuer due diligence;
• valuation;
• economics;
• prohibited transactions;
• tax consequences.

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Account types

Current lineup includes:

• Traditional IRA: Yes
• Roth IRA: Yes
• Sep IRA: Yes
• Inherited IRA: Yes
• Solo 401K: Yes
• HSA: Yes
• Coverdell esa: Yes
• Checkbook IRA LLC: Yes
• Crypto IRA: Yes

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Current core SDIRA fees

Current fee page:

• New account establishment fee: 50
• Annual self directed IRA fee: 495
• One time asset processing fee: 50

The annual fee includes three alternative-asset holdings under the current schedule.

Additional holdings/services can be subject to the detailed fee schedule.

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Flat fee vs account value

Directed IRA states that core annual pricing does not rise merely because the account value rises.

$25,000 account

$495 ÷ $25,000 = 1.98%

$50,000

0.99%

$100,000

0.495%

$250,000

0.198%

$500,000

0.099%

This compares the annual account fee with account value.

It is not an investment expense ratio.

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Asset processing fee

Current one-time asset processing:

• Standard asset processing fee: 50

The fee can apply to actions including:

• purchase;
• liquidation;
• sale;
• re-registration;
• in-kind transfer;
• payoff.

A high-transaction alternative-asset account can therefore incur more than the $495 annual fee.

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Real estate

Directed IRA identifies real estate as its most common self-directed asset category.

Supported structures can include:

• single-family rentals;
• multifamily;
• commercial property;
• land;
• flips;
• real-estate funds;
• private REITs;
• promissory notes;
• syndications.

The IRA can either:

1. own property directly;
2. own an IRA LLC/checkbook structure.

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Direct-owned real estate

When the IRA owns real estate directly:

• retirement account appears in title through the custodian;
• account funds purchase the property;
• account funds pay expenses;
• income returns to the account.

The owner cannot treat the property as personal property.

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Checkbook IRA LLC

Directed IRA supports an IRA-owned LLC.

The investor manages the LLC.

This can improve:

• transaction speed;
• bill payment;
• auction purchases;
• property rehabs;
• frequent operational transactions.

It also puts more responsibility on the owner to avoid prohibited activity.

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Private funds and private companies

Directed IRA supports investments in:

• private equity;
• venture capital;
• real-estate funds;
• hedge funds;
• private debt;
• Reg A;
• Reg D;
• startups;
• LLC/LP interests.

Accreditation depends on the issuer.

Directed IRA's willingness to custody the asset does not replace issuer due diligence.

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Public securities

Directed IRA also supports public-market assets such as:

• stocks;
• ETFs;
• mutual funds.

This can be useful for cash that would otherwise sit idle while the investor waits for a private investment.

Public-security custody/trading structure should be stored according to the current linked brokerage arrangement, not assumed to be Directed Trust Company acting as a stock broker.

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Crypto IRA

Directed IRA offers a dedicated Crypto IRA integrated with Gemini.

• Crypto IRA:
• Exchange: Gemini
• Separate account required: Yes
• Establishment fee: 50
• Annual account fee: 295
• Trading processing fee: 0.50% per trade

The 0.50% fee currently includes Gemini and Directed Trust Company trade-processing fees under the program.

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Crypto fee math

$1,000 trade

$1,000 × 0.50% = $5

$10,000 trade

$50

$50,000 trade

$250

This is per trade.

Frequent trading can make transaction costs much larger than the $295 annual account fee.

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Supported crypto

Directed IRA states the Gemini relationship allows access to cryptocurrencies currently available through the applicable Gemini exchange account.

Current examples include:

• BTC;
• ETH;
• XRP;
• SOL;
• stablecoins;
• additional Gemini-supported assets.

Gemini can change supported assets.

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Crypto account must be separate

Current program rule:

• Crypto IRA must be separate from other directed assets: Yes

An existing real-estate/private-fund Directed IRA account cannot simply switch on Gemini trading inside the same account.

The Crypto IRA uses a separate account/compliance workflow.

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Crypto LLC option

Directed IRA also supports IRA LLC structures for investors who want:

• private-key control;
• assets unavailable on Gemini;
• other wallets/exchanges.

That structure carries substantially more operational responsibility.

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Cash protection

Directed Trust Company itself is not an FDIC-insured financial institution.

Current disclosures state that uninvested customer cash deposited at FDIC-insured banks can be eligible for pass-through FDIC coverage if applicable requirements are met.

• Custodian itself FDIC bank: No
• Eligible uninvested cash pass through FDIC: Yes
• Alternative assets FDIC: No

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Alternative assets are not insured

Directed Trust explicitly warns alternative investments are not:

• FDIC insured;
• guaranteed by Directed Trust;
• bank obligations.

They can lose principal.

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Prohibited transactions

Self-directed account flexibility increases responsibility.

Potential violations include:

• transactions with spouse/lineal family/disqualified persons;
• personal use;
• self-dealing;
• improper personal compensation;
• personal guarantees;
• commingling;
• prohibited services.

The trust company's transaction processing does not immunize an owner from IRC Section 4975.

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HSA and ESA

Directed IRA lets eligible HSA and Coverdell accounts self-direct into alternative investments.

That creates unusual possibilities but does not change:

• contribution limits;
• distribution rules;
• eligibility;
• tax consequences.

Assessment

Directed IRA is easiest to understand as a flat-fee alternative to balance-based custodians.

At $495 annually, the fee is economically heavy for a $25,000 account and relatively small for a $500,000 account.

The separate $50 asset-processing fees mean the platform is not literally "one fee for everything."

The Gemini-integrated Crypto IRA is another differentiator, with a $295 annual account fee and 0.50% per-trade processing fee.

Directed IRA therefore fits investors who:

• hold meaningful alternative-asset balances;
• value a regulated trust-company custodian;
• prefer fee predictability;
• want real estate/private funds/crypto.

It is less compelling for a small IRA that could stay entirely in low-cost public ETFs.