MiB: Jason Wenk, Altruist founder and CEO

This week, I speak with Jason Wenk, founder and CEO of Altruist, a modern custodian for independent financial advisors. We discuss why Jason started the company and his plans to change asset management through technology. He weighs in on the state of RIAs, and how AI is going to change everything.
A list of his current reading/favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here on Tuesday.
You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube (video), YouTube (audio), and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Lori Heinel, Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Investment Management, the asset management arm of giant State Street Corp. She oversees over $5.7 trillion in assets (as of year-end 2025), which includes everything from index funds and ETFs to active strategies, multi-asset solutions, and alternatives. She was named to Forbes’ 2025 “50 Over 50” list.
Current Reading/Favorite Books
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality by Max Tegmark
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Books Barry Mentioned
The Bogle Effect: How John Bogle and Vanguard Turned Wall Street Inside Out and Saved Investors Trillions by Eric Balchunas

Facts Only

Jason Wenk is the founder and CEO of Altruist. The discussion involved Jason Wenk and Lori Heinel. The conversation covered why Jason started Altruist, plans to change asset management via technology, the state of RIAs, and the effect of AI on asset management. A list of current reading/favorite books was provided. A transcript is available on Tuesday. Lori Heinel is the Global CIO of State Street Investment Management. State Street manages over $5.7 trillion in assets as of year-end 2025.

Executive Summary

A conversation was held with Jason Wenk, founder and CEO of Altruist, regarding the company's founding, plans for changing asset management through technology, the state of Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the industry. The discussion included a list of current reading material, including books like *Life 3.0*, *This Is Marketing*, *Our Mathematical Universe*, and *Good to Great*, along with a mention of Barry Mentioned's work, such as *The Bogle Effect*. A transcript of the conversation is available on Tuesday, and the full discussion can be streamed or downloaded across various platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. The conversation is followed by an upcoming session with Lori Heinel, Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Investment Management, who oversees over $5.7 trillion in assets and was named to Forbes’ 2025 “50 Over 50” list.

Full Take

The juxtaposition of technological disruption (AI) with established financial structures (RIAs and asset management) suggests a pattern where innovation is framed as the necessary agent for systemic change, often positioning technology as the ultimate solution to existing structural friction. The inclusion of specific, influential books like *Good to Great* and *The Bogle Effect*, alongside AI-focused reading like *Life 3.0*, sets up an implicit argument that successful navigation requires both foundational behavioral principles and technological foresight. The framework invites questioning whether the focus on platform change inherently bypasses the slower, more entrenched realities of institutional trust and regulatory inertia. The dynamic between Wenk’s entrepreneurial vision and Heinel’s stewardship of vast capital highlights a tension between disruptive agility and established scale. The missing element is an explicit examination of how these shifts redistribute risk or redefine fiduciary responsibility in the context of advanced automation. What assumptions about market efficiency or human decision-making are being leveraged to position technological adoption as purely transformative rather than iterative? What mechanisms exist to ensure that technological change serves broader stewardship goals rather than merely optimizing for efficiency gains?