Who is STRATA Trust Company?

Founding and background

STRATA Trust Company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Waco, Texas. The company is a subsidiary of Horizon Bank SSB, an established Texas community bank. The corporate structure places STRATA inside a regulated banking parent, which is a useful diligence signal in the self-directed IRA category — many specialty custodians are stand-alone trust companies without a banking-parent regulator overlay.

STRATA's customer base spans self-directed IRA products generally — precious metals, real estate, private equity, cryptocurrency holdings, and other alternative assets that mainstream brokerages do not custody. The precious-metals subset is one of STRATA's largest product lines by account count. Snapshot as of `2026-Q2`.

Texas trust-company charter

STRATA operates under a Texas trust-company charter through its parent Horizon Bank. Texas's trust-company regulatory framework is one of the more developed in the United States and subjects STRATA to ongoing examination by the Texas Department of Banking and to the regulatory rules applicable to the parent bank.

From the account holder's perspective, the regulatory frame matters less than it might initially seem. The IRS rules governing IRA custodians (IRC § 408) apply uniformly to all qualified custodians regardless of state of charter. The state-charter difference between Equity Trust (currently Ohio/South Dakota structure) and STRATA (Texas) affects the regulator that examines the custodian and the state law that governs the trust company's corporate structure — not the IRS-rule compliance of the IRA itself.

Custodian role

STRATA's role is functionally identical to Equity Trust's: holding the legal title to the IRA, processing the rollover paperwork, filing the required IRS forms (Form 5498 annually, Form 1099-R on distributions), and executing directed transactions on the account holder's instruction. STRATA does not provide investment advice. It does not warn the account holder of potential prohibited-transaction issues under IRC § 4975.

For Gold IRAs specifically, STRATA holds the IRA legal title and instructs the IRS-approved depository (Delaware Depository, Brink's, IDS of Texas) on the physical metal custody. The depository holds the metal under IRC § 408(n) non-bank trustee rules; STRATA holds the IRA itself. Both relationships are separate from the Gold IRA marketing company that sold the original account.

Which Gold IRA marketers route through STRATA

The major Gold IRA marketing companies that have historically used STRATA as a primary or co-equal custodian include Goldco (as one of two primary custodian options alongside Equity Trust), American Hartford Gold, Lear Capital, and several smaller players. Augusta Precious Metals has primarily routed through Equity Trust, with STRATA appearing in some customer documentation.

In some cases, the custodian assignment is at the buyer's discretion during account opening. Goldco, for instance, presents both options. Other Gold IRA marketers default to one custodian and require a customer-initiated request to switch.

The practical implication: when researching custodians, look at both Equity Trust and STRATA's published fee schedules side by side. The difference is modest but real — typically `$10-$30/yr` on annual maintenance, with some difference in setup fees and processing timelines. Over a 10-year hold, the cumulative difference compounds.

Account holder responsibilities

As with all self-directed IRA custodians, the account holder retains responsibility for IRS-rule compliance. STRATA executes directed transactions; it does not advise. The account holder must independently verify that each transaction complies with IRC § 4975 prohibited-transaction rules, IRC § 408(m) IRA precious-metals fineness rules, and the general IRA rules in IRC § 408.

Practical responsibilities for a STRATA-custodied Gold IRA: verify the depository assignment in writing and contact the depository directly to confirm your account is on file; review the annual Form 5498 for accuracy when it arrives; understand the in-kind distribution mechanics if you intend to take physical possession at distribution age; maintain personal records of the cost basis on each metal purchase; and confirm prohibited-transaction rules apply to your specific circumstances before engaging any transaction involving a disqualified person.

The Texas anchor of STRATA's parent bank brings no special tax or regulatory advantage to a non-Texas account holder; the IRA federal-tax treatment is uniform under IRC § 408.