Carta, a platform that provides an interconnected system for private capital, has launched the Carta 401(k), a new offering designed to provide private companies and their employees with an integrated retirement solution. The new service combines institutional-grade retirement guidance and oversight from Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Consulting Solutions business with modern recordkeeping technology from Vestwell, integrating these capabilities into the existing Carta ecosystem.
For start-up companies, attracting and retaining talent often necessitates comprehensive benefits beyond salary and equity. The Carta 401(k) aims to address this by allowing founders and employees to manage their ownership and retirement savings, merging Morgan Stanley’s investment expertise with a digital-first platform.
Henry Ward, Chief Executive Officer of Carta, stated, “We’ve rebuilt financial benefits from the ground up to give founders and employees a best-in-class savings experience. By launching the Carta 401(k), we’re making sophisticated, low-cost retirement plans, once reserved for big enterprises, available to every startup, with the simplicity and transparency they expect.”The Carta 401(k), powered by Vestwell and Morgan Stanley, provides high-growth companies with several features. These include streamlined digital integration within the Carta ecosystem, offering customers direct access to Vestwell’s digital-first, AI-native retirement platform, which integrates with over 200 payroll systems to automate contributions and simplify administration.
Customers also gain access to institutional-grade investment portfolios curated and managed by Morgan Stanley, providing early-stage startups with robust financial advisory and fund selection options. The offering features a transparent fee structure designed for scaling, without hidden AUM penalties, and aims to maximize SECURE 2.0 tax credits that can offset setup and administration costs for up to three years. Additionally, employees benefit from competitive pricing for their investments.
With Morgan Stanley assuming a fiduciary role, the Carta 401(k) is designed to streamline compliance, offering administrative relief and making investment management more hands-off for HR and finance teams.
Aaron Schumm, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vestwell, commented, “Modern companies expect their financial infrastructure to scale with them. By embedding retirement directly within Carta’s ecosystem, we’re turning what was once a standalone benefit into a fully-integrated part of the wealth journey by offering innovative savings tools to help teams get better control of and visibility into their investments without adding operational complexity.”This launch further expands Carta’s suite of services for private companies. In the past year, Carta established two agreements with Morgan Stanley: first, as its exclusive equity compensation provider for late-stage private companies preparing for public offerings, and second, as the preferred wealth manager to assist private-company founders, executives, and employees in preparing for liquidity events. This new initiative strengthens Carta’s end-to-end IPO Advisory for private companies and builds on recent partnerships in IPO support and wealth management.
Carta is an ERP for private capital, connecting various ecosystem participants from GPs and LPs to CEOs, CFOs, employees, and advisors. The platform manages ownership workflows for 50,000 companies across 160+ countries, with its Fund Administration platform supporting over 8,800 funds and SPVs, representing more than $203 billion in assets under management.
Vestwell, founded in 2016, is a financial technology company that provides workplace savings solutions, including retirement plans, student loan repayment benefits, and specialized accounts for education, emergencies, and disability savings. Its platform is utilized by financial advisers, employers, payroll providers, financial institutions, and government agencies.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm offering investment banking, securities, wealth management, and investment management services. The firm operates in 42 countries, serving a client base that includes corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals.
