Forge Global
Forge gives you institutional-grade data, but requires institutional-style engagement to actually transact. It is one of the strongest platforms for private market intelligence, fund access, and custody, but execution remains specialist-driven, fee visibility is incomplete before engagement, and Forge Price is not a tradeable price.
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What the data actually shows - TL;DR
Forge is institutional private market infrastructure that retail accredited investors can also access. The data layer is unusually deep for this category, though Forge itself disclaims Forge Price as non-executable.
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The transaction layer requires specialist engagement. The Schwab acquisition adds scale.
Forge Price does not represent the price at which you could buy or sell. Forge says this explicitly. For thinly traded names it may be calculated from a single indication of interest.
Charles Schwab acquired Forge in March 2026, announced 2025-11-06. Forge's AUDITED ANNUAL financials show $268.4M of cumulative net losses across FY2022-FY2024, against $218.5M of revenue and $525.6M of operating expenses. Its UNAUDITED quarterly filings show cash declining from $204.9M (Q2 2022) to $32.3M (Q3 2025). AltStreet states the sequence; the filings do not establish the reason.
Form D census re-enumerated from EDGAR on 2026-09-30: 1,355 Form D and D/A filings across the 220 FG-series vehicles. Capital is a HYBRID ESTIMATE of $1,472,442,740, being $1,194,319,425 across the 191 vehicles that existed before the October 2025 reporting change, taken at their last pre-change figure, plus $278,123,315 across the 29 that first filed after it and are not directly comparable. A naive sum of every vehicle's latest figure returns $2,639,922,758.
The gap of $1.17 billion is the reporting discontinuity, not growth, which is why the filings cannot be naively summed. Latest filings report 4,291 investor positions.
Direct secondary brokerage fee, plus undisclosed third-party costs you cannot model before speaking to a broker. Forge Fund SPVs at $5K may avoid some separately itemized direct-transfer expenses.
Forge Fund SPV minimum. These vehicles may avoid some separately itemized direct-transfer expenses. Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process.
This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked. The fund-level fee RANGES are published in the adviser's Form ADV: 1-5% set-up, 1-5% management, 10-20% carried interest, 1-2% redemption (single-issuer funds), plus 0-5% affiliated brokerage through Forge Securities on the subscription itself, with no advisory-fee offset. The per-fund rate appears only in the offering documents. Read them before assuming a lower all-in cost.
Form D census re-enumerated 2026-09-30 by reading 1,355 Form D and D/A filings from EDGAR across the 220 FG-series vehicles, reproducing the July 2026 census exactly on its own scope: the 218 vehicles that existed by July 14 return the same $1,468,347,288 hybrid to the dollar, with the same 191 and 27 cohort split, and the two vehicles added since (FG-FOX, FG-BNI) account for the whole difference. The July figure of 904 filings was a miscount; the correct count on that roster is 1,353. Capital is a hybrid estimate of $1,472,442,740 and cannot be stated on a single basis, because Forge changed the reporting basis across its series filings in October 2025 without explanation. Re-enumeration confirms that change is the only one: of the 97 vehicles whose latest filing is April 2026, just 2 show the basis-change shape of dollars and investors both rising tenfold. Financial figures are from Forge's SEC filings as a public reporting company (NYSE: FRGE, CIK 1827821): annual 10-K figures audited, quarterly 10-Q figures unaudited.
Quick Verdict
Is this platform right for you?
Forge in 30 seconds: it is a private market infrastructure platform combining marketplace access, data, funds, and custody. Best for: institutional-style investors who want serious market intelligence and can work through a specialist-led process.
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Biggest strength: data and platform infrastructure. Biggest weakness: fee opacity and execution friction. You cannot fully model your return before speaking to a broker.
Best for
- Institutional-style investors who want strong private market data and are comfortable working through a specialist-led transaction process
- Investors who need integrated private securities IRA custody (Forge Trust Co., not available on Hiive or EquityZen)
- Investors who want fund access at a $5,000 minimum, and who have read the specific fund offering documents. Forge Fund vehicles carry fees the adviser's Form ADV discloses as ranges: 1-5% set-up, 1-5% management, 10-20% carry, 1-2% redemption, plus 0-5% affiliated brokerage on the subscription, with the per-fund rate only in the offering documents
- Institutional and sophisticated investors who use Forge's data products (Forge Price, FPMI, quarterly Investment Outlook) alongside marketplace access
- Investors who want broad private company coverage. Forge reports coverage across thousands of private companies; Hiive advertises a catalog of more than 3,000; EquityZen reports serving more than 450 companies historically. The figures are differently defined and are not a direct inventory comparison.
Avoid if
- You need to fully model your return before speaking to a broker. Forge's 2-5% range still requires a commission agreement and third-party costs are not quantified publicly
- You want live bids and asks before committing. Forge Price is a derived data model, not an order book
- You are making your first pre-IPO investment and want a simpler packaged experience
Top strengths
- Private market data and infrastructure: Forge Price, FPMI, fund access, custody, and Yahoo Finance distribution
- Forge Price on hundreds of companies, now embedded in Yahoo Finance, making it one of the most widely distributed private-company pricing datasets AltStreet has identified
- Three registered entities: broker-dealer, SEC-registered investment adviser (fiduciary), and South Dakota chartered trust company
- Forge Fund SPVs start at $5,000. Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked.
- Forge Trust Co. SDIRA custody: eliminates the third-party self-directed IRA custodian problem
- FPMI: 75.6% last 12 months as of September 30, 2025; institutional quarterly Investment Outlook reports
- $4.1T in private company value tracked: extensive private-market coverage available to retail accredited investors
Key limitations
- You cannot fully model your return before speaking to a broker: the exact commission rate and third-party transaction costs are not disclosed upfront
- Forge Price ≠ market price: explicitly 'does not necessarily represent the market price of any securities'; may be based on one data point
- Fees require specialist engagement: the 2-5% range is confirmed but the exact rate for your transaction is not available publicly
- Third-party transaction costs (transfer agent, legal opinion, escrow) add all-in friction above the stated commission, not quantified publicly
- Direct secondary minimum $100,000, highest among major accessible platforms
- No live order book: execution requires a transaction specialist; 30-45 day settlement including ROFR window
- ROFR rate ~8% at market trough, not published publicly; per-company history not available
Compare Before Deciding
Where Forge Global fits against alternatives
Use these hooks to pressure-test whether this is the right platform, or whether a nearby alternative matches the job better.
How this compares to The Private Shares Fund
The Private Shares Fund
Launched in 2014 as the SharesPost 100 Fund; now a $1.54 billion interval fund advised by Liberty Street, with prorated quarterly repurchases at NAV
How this compares to Hiive
Hiive
Live order book with real bids/asks; disclosed 5%/6.8% max fees; 0% management fee Hiive Funds SPVs; best for active price discovery
How this compares to EquityZen
EquityZen
2.5% buyer fee, with sellers charged separately (post-Morgan Stanley acquisition February 2026); ROFR handled at platform level; Morgan Stanley-owned; $5K minimum; simpler SPV access
Why It Matters
Investor relevance and market role
On Forge, the data layer and the transaction layer are structurally different products. The data layer (Forge Price, FPMI, Yahoo Finance integration, quarterly Investment Outlook) is genuinely institutional-grade and among the broadest in the market. The transaction layer (specialist-facilitated execution, 30-45 day ROFR window, undisclosed third-party costs) is designed for institutional workflows. The tension between those two layers is the defining investor experience on Forge. It rewards investors who treat these as separate tools: use the data layer broadly, engage the transaction layer deliberately.
Investor Type Required
Accredited investor (marketplace); qualified purchaser for certain fund structures
Minimum Entry
Direct secondary: $100,000 standard ($50,000 limited); Forge Fund SPV: $5,000; Institutional: $1M+
Appropriate Risk Tolerance
High: total loss is possible, outcomes are highly dispersed and investments may remain illiquid for many years.
Appropriate Time Horizon
5-10 years minimum; no guaranteed exit before a company liquidity event
Real-world validation
- $4.1T in total private company valuation tracked as of Q3 2025 (7.8% of S&P 500 market cap; up from $421B / 2.2% in 2015)
- FPMI: 75.6% trailing 12 months and 22.4% since inception as of September 30, 2025 (platform-reported)
- Yahoo Finance partnership (March 2025): Forge Price data embedded in Yahoo Finance for all US users
- Three separately registered entities: Forge Securities LLC (FINRA/SIPC), Forge Global Advisors LLC (SEC-registered investment adviser), Forge Trust Co. (South Dakota chartered trust company)
- Institutional Forge Investment Outlook reports (quarterly) with FPMI data, primary market activity, mutual fund marks, and exit activity
- SharesPost integration completed 2021: combined historical transaction database
- Median annual appreciation of 65.7% for unicorns from unicorn status to IPO (per Forge October 2025 research, 56 companies 2019-2025)
Scale signals
Private Market Value Tracked
$4.1T
Total mid- and late-stage private company valuation tracked; 7.8% of S&P 500 market cap as of Q3 2025
FPMI L12M Return
75.6%
Equal-weight index as of September 30, 2025; vs. SPY at 19.0% and QQQ at 26.0% over same period
Private Market Growth
4x growth in secondary market volume
Past decade, despite 2022-2023 downturn; per Forge research
Unicorn-to-IPO Median Return
65.7% annualized
Median for 56 unicorns that went public 2019-2025; survivorship-biased
Quick Answers
What most investors want to know first
The highest-signal facts first: minimums, liquidity reality, K-1 timing, and whether distributions are actually part of the experience.
Minimum
Direct secondary: $100,000 standard ($50,000 in limited cases); Forge Fund SPV: $5,000; Institutional bids: $1,000,000+
Liquidity
Forge marketplace provides secondary resale through specialist-facilitated matching, not a live order book. The Price Discovery Equilibrium benchmark is ~12% bid-ask spread; the market reached a historic low of 6.4% median spread in Q2 2024, driven by buy-side IOIs representing 55.2% of platform activity. Forge Price indicates whether a company has active trading interest, but transaction execution takes 30-45 days including ROFR window. All positions should be treated as illiquid until a company liquidity event.
K-1 Timing
Third-party research indicates a late-March-to-mid-April target, but AltStreet did NOT locate this timetable in Forge's public materials. Investors should verify timing in the applicable offering documents. Forge Global Advisors LLC cannot issue K-1s until the underlying private company provides financial and tax data; a 90-day internal target after receipt is reported by third-party research but is likewise unconfirmed in Forge's public materials. Delayed underlying-company reporting may require investors to file tax extensions. AltStreet did not locate Forge-specific data showing how frequently that occurs.
Distributions
Tied to underlying company liquidity event timeline, which is unpredictable and may be 3-10+ years from investment date
Overview
Platform Overview
A concise read on what the platform is, how the structure works, and where the practical friction shows up for real investors.
Multi-product private market platform operating through three registered entities: Forge Securities LLC (broker-dealer facilitating secondary marketplace transactions), Forge Global Advisors LLC (investment adviser managing ~$2.46B AUM across 122+ fund series), and Forge Trust Co. (South Dakota chartered trust company offering custodial services). Forge offers: (1) a secondary marketplace for accredited investors to buy and sell pre-IPO company shares: direct secondary minimum $100,000 standard ($50,000 limited cases), brokerage fee 2-5%; (2) Forge Fund SPV investments with $5,000 minimum and 1-2% placement fee plus fund-level management fees and carried interest; (3) Forge Data, a subscription-based data platform distributing Forge Price™ to institutional subscribers including Yahoo Finance; and (4) custodial services through Forge Trust Co. including self-directed IRA support. ROFR window on direct trades: 30-45 days; platform-level exercise rate ~8% at 2023 market trough, trending upward through Q2 2024.
Forge Price™ is a derived daily data product, not an executable price. The Forge Private Market Index (FPMI) reported 75.6% over the last 12 months and 22.4% since inception as of September 30, 2025.
It operates through three separately registered entities: Forge Securities LLC (broker-dealer, FINRA/SIPC member), Forge Global Advisors LLC (SEC-registered investment adviser, ~$2.46B AUM across 122+ fund series), and Forge Trust Co. (South Dakota chartered trust company). Direct secondary transactions carry a 2-5% brokerage fee; Forge Fund SPV investments carry a 1-2% placement fee plus fund-level fees whose ranges are published in the ADV and whose exact per-fund rates appear in offering documents. Direct secondary minimum: $100,000 standard ($50,000 limited cases); Forge Fund minimum: $5,000.
ROFR window: 30-45 days; ~8% exercise rate at 2023 market trough, trending upward through Q2 2024. The platform tracks $4.1T in private company value as of Q3 2025 (7.8% of S&P 500), publishes the FPMI (75.6% last 12 months as of September 30, 2025), and distributes Forge Price data to Yahoo Finance.
Platform Type
Secondary marketplace + data products + fund management + custody: four distinct capabilities through three registered entities
Regulatory Status
Forge Securities LLC: SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA member, SIPC member. Forge Global Advisors LLC: SEC-registered investment adviser. Forge Trust Co.: South Dakota chartered trust company.
Eligible Investors
Accredited investors (marketplace buyers); qualified purchasers for certain fund structures; accredited investors for fund products; employee sellers do not require accredited status
Brokerage Fee Structure
Direct secondary: 2-5% of transaction value (Form CRS maximum 5%); Forge Fund SPV: 1-2% placement fee at entry; Forge Pro institutional: negotiated. Success-based only: no fee if trade does not close. Additional third-party costs: transfer fees, legal opinion, escrow.
Fund Fee Structure
Per Forge Global Advisors' ADV Part 2A (2026-03-30): single-issuer funds: set-up fee 1-5%, management fee 1-5%, carried interest 10-20%, redemption fee 1-2%; multi-issuer funds: management 0-5% plus carry up to 20%; affiliated brokerage via Forge Securities typically required on subscription at 0-5%, no advisory-fee offset. RAUM $2,458,638,401.79 (all discretionary) as of 2025-12-31.
Custodial Services
Available through Forge Trust Co., a differentiated capability not offered by Hiive or EquityZen
Private Market Data
Forge Price™ (daily, calculated for hundreds of companies), Forge Private Market Index (FPMI), quarterly Investment Outlook reports, Yahoo Finance integration (March 2025)
Private Market Scale Tracked
$4.1T total private company valuation tracked as of Q3 2025 (up from $421B in 2015); represents 7.8% of S&P 500 market cap
Market Efficiency
Median bid-ask spread: 6.4% as of Q2 2024 (3-year median 11.4%; Price Discovery Equilibrium benchmark ~12%). Buy-side IOIs: 55.2% of platform activity in early 2024.
FPMI Performance
75.6% trailing 12 months; 22.4% since inception (January 2019), as of September 30, 2025. Equal-weight index of mid- and late-stage private companies.
Minimum Investment
Direct secondary: $100,000 standard ($50,000 in limited cases); Forge Fund SPV: $5,000; Institutional bids: $1,000,000+
ROFR Rate
~8% at Q1 2023 market trough (up from <3% in bull market 2021); trending upward through Q2 2024. ROFR window: 30-45 calendar days. Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked.
Visual Summary
Forge Global: SEC-Filed Financials (NYSE: FRGE, CIK 1827821)
Forge filed as a public reporting company from March 2022 until the Charles Schwab acquisition closed in March 2026. ANNUAL (10-K) FIGURES ARE AUDITED; QUARTERLY (10-Q) FIGURES ARE UNAUDITED. Do not read a quarterly cash balance or loss as an audited number. All dollar amounts in millions. Two things must be read alongside every row. First, Forge's TRADING VOLUME definition double-counts each trade (a $100 trade is reported as $200 of volume), so implied underlying transaction value is roughly half the figure shown. Second, the NET TAKE RATE is Forge's own disclosed metric, computed on marketplace revenue net of transaction-based expenses. EPISTEMIC TIER: extracted by AltStreet from primary SEC filings and cross-footed against annual totals (all three years reconcile on revenue, net income and marketplace revenue), but NOT independently verified line by line against the source documents. No figure below carries human_verified = true.
FY2022 10-K: financial statements audited
Revenue $69.4M · Net loss $111.9M · Operating expenses $203.9M · Cash $149.1M · Marketplace revenue $40.7M · Custodial administration fees $28.7M · Trading volume $1,222.9M · Net take rate 3.3% · 2,184 trades · 1.87M custodial accounts
FY2023 10-K: financial statements audited
Revenue $69.8M · Net loss $90.2M · Operating expenses $160.8M · Cash $130.1M · Marketplace revenue $25.8M (down 37%) · Custodial administration fees $44.0M (up 53% on rising rates) · Trading volume $765.9M · Net take rate 3.3% · 1,756 trades · 2.08M custodial accounts
FY2024 10-K: financial statements audited
Revenue $79.3M · Net loss $66.3M · Operating expenses $160.9M · Marketplace revenue $37.5M · Custodial administration fees $41.8M (down 5%, attributed by Forge to 100bp of Federal Reserve rate cuts) · Trading volume $1,325.5M · Net take rate 2.8% · 2,762 trades · 2.38M custodial accounts · $16.9B assets under custody
Q2 2022 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $16.6M · Net loss $5.1M · Cash $204.9M · Net take rate 3.2% · Trading volume $331.8M
Q3 2022 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $15.9M · Net loss $16.2M · Cash $149.0M · Net take rate 3.6% · Trading volume $226.2M
Q1 2023 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $15.5M · Net loss $21.2M · Cash $175.3M · Net take rate 3.6% · Trading volume $128.2M
Q2 2023 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $16.7M · Net loss $24.9M · Cash $159.5M · Net take rate 3.7% · Trading volume $153.2M
Q3 2023 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $18.6M · Net loss $18.3M · Cash $155.1M · Net take rate 3.0% · Trading volume $234.1M
Q1 2024 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $19.2M · Net loss $18.6M · Cash $129.6M · Net take rate 3.2% · Trading volume $262.5M
Q2 2024 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $22.3M · Net loss $13.7M · Cash $120.5M · Net take rate 2.7% · Trading volume $426.3M
Q3 2024 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $19.2M · Net loss $18.3M · Cash $114.5M · Net take rate 2.6% · Trading volume $338.1M
Q1 2025 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $25.3M · Net loss $16.2M · Cash $70.5M · Net take rate 2.3% (three-year low) · Trading volume $692.4M · Custodial client cash $459.7M · 1-for-15 reverse stock split effective 2025-04-14
Q2 2025 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $27.7M · Net loss $12.6M · Cash $54.3M · Net take rate 2.4% · Trading volume $756.1M · Marketplace revenue $18.6M, the peak
Q3 2025 (10-Q, unaudited)
Revenue $21.3M · Net loss $18.2M · Cash $32.3M · Net take rate 2.8% · Trading volume $423.3M · Marketplace revenue $12.2M, down 35% quarter-on-quarter on a 44% volume decline · 2.70M custodial accounts · $18.4B assets under custody
Cumulative, FY2022-FY2024 (audited annuals)
Across FY2022-FY2024 Forge generated $218.5M of revenue against $525.6M of operating expenses (opex was approximately 2.4x revenue) while cumulative net losses totaled $268.4M, exceeding cumulative revenue by $49.9M. Cash fell 84%, from $204.9M (Q2 2022) to $32.3M (Q3 2025), both unaudited quarterly figures. At Q3 2025, cash equaled less than two times the quarterly net loss, illustrating the balance-sheet pressure visible immediately before the acquisition announcement. AltStreet does not compute a runway: acquisition costs, working capital, restricted cash, cost reductions and financing capacity all bear on it and none are modeled here. Charles Schwab announced the acquisition on 2025-11-06, five weeks after the Q3 2025 quarter closed. AltStreet states the sequence and does not assert causation.
Client cash is not Forge's cash
The $459.7M of CUSTODIAL CLIENT CASH held by Forge Trust Co. is client money. It is not Forge's own balance sheet and must not be read against the $32.3M above. Forge earns fees on that balance: it reported that cash administration fees represented the majority of its custodial administration fee revenue, which makes a substantial portion of total revenue sensitive to custodial cash balances and interest rates. AltStreet does NOT claim cash administration is the single largest revenue stream: a majority of the $41.79M custody line is not necessarily larger than the $37.54M marketplace line, and Forge does not disclose the exact amount.
⚠ Known data-quality gaps
Q3 2024 net income does not reconcile: the nine-month year-to-date figure of $51.9M, less the extracted Q1 ($18.6M) and Q2 ($13.7M), implies a Q3 loss of $19.6M against the $18.3M extracted, a $1.21M gap requiring a source read. FY2024 cash on hand was not captured from the 10-K, though the Q3 2024 and Q1 2025 10-Qs bracket it (there is no Q4 10-Q; the fourth quarter is folded into the 10-K). These gaps are disclosed rather than smoothed.
ASWhat Forge's Multi-Entity Structure Means for Retail Investors
- Forge Trust Co.'s custodial capability means accredited investors can hold private company securities within a Forge-administered account, including potentially in IRAs managed through the trust company. This is a structural service gap that Hiive and EquityZen do not fill, and it matters for tax-advantaged account holders who want private equity exposure.
- Forge Global Advisors is subject to Investment Advisers Act obligations, including fiduciary duties, when managing the applicable fund products.
- The Forge Price / Yahoo Finance integration represents a distribution moat that is difficult for competitors to replicate. Forge Price is the first private company pricing data embedded in a major public financial platform. This creates a flywheel: more retail investors see Forge Price on Yahoo Finance → more retail investors come to Forge to transact → more transaction data improves Forge Price quality.
Key Gaps & Non-Disclosures
- Forge discloses a 2-5% brokerage-fee range, but not the exact rate applicable to a specific transaction. Investors must engage a transaction specialist to obtain the commission agreement and an itemized estimate of third-party costs (transfer agent, legal opinion, escrow), which are not included in the stated range.
- Deal-specific minimums are not systematically published. Platform-level minimums have been identified ($100,000 standard direct secondary, $50,000 in limited cases, $5,000 Forge Fund), but the minimum applicable to any given transaction requires specialist engagement.
- Company-level ROFR histories are not published. A platform-level historical exercise rate of approximately 8% at the 2023 trough has been identified, but an investor cannot determine the ROFR history of the specific company they are targeting.
- Per-fund fee rates for Forge Global Advisors vehicles: the ADV Part 2A publishes the ranges, but the rate any specific fund charges appears only in its offering documents, as does the share-class structure (eight classes, flagged I/C/M for insurance-proceeds, carry-bearing and management-fee-bearing) that determines which fees a given investor actually pays.
Investor Operations
The practical questions investors actually care about: when tax documents arrive, how cash distributions work, and whether capital can be exited before the underlying asset is sold.
Tax Documents
K-1 Timing
What to expect
Third-party research indicates a late-March-to-mid-April target, but AltStreet did NOT locate this timetable in Forge's public materials. Investors should verify timing in the applicable offering documents. Forge Global Advisors LLC cannot issue K-1s until the underlying private company provides financial and tax data; a 90-day internal target after receipt is reported by third-party research but is likewise unconfirmed in Forge's public materials. Delayed underlying-company reporting may require investors to file tax extensions. AltStreet did not locate Forge-specific data showing how frequently that occurs.
Delay signals
- Underlying company delays providing audited or reviewed financial statements (no public reporting obligation for private companies)
- Complex fund-level capital events during the fiscal year (secondary closes, tender offers, company recapitalizations)
- Multi-company fund structures requiring aggregated company-level financials before K-1 preparation
- Underlying company fiscal year-end other than December 31
Extension risk
Delayed underlying-company reporting may require a tax extension. AltStreet did not locate Forge-specific data showing how frequently this occurs; verify expected timing with the fund administrator.
Confidence: Medium
Cash Flow
Distributions
Frequency
Not applicable for most direct secondary purchases prior to a company liquidity event. Fund vehicles: distribution policy varies by fund; distributions occur at company exit or tender offer close. Custodial accounts: distributions depend on company-level events.
Timing
Tied to underlying company liquidity event timeline, which is unpredictable and may be 3-10+ years from investment date
Consistency
N/A prior to exit. Fund vehicle distributions trigger applicable carried interest and administrative fees per fund offering documents.
Confidence: Low
Liquidity
Exit Reality
Holding period
No Forge-imposed lockup for direct marketplace transactions, but individual company transfer restrictions and ROFR provisions apply. ROFR window: 30-45 calendar days per trade. Post-IPO lockups of 90-180 days typically apply to shares that transition from private to public. Fund vehicles may have specific lockup provisions per offering documents.
Exit options
- Company liquidity event (IPO, acquisition, or tender offer): primary exit path for direct purchases and fund investments
- Secondary resale through Forge marketplace to another accredited buyer: availability depends on company approval and buyer demand
- Company-initiated tender offers or structured liquidity programs facilitated through Forge
- Fund vehicle liquidity per specific fund terms
Secondary market
Forge marketplace provides secondary resale through specialist-facilitated matching, not a live order book. The Price Discovery Equilibrium benchmark is ~12% bid-ask spread; the market reached a historic low of 6.4% median spread in Q2 2024, driven by buy-side IOIs representing 55.2% of platform activity. Forge Price indicates whether a company has active trading interest, but transaction execution takes 30-45 days including ROFR window. All positions should be treated as illiquid until a company liquidity event.
Confidence: Medium
Investment Structures
Direct Secondary Transaction (Forge Securities LLC)
Accredited investors buy and sell shares of private companies through the Forge secondary marketplace, facilitated by Forge Securities LLC as broker-dealer. Minimum: $100,000 standard; $50,000 in limited cases where issuers permit smaller allocations. Brokerage fee: 2-5% of transaction value (Form CRS maximum 5%), tiered down for larger transactions and repeat clients.
Additional third-party costs apply: transfer agent fees, legal opinion to verify registration exemption, and escrow fees. Settlement: 30-45 calendar days from agreement to close, encompassing ROFR window (30-45 days). ROFR rate: ~8% at 2023 trough. Forge Price on company pages is a data indicator, not an executable price.
Forge Fund SPV (Forge Global Advisors LLC)
Fund vehicles organized and advised by Forge Global Advisors LLC (SEC-registered investment adviser, ~$2.46B AUM across 122+ fund series). Minimum: $5,000. Fee: 1-2% one-time placement fee at entry, plus fund-level fees disclosed as ranges in Forge Global Advisors' Form ADV Part 2A (dated 2026-03-30): single-issuer funds carry a 1-5% set-up fee, 1-5% management fee, 10-20% carried interest and a 1-2% redemption fee; multi-issuer funds 0-5% management plus carry up to 20%.
Exact per-fund rates appear only in that fund's offering documents. Investors are typically required to engage affiliated broker Forge Securities to close the fund-interest purchase, at 0-5% of subscription, with no advisory-fee offset (ADV Item 5.E.4). Investors purchase units in an SPV that holds the underlying private company shares.
Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked. Settlement is significantly faster than direct trades: subscription agreement to fund within 1-5 days; units issued upon receipt of funds.
K-1 reporting applies (partnership pass-through). Third-party research indicates a late-March-to-mid-April delivery target, but AltStreet did not confirm this timetable in Forge's public materials. Forge Global Advisors LLC owes fiduciary duties as an SEC-registered investment adviser.
Custodial Services (Forge Trust Co.)
Forge Trust Co., a South Dakota chartered trust company, provides self-directed IRA (SDIRA) custodial services supporting Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE IRAs, and Individual 401(k)s. Minimum cash balance: $500 ($100 for Coverdell ESAs); $15/quarter penalty if below minimum. Annual fees: $50 setup (one-time) + $200/year account fee ($50/quarter) + $12/quarter per private company asset (Type 2) + $40/transaction for buys or sells.
Annual fixed cost for one private company position: ~$248 ($200 account + $48 asset fees). Additional: $25/domestic wire outgoing; $150 account termination. Storage for precious metals: $1 per $1,000 of asset value ($100 minimum; $190 for segregated storage). Integrated custody is a structural differentiator not offered by Hiive or EquityZen.
Risk
Risk Structure
This is where the marketplace pitch gives way to the actual operating reality: delayed exits, limited disclosure, fee drag, and path-dependent outcomes.
AIAltStreet Risk Inferences
- The FPMI's reported 32% down-round rate in Q3 2024, the highest recorded on the Forge platform, demonstrated that substantial portions of Forge's tracked universe were still experiencing valuation compression at that time. Investors should not assume the subsequent headline rebound represents steady-state private-market performance.
- The median annualized appreciation for unicorns from when they become a unicorn until IPO is 65.7% (per Forge's own October 2025 research), but this figure reflects companies that successfully IPO'd, a survivorship-biased sample. Companies that do not IPO or are acquired at low valuations are excluded from this calculation.
- The top 10 largest private companies grew from an average valuation of $22.8B in 2019 to $87.2B in 2024, per Forge's own research, but this was driven primarily by AI-sector companies. Investors in non-AI private companies may not experience this level of appreciation.
- Forge's statement that the total private market now represents 7.8% of S&P 500 market cap (up from 2.2% in 2015) supports the long-term investment case for private market exposure, but it also means there is more capital competing for the best allocations than at any previous point in the market's history.
Forge Price Reliability Limitation
Forge Price™ is explicitly described as a 'derived, indicative price' that 'may rely on a very limited number of inputs in its calculation' and 'is not intended to, and does not necessarily, represent the market price of any securities.' For companies with low trading activity, Forge Price may be calculated from a single indication of interest. Investors who use Forge Price as a valuation anchor for transaction decisions are relying on a data product with explicit limitations on accuracy and representativeness.
Incomplete Deal-Level Fee Disclosure
Forge discloses a 2-5% brokerage-fee range, but not the exact rate applicable to a specific transaction. Investors must engage a transaction specialist to obtain the commission agreement and an itemized estimate of third-party costs (transfer agent, legal opinion, escrow), which are not included in the stated range. The Disclaimers and Disclosures page explicitly notes that prices 'do not include transaction fees or fees charged by Forge Securities LLC.' Investors cannot calculate all-in transaction costs from public materials and must engage a transaction specialist to obtain a commission agreement before transacting.
ROFR Risk: Confirmed Rate and Timeline
ROFR exercise rate was ~8% at the Q1 2023 market trough, up from under 3% in the 2021 bull market, and continued trending upward through Q2 2024 as market conditions improved. The ROFR window is 30-45 calendar days. An 8% rate means roughly 1 in 12 successfully matched direct trades is acquired by the company itself rather than settling with the external buyer.
Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked.
Multi-Entity Complexity
Forge operates through three separately registered entities (broker-dealer, investment adviser, trust company) plus the unregistered parent software entity. Each entity has distinct regulatory protections, fee structures, and terms of service. Retail investors must understand which entity they are contracting with for each service. The unregistered parent entity (Forge Global, Inc.) does not owe fiduciary or broker-dealer duties; only the registered subsidiaries do.
Private Market Valuation Opacity
Forge's own disclosures note that private companies 'have infrequent share transactions and often lack a transparent or continuously updated market price' and that 'there is no assurance that private investments are priced daily, or even weekly.' The Forge Price methodology addresses this partially, but investors must understand that private company valuations are fundamentally different from public market prices.
Series-Level SEC Filing Figures Changed Basis Without Explanation (October 2025)
AltStreet's daily Form D/A monitoring detected a coordinated reporting change across dozens of Forge Investments LLC series amendments beginning in October 2025. In the verified sequences reviewed, prior cumulative raise figures were replaced by new sold and investor-count figures on an undisclosed basis, while the date of first sale remained unchanged. The practical diligence issue is not that the figures went down; it is that pre- and post-October-2025 Form D figures cannot be compared without additional explanation from Forge, which no filing provides. Full verified filing sequences for four representative series, with accession numbers, are documented in the July 2026 update below.
Forge Price ≠ Market Price: Forge Says So Explicitly
Forge Price™ is a derived daily data product. Forge's own disclaimers state it 'does not necessarily represent the market price of any securities,' 'is not the price at which you could buy or sell,' and 'may rely on a very limited number of inputs in its calculation.' For thinly traded companies, a Forge Price may be calculated from a single indication of interest.
Why it matters
Forge Price looks like a market price. It is not a market price. It appears on company stock pages, and now on Yahoo Finance, alongside numbers that are prices.
Forge Price may be more informative where recent transaction and IOI inputs are deeper, but AltStreet has not yet measured input depth by company. The gap between what Forge Price looks like and what it is constitutes the single most important thing to understand before using the platform.
Mitigation / verification
Treat Forge Price as one signal among several, never the sole basis for a transaction entry price. Cross-reference against: the company's most recent primary round valuation per share; Hiive's live order book bid/ask where available; any publicly disclosed comparable secondary transactions. The gap between Forge Price and where you can actually transact is the real price of entry.
You Cannot Model Your Return Before Speaking to a Broker
Direct secondary transactions cost 2-5% in Forge Securities LLC brokerage fees, plus third-party costs (transfer fees, legal opinions, escrow) that Forge acknowledges but does not quantify in advance. On a $100,000 minimum trade at 4% commission, brokerage alone is $4,000, before additional third-party costs.
Why it matters
You cannot fully model your return before speaking to a broker. That sentence applies to every direct secondary trade on Forge. The commission range is confirmed.
The exact rate is not public. The third-party costs exist but are not quantified. This is not a flaw; it is institutional broker-dealer pricing applied to a platform that retail accredited investors also use. If you need to know your total cost before engaging, use Forge Fund SPVs (1-2% placement fee, may avoid the separately itemized direct-transfer expenses) or a competing platform.
Mitigation / verification
Request the full commission schedule and an itemized estimate of third-party costs (transfer agent fees, legal opinion, escrow) from your Forge transaction specialist before proceeding. Compare the all-in cost against equivalent transactions through Forge Fund SPVs (1-2% placement fee, may avoid separately itemized direct-transfer expenses) or competing platforms.
ROFR Risk: ~8% Rate at Market Trough, Trending Up
ROFR exercise rate reached ~8% at the Q1 2023 market trough (1 in 12 matched direct trades) and continued trending upward through Q2 2024. The 30-45 day ROFR window ties up buyer capital in escrow without a guarantee of completion.
Why it matters
Unlike Hiive (18% 2024 ROFR rate), Forge's ROFR rate is lower historically, but the trend is upward, and the rate during bull markets (under 3%) and troughs (~8%) shows meaningful variation. For direct secondary buyers, this represents uncompensated opportunity cost risk on approximately 1 in 12 to 1 in 33 transactions depending on market conditions. Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked.
Mitigation / verification
For direct secondary trades, ask the Forge transaction specialist if the target company has exercised ROFR on recent trades. For investors who want to reduce the individual subscriber's direct ROFR exposure, route through Forge Fund SPVs rather than direct trades.
Private Market Valuation and Volatility Risk
The FPMI's Q3 2024 data showed that 41% of tracked companies experienced price decreases in that quarter, with an average markdown of -16.1%. The 32% down-round rate matched the highest recorded on the Forge platform.
Why it matters
Strong recent FPMI performance (75.6% last 12 months as of September 30, 2025) follows a period of significant private market correction. Investors entering at current valuations, particularly for AI-sector companies at high implied multiples, may face different return dynamics than those who entered during the 2022-2023 correction.
Mitigation / verification
Review the full FPMI constituent performance distribution, not just the aggregate index return. Assess whether the specific companies you are targeting have already appreciated significantly from their last primary round and what upside remains before your exit scenario.
ASRisk signals to watch
- You cannot obtain the Forge Securities LLC brokerage fee schedule in writing before transacting.
- You are relying on Forge Price as the sole or primary basis for your transaction entry price without verifying against other data sources.
- You require liquidity within 3-5 years: no guaranteed exit mechanism exists before a company liquidity event.
- You are uncomfortable with the multi-entity structure and cannot clearly identify which Forge entity you are contracting with for each service.
- You require current or company-specific ROFR exercise statistics before investing; Forge does not systematically publish them.
Regulatory & Legal Posture
Security Status
Unregistered securities of private non-reporting issuers; exempt from SEC registration under applicable secondary transaction exemptions
Forge Securities LLC facilitates secondary trading in unregistered private company securities. Forge Global, Inc. (the parent software entity) explicitly states it is not a registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or funding portal; only its subsidiaries are registered. Brokerage services are offered by Forge Securities LLC. Investment advisory services for fund products are offered by Forge Global Advisors LLC. Custodial services are offered by Forge Trust Co. All transactions are restricted to accredited investors on the buyer side.
Disclosure Quality
High for regulatory entity structure (multiple registered entities clearly identified in disclosures). Low for DEAL-LEVEL fee transparency: Forge discloses a 2-5% brokerage-fee range but not the exact commission or the third-party costs applicable to a specific transaction. Low for series-level SEC filing continuity: Form D/A figures across Forge Investments LLC series changed reporting basis without explanation in October 2025, breaking comparability of raise-history figures on EDGAR (see Risk section). Comprehensive Terms of Use, Disclaimers and Disclosures, and Privacy Policy published on the platform. FINRA BrokerCheck registration independently verifiable for Forge Securities LLC.
Custody Model
Forge Securities LLC facilitates transactions as broker-dealer. Forge Trust Co. offers custodial services for private securities as a South Dakota chartered trust company. Escrow for transaction funds is provided through Dwolla, Inc. (payment processing). Fund assets are administered by Forge Global Advisors LLC and associated fund administrators.
Regulatory Backing
Forge Securities LLC: SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA member, SIPC member. Forge Global Advisors LLC: SEC-registered investment adviser. Forge Trust Co.: South Dakota chartered trust company, DPF-certified for EU/UK/Swiss data transfers. Forge Global, Inc.: not registered with SEC, FINRA, or any state securities authority.
Tax Treatment
Reporting
Direct secondary purchases: Forge does not issue tax documents; the company (issuer) or transfer agent is responsible depending on transaction structure. Forge Fund SPVs: Schedule K-1 issued annually by fund administrator (SS&C or equivalent, per Forge Global Advisors LLC). Forge Trust Co. custodial accounts: standard trust company tax reporting.
Third-party research indicates a late-March-to-mid-April target, but AltStreet did NOT locate this timetable in Forge's public materials. Investors should verify timing in the applicable offering documents. Forge Global Advisors cannot issue K-1s until the underlying private company provides financial and tax data, and private companies have no obligation to report on any schedule, so delayed underlying-company reporting may require investors to file tax extensions, though AltStreet did not locate Forge-specific data on how frequently that occurs.
Income Character
Capital gains (direct secondary purchases); partnership income/loss (fund vehicle K-1s); potential ordinary income (certain fund distributions)
For direct secondary purchases, gains and losses are characterized as capital gains based on the investor's holding period in the acquired shares. For fund vehicles managed by Forge Global Advisors LLC, investors receive K-1s reflecting allocable share of fund-level income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit, subject to passive-activity rules, at-risk limitations, and potential phantom income. For custodial accounts holding direct shares through Forge Trust Co., the trust company's standard tax document practices apply.
Limitation
Tax treatment for direct purchases depends heavily on share class (Common vs. Preferred), Rule 144 restrictions, and the investor's cost basis. IMPORTANT ON QSBS: Section 1202 generally requires that the taxpayer ACQUIRE THE STOCK AT ORIGINAL ISSUANCE from the company. A secondary purchase from an existing shareholder, which is what a Forge direct secondary transaction is, generally does NOT satisfy that requirement. Any potential QSBS treatment through a fund, a rollover, or another qualifying structure is highly transaction-specific and must be confirmed with a tax adviser before it is relied upon. AltStreet is not a tax adviser and this is not tax advice.
Special Considerations
UBTI Risk
For fund vehicles managed by Forge Global Advisors LLC: UBTI risk exists for tax-exempt investors (IRAs, endowments) if the fund uses leverage. Review specific fund offering documents. For Forge Trust Co. custodial IRA accounts holding direct private company shares: UBTI risk is generally lower unless the account uses margin (which would be unusual for private securities).
UDFI Risk
For fund vehicles in IRA accounts: UDFI arises if the fund borrows to finance acquisitions. Review fund offering documents before placing IRA capital in any Forge-managed fund.
- Investors combining multiple Forge products (direct marketplace purchases + fund investments + custodial accounts) face multi-source, multi-entity tax reporting obligations. Coordinating tax documents from Forge Securities LLC, Forge Global Advisors LLC, and Forge Trust Co. in a single tax year adds meaningful administrative complexity.
- The multi-entity structure means tax documents may arrive from different Forge subsidiaries on different timelines. K-1 timing for fund vehicles managed by Forge Global Advisors LLC was not found in public materials and requires direct inquiry.
- Forge's integration with Dwolla for payment processing means ACH transaction records exist as a supplementary source for cost basis documentation on marketplace transactions.
Account Suitability
Taxable
Well-suited for marketplace transactions when the investor can tolerate multi-year illiquidity. For fund vehicles, K-1 partnership treatment is standard but adds complexity. Forge Price data and quarterly Investment Outlook reports provide additional market context.
Roth IRA
Forge Trust Co. removes the need to source a separate third-party self-directed IRA custodian, which is a genuine structural convenience. Confirmed fee structure: $50 setup + $200/year account fee + $48/year per private company position (Type 2 asset) + $40/transaction. Annual fixed cost for one private company holding: ~$248. Effective RECURRING annual drag after setup (excluding transaction, wire and termination fees): 4.96% on a $5,000 Forge Fund minimum position; 0.24% on a $100,000 direct trade. UBTI/UDFI analysis required for leveraged Forge Fund vehicles held in IRA. At $50,000, the recurring $248 cost equals approximately 0.50% annually before transaction fees.
Traditional IRA
Same Forge Trust Co. fee structure as Roth. Tax-deferred compounding applies. Roth treatment MAY be more attractive where substantial future appreciation is expected, but the relative benefit depends on the investor's current and future marginal rates, conversion costs, withdrawal expectations and estate plan; it is not superior as a general rule. All UBTI/UDFI considerations from Roth IRA apply equally here.
HSA
Impractical for nearly all investors. Standard HSA custodians are unlikely to support Forge private securities. IRS rules impose prohibited-transaction constraints on HSAs but do not categorically bar all private or illiquid assets; practical availability depends on the custodian, the transaction structure, valuation requirements and the prohibited-transaction rules. A specialized self-directed HSA may support some alternative assets. Confirm with the custodian and a tax adviser; do not assume.
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AltStreet Data Layer
What the data actually shows
AltStreet re-enumerated Forge's complete Form D filer population from SEC EDGAR on 2026-09-30: 1,355 Form D and D/A filings across the 220 FG-series vehicles, reproducing the July census to the dollar on its 218-vehicle roster. CAPITAL IS A HYBRID ESTIMATE, NOT A SINGLE-BASIS CENSUS: $1,194,319,425 across 191 vehicles on the final pre-October-2025 cumulative basis, PLUS $278,123,315 across 29 vehicles that first filed AFTER the reporting change and are stated on their native post-change basis. Those 29 are not directly comparable with the 199. Combined best available estimate: $1,472,442,740. See the basis-change finding, which governs every number on this page. Separately, AltStreet ingested Forge's SEC-filed financials (NYSE: FRGE, CIK 1827821, March 2022 - March 2026): audited annual 10-K figures and UNAUDITED quarterly 10-Q figures, a disclosure layer no private platform in this category has. Key findings:
Form D figures across Forge's series moved to an undisclosed basis in October 2025, and it prevents naive aggregation of its Form D series
AltStreet's full census confirms at scale what four hand-verified series first showed. Of 218 Forge vehicles, 133 have a post-October-2025 latest filing, and in EVERY one the offering amount switched to 'Indefinite' and the reported sold amount moved discontinuously onto a non-comparable basis. Investor counts also changed inconsistently (rising in some series, falling in others, unchanged in others still), which is further evidence that the post-change fields cannot be read as continuous cumulative measures.
FG-TJC: $11,234,145 / 22 investors becomes $334,252 / 42 investors. FG-PRQ: $23,244,498 / 53 becomes $1,302,266 / 60. FG-TMS: $3,502,000 / 84 becomes $883,500 / 4.
FG-ASF: $5,450,470 / 88 becomes $4,363,328 / 56. And the dollar change is not uniformly deflationary either: FG-UBW moves the other way, from $45,913,196 as filed to $84,702,109 on the pre-change basis. There is no single transformation that maps the old basis onto the new one, in either field.
What this means
A naive census of Forge's Form D filings as they stand today returns $2,639,922,758. The reporting discontinuity alone establishes that the filings cannot be naively summed. As a secondary check, the as-filed figure also produces an economically implausible relationship with Forge's marketplace volume disclosed in Forge's FY2024 10-K: FY2024 would place $517.5M of Reg D capital against roughly $662.7M of implied underlying marketplace transaction value, about 78%, which appears inconsistent with the transaction mix Forge describes. AltStreet's best available estimate is a HYBRID: $1,194,319,425 across 191 vehicles on the last pre-October-2025 cumulative basis, plus $278,123,315 across 29 vehicles that first filed after the change and have no pre-change figure. Combined: $1,472,442,740, with the two cohorts not directly comparable. AltStreet does not characterize what the new basis represents: Forge filed no explanation and none is inferable. Raise-history diligence on any individual Forge series across the October 2025 boundary is not possible without information Forge has not filed.
Forge is a low-frequency, high-ticket venue, roughly eleven trades per business day (subscription figures are screening estimates)
SCREENING ESTIMATE, based on non-comparable investor-count fields: the $200,000 median subscription and the $1,031,777 average are built on a CORRECTED capital numerator and an UNCORRECTED investor-count denominator. Investor counts come from each vehicle's latest filing, which for 136 of 220 vehicles is post-basis-change, and those counts moved erratically across the boundary (FG-TMS 84 to 4; FG-ASF 88 to 56). The same caveat applies to the observation that 84 vehicles have five or fewer investors and 29 have exactly one.
What IS firm, from Forge's 10-K disclosure: 2,762 trades across the whole of FY2024 on $1,325.5M of reported volume. Because Forge's definition double-counts each trade, implied underlying transaction value was roughly $662.7M and the implied average trade size roughly $240,000.
What this means
The trade-count finding rests on Forge's primary-source 10-K disclosure and is firm: under three thousand trades in a full year is roughly eleven per business day. That is a specialist desk, not a continuous market, and it is consistent with a $100,000 direct-secondary minimum, a 30-45 day ROFR window and a broker-intermediated process. Investors expecting marketplace liquidity should size expectations to the actual transaction cadence. The per-vehicle subscription figures above are a different tier of evidence and should not be relied on for diligence on any individual series.
Forge discloses its net take rate every quarter, and it has compressed 36% in three years
Forge's pricing pages quote a '2-5%' brokerage fee and direct prospective investors to call a broker. Its SEC filings publish the realized figure quarterly. Net take rate by quarter: 3.5% (Q1 2022), 3.6% (Q3 2022), 3.6% (Q1 2023), 3.7% (Q2 2023), 3.0% (Q3 2023), 3.2% (Q1 2024), 2.7% (Q2 2024), 2.6% (Q3 2024), 2.3% (Q1 2025), 2.4% (Q2 2025), 2.8% (Q3 2025). Forge computes this on volume NET of transaction-based expenses: FY2024 marketplace revenue of $36.99M net over $1,325.5M of volume gives 2.79%, matching the disclosed 2.8%.
What this means
Forge's disclosed FY2024 net take rate of 2.8% falls near the BOTTOM of the quoted 2-5% range, though the two measures are not directly equivalent, since the take rate is net of transaction-based expenses and uses Forge's doubled-volume denominator. The disclosed net take rate provides useful context for the quoted fee range, but should not be read as an average buyer or seller commission. Because Forge's volume figure double-counts each trade, implied underlying transaction value in FY2024 was roughly $662.7M, against which $36.99M of NET marketplace revenue represents approximately 5.6%. AltStreet presents that as a platform-level realized revenue ratio, net of transaction-based expenses, NOT as a buyer-side commission, and not necessarily split evenly between buyer and seller; it may not map cleanly onto advertised rates. The point stands regardless: the figure exists, Forge files it quarterly with the SEC, and it is simply not disclosed anywhere a prospective buyer would look for it.
Custody, not the marketplace, is Forge's larger revenue line, and it is interest-rate sensitive
FY2024: custodial administration fees $41.79M against marketplace revenue $37.54M. Forge reported that cash administration fees represented the majority of the custody line, making a substantial portion of total revenue sensitive to custodial cash balances and interest rates. AltStreet does NOT claim cash administration is the single largest revenue stream: a majority of $41.79M is not necessarily larger than $37.54M, and Forge does not disclose the exact amount ($459.7M of custodial client cash as of 2025-03-31; separately, 2.70M custodial accounts and $18.4B of assets under custody as of Q3 2025).
Forge's FY2024 10-K states plainly that the Federal Reserve's 100bp of rate cuts drove a 5% decline in custodial administration fees. In 2023 the two lines moved in opposite directions: marketplace revenue collapsed 37% while custody grew 53% on rising rates.
What this means
This is a finding about REVENUE MIX, not product identity. To an investor buying pre-IPO shares, Forge is a marketplace: they place a trade, it clears, they hold the position. What it means is that Forge's business health is only partly tied to the market its users transact in: a substantial portion of revenue was tied to custodial cash balances and therefore sensitive to interest rates. It cuts both ways: the custody line is far steadier than the marketplace line, which swung $8.4M to $18.6M to $12.2M across three consecutive quarters. Diversified revenue is a strength for counterparty durability, and anyone assessing whether Forge will still be there in five years is looking at a rate-sensitive business as much as a private-markets one.
Three years of losses, and an 84% decline in cash, preceded the Schwab acquisition
Forge's audited annual financials, FY2022-FY2024: revenue $69.4M / $69.8M / $79.3M against operating expenses of $203.9M / $160.8M / $160.9M, producing net losses of $111.9M, $90.2M and $66.3M. Cumulatively: $218.5M of revenue against $525.6M of operating expenses (opex approximately 2.4x revenue) and $268.4M of net losses, exceeding cumulative revenue by $49.9M. Cash fell from $204.9M (Q2 2022) to $114.5M (Q3 2024) to $54.3M (Q2 2025) to $32.3M (Q3 2025).
The Q1 2025 10-Q discloses a 1-for-15 reverse stock split effective 2025-04-14. Marketplace revenue peaked at $18.6M in Q2 2025 and fell 35% to $12.2M in Q3 2025 on a 44% volume decline. Charles Schwab announced the acquisition on 2025-11-06, five weeks after that quarter closed.
What this means
At Q3 2025 Forge held $32.3M against an $18.2M quarterly net loss: cash equaled less than two times the quarterly loss, illustrating the balance-sheet pressure visible immediately before the acquisition announcement. AltStreet does NOT compute a runway from this: acquisition costs, working capital, restricted cash, cost reductions and financing capacity all bear on it and none are modeled here. Note also that these are UNAUDITED quarterly figures. AltStreet states the sequence and does not assert causation: the filings show what happened and when, not why, and the acquisition may have been in negotiation long before the Q3 print. The acquisition announcement emphasized strategic scale; Forge's filings add the missing context that the transaction followed several years of losses and a substantial decline in standalone cash. Schwab may well add substantial scale. These figures describe Forge IMMEDIATELY BEFORE the acquisition closed in March 2026; they do not describe its post-closing balance sheet, and they do not independently establish its current counterparty risk under Schwab ownership. The $459.7M of custodial CLIENT cash is client money held by Forge Trust Co.; it is not Forge's own balance sheet and must not be conflated with the $32.3M above.
The portfolio company is never named in a Forge filing
Forge's series are registered with the SEC as three-letter codes (FG-NAS, FG-KKR, FG-UFO, FG-DOG) with no disclosed mapping to the underlying company. The Form D discloses the raise, the investor count and the exemption, but not what the vehicle holds.
What this means
No external party can determine from public filings how much of Forge's $1.472B sits behind any single issuer, and neither can AltStreet. Platform-level company concentration is unauditable from primary sources by construction, and any concentration figure Forge publishes cannot be independently checked. This is a disclosure choice rather than a regulatory requirement: Form D does not compel it either way.
Several of Forge's largest vehicles were materially affected by the basis change
On the corrected basis, Forge's largest vehicles are FG-ANO ($132.9M, 2020 vintage; as filed today: $222.5M), FG-BLU ($119.3M, 2024; as filed: $397.3M), FG-UFO ($114.5M, 2026, unaffected) and FG-ONJ ($92.6M, 2018, unaffected, 72 filings). AltStreet's own prior review reported FG-BLU at $397.3M and FG-LRN at $227M; both figures were contaminated, and FG-LRN no longer ranks in the top ten.
What this means
The distortion materially affected several of the largest vehicles, the exact records most likely to produce a headline scale claim. Any Forge scale claim sourced from EDGAR after October 2025, by AltStreet or anyone else, is suspect unless it states which basis it is on. FG-UFO remains genuinely remarkable and is unaffected: $114,468,605 raised from a SINGLE investor in one filing (2026), a bespoke institutional block running through the same Reg D plumbing as the retail SPVs.
139 of 218 Forge series are structured as indefinite, continuously amended offerings
Forge files most series with no stated offering ceiling and amends them continuously: 6.2 filings per vehicle on average, one (FG-ONJ) with 72, and an 83% amendment rate across the population. Additionally, 84 vehicles have five or fewer investors and 29 have exactly one.
What this means
A raise figure taken from a Forge Form D is a running total on a vehicle that may still be open, not a final close, which matters for anyone using EDGAR to size a specific series. These offerings may eventually terminate even though no final close currently appears on the record. The related observation that a large share of vehicles hold very few investors is a screening estimate only, for the investor-count reasons set out above.
Data as of 2026-07-14 . AltStreet review evidence layer . Public-source analysis
Full datasetDecision Fit
Investor Fit
Who this works for, who it does not, and what level of patience and complexity tolerance the platform really demands.
institutional
Forge is the most complete institutional private market infrastructure platform accessible at the retail level. Institutional investors benefit from the full platform stack: marketplace transactions, Forge Data subscription for price intelligence, fund vehicles through Forge Global Advisors LLC, custodial services through Forge Trust Co., and quarterly Investment Outlook reports. The Yahoo Finance integration signals Forge's ambition to become the default private market data standard, which benefits institutional participants who need broadly recognized pricing benchmarks.
retail
Accredited retail investors can access Forge's marketplace, but the platform's institutional orientation means the experience of buying shares is substantially less streamlined than Hiive's order book or EquityZen's packaged SPV access. Exact deal-level commissions and third-party costs require engagement with a transaction specialist. For retail investors who primarily want to buy shares in specific companies and understand their costs upfront, Hiive or EquityZen may be more appropriate starting points. Forge becomes more valuable as an investor's private market activity scales and they need the full range of data, fund, and custodial services.
ESG / Climate SaaS Providers
ESG or thematic investors can identify relevant companies across Forge's broad company coverage (thousands of private companies tracked), and Forge's data products (FPMI sector data, quarterly Investment Outlook sector breakdowns) provide meaningful thematic intelligence. However, no ESG or thematic filtering tools are available in public platform materials. The breadth of Forge's data coverage makes it useful for thematic research, but the transaction execution pathway still requires specialist engagement.
Tradeoffs
Key Tradeoffs
The attraction of pre-IPO access is real, but every benefit comes bundled with a corresponding liquidity, transparency, or pricing cost.
Platform Breadth vs. Retail Accessibility
Forge is the most complete private market platform (marketplace + data + funds + custody), but its institutional orientation makes it more complex for retail accredited investors than Hiive or EquityZen. The value of Forge's full platform stack compounds for investors who use all four capabilities; for those who only want to buy shares, simpler platforms may offer a better experience.
Institutional Pricing Model vs. Retail Expectation
Forge's fee structure (2-5% commission confirmed, exact rate set in commission agreement, third-party costs not quantified) is standard institutional broker-dealer practice. Institutional investors expect to negotiate fees with specialists. Retail accredited investors expect to see a rate before they engage.
The result is a real usability cost: you cannot fully model net return before speaking to a broker. Investors should consciously decide whether they can work within that friction before choosing Forge over Hiive (Form CRS confirms 5%/6.8% max publicly) or EquityZen (published tiered schedule, 2.5% buyer fee; sellers are charged separately).
Forge Price vs. Hiive Live Order Book
Forge Price covers more companies and has a longer historical record, integrates with Yahoo Finance, and provides broader market intelligence. Hiive's live order book shows actual bids and asks and is more directly actionable for execution decisions. Investors who need to understand where they can actually transact should use Hiive's order book; investors who need broader market intelligence and company coverage should use Forge's data platform.
Custodial Services vs. External Custodian
Forge Trust Co.'s integrated custody eliminates the need for a separate self-directed IRA custodian, a genuine structural advantage for tax-advantaged account holders. Hiive and EquityZen require investors to find their own custodians for IRA-held private securities, which is a real friction point that most custodians make difficult.
Data Quality vs. Executable Pricing
Forge Price is the most widely distributed private company pricing data (Yahoo Finance integration, hundreds of companies) but is explicitly not an executable price. Hiive's order book is a live market with real bids and asks but covers fewer companies. For market intelligence and benchmarking, Forge is superior. For execution, Hiive provides clearer pricing signals.
Avoid
Who This Is Not For
This section should be read as a filter, not an afterthought. If you need income, simplicity, or near-term access to capital, the structure is working against you.
Investors who need a single disclosed fee rate before deciding to transact
Forge's 2-5% direct secondary brokerage fee range is now confirmed, but the specific rate for any transaction depends on deal size, complexity, and client relationship, and is set in the commission agreement, not advertised in advance. Additionally, third-party costs (transfer fees, legal opinions, escrow) are not quantified publicly and add material all-in friction above the stated commission. If you need to know total cost well enough to model return before engaging a broker, Forge is a poor fit. Hiive (Form CRS confirms 5%/6.8% maximums) and EquityZen (published tiered schedule, 2.5% buyer fee; sellers are charged separately) provide more upfront rate certainty.
Investors who want live order book pricing before placing a bid
Forge Price is a derived, daily-calculated data product that explicitly does not represent an executable price. Investors who need to see real bids and asks before entering a transaction should use Hiive's live order book alongside Forge Price for context.
Investors who need capital returned within 3-5 years
No guaranteed exit mechanism exists before a company liquidity event. Secondary resale through the Forge marketplace is possible but requires transaction specialist engagement and company approval. All positions should be underwritten as illiquid before a company event.
Non-accredited investors (buyers)
Forge restricts marketplace buyers to accredited investors. Employee shareholders may use the platform as sellers without satisfying the buyer-side accreditation requirement.
Capital preservation or income investors
Pre-IPO equity is highly speculative with binary outcomes. These investments generally do not provide recurring income before a liquidity event. The asset class is appropriate only for capital with genuine long-horizon loss tolerance.
Editorial View
AltStreet Perspective
The compressed version of the review: what matters, what marketing tends to obscure, and how we would frame the platform for a serious allocator.
Verdict
Most investors expect the transaction experience to match the data experience. On Forge, it doesn't. The data layer (Forge Price on hundreds of companies, FPMI benchmarks, Yahoo Finance distribution, quarterly Investment Outlook) is genuinely institutional-grade and among the broadest in the market. The transaction layer requires specialist engagement, commission agreements, undisclosed third-party costs, and 30-45 day ROFR windows. If you understand that going in, it is one of the most powerful private market platforms accessible at the retail level. If you don't, it will frustrate you.
Positioning
Forge is best understood as institutional private market infrastructure: a brokered secondary venue, a data business, fund vehicles and a chartered trust company for custody, across three registered entities. Its FY2024 10-K reports roughly 2,762 trades, about eleven per business day: a specialist desk rather than a continuous market. That structure suits investors who value breadth of company coverage, data, fiduciary-adviser fund products and integrated custody, and it suits them less if they want self-serve execution or a visible order book.
The Bottom Line
Forge gives you institutional-grade data and the backing of Charles Schwab, but requires institutional-style engagement to actually transact.
Action
Next Steps
If you still want to engage after reading the review, these are the practical next moves that reduce avoidable mistakes.
Before initiating any transaction, contact a Forge transaction specialist to confirm: (1) the specific commission rate for your transaction (the confirmed 2-5% range tiers down for larger trades and repeat clients); (2) an itemized estimate of third-party costs (transfer agent fees, legal opinion, and escrow), which are not included in the stated brokerage rate; and (3) whether a Forge Fund SPV is available for your target company. Forge Fund SPVs may avoid some separately itemized direct-transfer expenses and settle faster. Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked.
Understand which Forge entity you are contracting with for each service: Forge Securities LLC (marketplace transactions), Forge Global Advisors LLC (fund products), or Forge Trust Co. (custodial services). Each has different regulatory protections, disclosures, and terms of service.
Use Forge Price as one data input among several, not as a transaction entry price. Cross-reference against the company's most recent primary round valuation, available comparable transactions, and (where available) Hiive's live order book.
If you are considering Forge Trust Co.
for a self-directed IRA, the confirmed fee structure is: $50 one-time setup + $200/year account fee + $12/quarter per private company position (Type 2) + $40/transaction. RECURRING annual custody cost for one private company position: approximately $248 ($200 account fee + $48 asset fee), EXCLUDING the $50 one-time setup fee, the $40 per-transaction purchase fee, and any wire or termination fees. First-year cost is therefore higher. At a $50,000 position the recurring $248 equals approximately 0.50% annually before transaction fees. At the $5,000 Forge Fund minimum it is approximately 4.96% RECURRING annual drag after setup, excluding transaction, wire and termination fees, which would push the first-year drag higher still. Size the position accordingly.
For fund vehicles managed by Forge Global Advisors LLC, request the full offering documents to confirm fee structure (management fees, carried interest), K-1 timing and anticipated delays, leverage usage (UBTI/UDFI implications for IRA investors), and distribution policy.
Review Forge's Disclaimers and Disclosures page (forgeglobal.com/disclaimers-and-disclosures) before any transaction: it contains material limitations on the use of Forge Price data and platform information that affect how you should interpret every company stock page.
Verify Forge Securities LLC independently on FINRA BrokerCheck before transferring any capital.
Consult a tax advisor experienced in private equity before investing in any Forge product, particularly if combining marketplace shares, fund investments, and custodial accounts in the same tax year.
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Deal Intelligence →Appendix
Sources, Disclosures, and Supporting Context
The lower section is structured like a report appendix: relationship context first, adjacent reading second, and evidence last.
Report Appendix
Disclosure
Relationship and compensation context
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Report Appendix
Disclosure
Relationship and compensation context
Report Appendix
Comparison Guides
Head-to-head guides featuring Forge Global
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Report Appendix
Comparison Guides
Head-to-head guides featuring Forge Global
Report Appendix
Related Resources
Adjacent platform comparisons, frameworks, and category links
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Report Appendix
Related Resources
Adjacent platform comparisons, frameworks, and category links
Further Reading
Related Resources
Adjacent frameworks and reviews that help place the platform in a broader allocation or due-diligence context.
Explore Asset Class
Private Company Equity - Late-Stage Pre-IPODeep Dive Guide
Understanding Pre-IPO Secondary MarketsFund Landscape
Frameworks
- ->How to Buy Databricks Stock Pre-IPO
- ->The Linqto Forge trustee dispute
- ->Megacorn Fund: Forge's Proposed $500 Interval Fund
- ->Equitybee vs Forge Global
- ->EquityZen vs Forge vs Hiive
- ->Pre-IPO Secondary Market Guide
- ->ROFR: What It Is and Why It Matters for Secondary Buyers
- ->SpaceX Pre-IPO Guide: SPV Mechanics, ROFR, and Lock-Up Timing
Similar Platform Reviews
- The Private Shares Fund
Launched in 2014 as the SharesPost 100 Fund; now a $1.54 billion interval fund advised by Liberty Street, with prorated quarterly repurchases at NAV
- Hiive
Live order book with real bids/asks; disclosed 5%/6.8% max fees; 0% management fee Hiive Funds SPVs; best for active price discovery
- EquityZen
2.5% buyer fee, with sellers charged separately (post-Morgan Stanley acquisition February 2026); ROFR handled at platform level; Morgan Stanley-owned; $5K minimum; simpler SPV access
Report Appendix
Related Coverage
AltStreet newsroom articles on Forge Global filings and disclosures
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Report Appendix
Related Coverage
AltStreet newsroom articles on Forge Global filings and disclosures
- Alto Agrees to Buy Forge Trust From Schwab: 2.7 Million Custodial Accounts and $18.4 Billion of IRA Assets Change Hands Seven Months After the $660 Million Forge Global DealOct 10, 2026
The Nashville self-directed IRA platform, with about $2 billion under custody as of June 30, will take over Forge Global's South Dakota trust company for an undisclosed price. Schwab, which told WealthManagement.com the custody business overlapped with its own, keeps the pre-IPO marketplace. Forge's last filings show a custody business whose revenue came mostly from cash-administration fees tied to client cash balances and interest rates, and which shrank as rates fell.
- Forge Replaces the Same Executive Across Four SPV Series in One Day of Form D Amendments; FG-KKR Doubles Its Sales, FG-JMW Reports Less Sold Than a Year AgoOct 8, 2026
Four series of Forge Investments LLC filed Form D/As on October 6, 2026 that remove Grant George and add George Timbrell and Michaela Jesionowski as principals of the manager. FG-KKR's amount sold rose from $2.57 million to $5.97 million, with its investor count corrected from 8 to 11 in a second filing the same day; FG-CDC's rose from $2.2 million to $4.26 million; FG-JMW's fell from $2.36 million to $1.44 million; FG-ANT's did not move. A new series, FG-TER, filed its first notice four days earlier with the same three officers.
- Forge Files Fourth Amendment for $500-Minimum Megacorn Interval FundJul 15, 2026
The proposed fund would charge a 1.75% advisory fee, invest primarily in companies from Forge's affiliated pre-IPO index and offer quarterly repurchases. Its registration is not yet effective.
- Forge Investments LLC Fund FG-TJC Form D/A Reflects Reporting-Basis Shift, Not Economic ChangeJul 9, 2026
AltStreet's monitoring flagged a 93% drop in total amount sold and a 91% jump in investor count for Fund FG-TJC — but verification confirms both figures cross an Oct-2025 reporting-basis boundary affecting multiple Forge Investments series simultaneously.
Report Appendix
Tracked Offerings
228 Forge Global offerings with disclosed terms in the AltStreet database
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Report Appendix
Tracked Offerings
228 Forge Global offerings with disclosed terms in the AltStreet database
- Fund FG-TER, a series of Forge Investments LLC
- Fund FG-IDK, a series of Forge Investments LLC
- Fund FG-CTJ, a series of Forge Investments
- Fund FG-BNI a Series of Forge Investments
- Fund FG-FOX a series of Forge Global Investments
- Fund FG-VAL a series of Forge Investments
- Fund FG-UFO, a series of Forge Investments LLC
- Fund FG-NHT a Series of Forge Investments
- Fund FG-ZTH a series of Forge Investments LLC
- Fund FG-ACE, a series of Forge Investments LLC
- Fund FG-IEW a Series of Forge Investments
- Fund FG-DEX a Series of Forge Investments
Report Appendix
SEC Filers Behind Forge Global
The largest issuers linked to Forge Global on EDGAR, by total reported sold; each page carries the filing record and the related persons
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Report Appendix
SEC Filers Behind Forge Global
The largest issuers linked to Forge Global on EDGAR, by total reported sold; each page carries the filing record and the related persons
- Fund FG-BLU, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $397M · 148 investors
- Fund FG-LRN, a series of Forge Investments, LLC2026 · $380M · 85 investors
- Fund FG-ANO, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $222M · 102 investors
- Fund FG-LHU, a series of Forge Investments, LLC2026 · $140M · 53 investors
- Fund FG-MBW, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $139M · 99 investors
- Fund FG-ONJ, a series of Forge Investments, LLC2020 · $92.6M · 118 investors
- Fund FG-SMP, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $66.4M · 53 investors
- Fund EQ-DGO, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $66.3M · 81 investors
- Fund FG-NAS, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $66.1M · 72 investors
- Fund FG-UBW, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $45.9M · 48 investors
- Fund FG-MXY, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $31.5M · 29 investors
- Fund FG-DOG a series of Forge Investments2026 · $31.0M · 43 investors
- Fund FG-KLT, a series of Forge Investments LLC2021 · $28.6M · 42 investors
- Fund FG-RTA, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $24.7M · 19 investors
- Fund FG-QUN, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $18.7M · 51 investors
- Fund FG-LPM, a series of Forge Investments LLC2021 · $18.4M · 42 investors
- Fund FG-BDF, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $17.7M · 9 investors
- Fund FG-MHM, a series of Forge Investments LLC2025 · $17.1M · 90 investors
- Fund FG-WBU, a series of Forge Investments, LLC2026 · $15.5M · 2 investors
- Fund FG-GZX, a series of Forge Investments LLC2026 · $15.4M · 4 investors
Report Appendix
Evidence & Methodology
10 cited passages on file; sources, scope, and how the review was assembled
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Report Appendix
Evidence & Methodology
10 cited passages on file; sources, scope, and how the review was assembled
Evidence on file
10 supporting passages on file for Forge Global and its offerings, 10 verified by an analyst through 2026-07-14, no discrepancies flagged. Each passage records the metric it supports, the value read from the document, the page, and the verbatim text where the document has it. Terminal subscribers read the passages; open them in the terminal.
- Cited passages
- 10
- Source documents
- 0
- Analyst verified
- 10
- Discrepancies flagged
- 0
Latest analyst verification 2026-07-14; latest extraction 2026-07-15. A discrepancy is a disagreement between two sources, or between a document and a marketing claim, recorded rather than resolved silently.
ASReview Evidence
Methodology
PRIMARY, REGULATORY (2026-07-14). (1) SEC EDGAR Form D enumeration, re-run 2026-09-30: 1,355 Form D and D/A filings across the 220 FG-series vehicles. On the July 2026 roster of 218 vehicles, each verified against a Forge business address (4 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, or Forge's Salt Lake City post office box), it reproduces the July hybrid of $1,468,347,288 to the dollar. The July filing count of 904 was a miscount; the roster carries 1,353. The seven MCF/Accuidity vehicles and Megacorn Fund LP are excluded, as the review has always excluded them. (2) CAPITAL-BASIS RECONSTRUCTION: Forge changed the reporting basis across its series Form D filings in October 2025 without explanation, so each vehicle's full amendment history was walked to recover its last pre-change cumulative figure. 199 vehicles have one; 29 first filed after the change and have none. The published total is a HYBRID of the two cohorts and is not a single-basis census. Re-enumeration also tested whether April 2026, when 92 vehicles were last amended, was a second such change. It was not: only 2 of the 97 vehicles with an April 2026 latest filing show dollars and investors both rising tenfold. (3) Forge Global Holdings 10-K and 10-Q filings (NYSE: FRGE, CIK 1827821, March 2022 - March 2026): annual figures AUDITED, quarterly figures UNAUDITED. Figures were cross-footed against annual totals (all three years reconcile on revenue, net income and marketplace revenue) but are AltStreet-extracted and NOT independently verified line by line against the source documents. One known discrepancy is disclosed in the financials table. (4) Forge Securities LLC Form CRS and FINRA BrokerCheck. (5) Charles Schwab acquisition announcements and filings. (6) Forge Trust Co. published fee schedule. SECONDARY, PLATFORM: full-site dossier scrape (104 pages, April 23 2026), Forge Terms of Use (Version 20250620), Forge Disclaimers and Disclosures (Version 2003), Forge Privacy Policy (Version 20250620), Forge Q4 2024 Investment Outlook, Forge Late-Stage Private Companies report (October 9, 2025), FPMI methodology, Forge Price disclaimers, Yahoo Finance partnership press release (March 25, 2025), and individual company stock pages confirming live Forge Price data as of April 23, 2026.
Scope
Covers: the complete SEC Form D census and the October 2025 reporting-basis discontinuity that governs raise-history comparability across 138 of its 228 series; Forge's SEC-filed financials as a public reporting company (revenue mix, net take rate, trading volume, custodial metrics, cash position); the multi-entity regulatory structure (broker-dealer, investment adviser, chartered trust company, unregistered parent); Forge Price methodology and its explicit non-executability; FPMI composition and disclosed limitations; the fee-disclosure gap between public pricing pages, ADV fee ranges and per-fund offering documents; ROFR mechanics and the platform-level exercise rate; fund vehicle structure; and custodial services and their fee drag by position size. Does NOT cover: verified exit or return data (Forge does not name the portfolio company in any Form D, so no vehicle can be cross-referenced against a public exit event); company-level concentration (structurally unauditable for the same reason); or company-level ROFR histories.
Key Findings
- *Forge Securities LLC: SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA member, SIPC member confirmed in Disclaimers and Disclosures
- *Forge Global Advisors LLC: SEC-registered investment adviser, ~$2.46B AUM across 122+ fund series as of end 2025 confirmed
- *Forge Trust Co.: South Dakota chartered trust company confirmed in Disclaimers and Disclosures
- *Forge Global, Inc. (parent): explicitly NOT registered with SEC, FINRA, or state securities authorities confirmed in Disclaimers
- *Forge Price™: 'may rely on a very limited number of inputs' and 'does not necessarily represent the market price' confirmed in all stock page disclaimers
- *Brokerage fees: direct secondary 2-5% (Form CRS maximum 5%) confirmed; Forge Fund SPV 1-2% placement fee confirmed; Forge Pro negotiated confirmed
- *Third-party costs (transfer agent, legal opinion, escrow) acknowledged in Disclaimers and Disclosures; not quantified publicly
- *Direct secondary minimum $100,000 standard ($50,000 limited cases) confirmed; Forge Fund minimum $5,000 confirmed; institutional $1M+ confirmed
- *ROFR window 30-45 calendar days confirmed; ~8% exercise rate at Q1 2023 market trough confirmed; trending upward through Q2 2024 confirmed
- *Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked.
- *Forge Trust Co. fee schedule confirmed: $50 setup + $200/year + $12/quarter per Type 2 asset + $40/transaction; $500 minimum cash balance
- *Direct secondary settlement 30-45 calendar days confirmed; Forge Fund settlement 1-5 days confirmed
- *Median bid-ask spread 6.4% as of Q2 2024 (historic low); 3-year median 11.4%; PDE benchmark ~12% confirmed
- *Buy-side IOIs 55.2% of platform activity in early 2024 confirmed
- *RESEARCH-SUPPORTED, NOT CONFIRMED IN FORGE'S PUBLIC MATERIALS: K-1 delivery target of late March to mid-April with a 90-day internal window after receipt of underlying company data; a tax extension may be required where the underlying company delays reporting; frequency not established. AltStreet did not locate this timetable in any Forge-published source. Verify in the applicable fund offering documents.
- *$4.1T total private company valuation tracked as of Q3 2025 confirmed in Late-Stage report
- *7.8% of S&P 500 market cap as of Q3 2025 confirmed in Late-Stage report
- *PLATFORM-REPORTED (not independently verified): FPMI 75.6% trailing 12 months and 22.4% since inception, as of September 30, 2025. Source: Forge's own index page, captured in the April 2026 dossier scrape.
- *Yahoo Finance partnership announced March 25, 2025 confirmed
- *65.7% median annual appreciation for unicorns from unicorn status to IPO (56 companies 2019-2025) confirmed
- *Live Forge Price data as of April 23, 2026: Anthropic $259.14, Databricks $196.31, Discord $31.36, Ramp $94.17 confirmed
- *32% down-round rate Q3 2024 confirmed; average markdown -16.1% confirmed
Primary Source Pages
Comparable Platforms
- Hiive
Live order book; disclosed 5%/6.8% max fees; 18% 2024 ROFR rate published; $250M+ monthly volume; no data subscription or custodial services
- EquityZen
2.5% buyer fee, with sellers charged separately (post-2026); ROFR handled at platform level; Morgan Stanley-owned; $5K minimum; no data products or custodial services
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
High-intent search questions answered directly, without making users hunt through the full review.
What is Forge Global and how does it work?
Forge Global is a multi-product private market platform operating through three separately registered entities: Forge Securities LLC (SEC-registered broker-dealer, FINRA/SIPC member) for marketplace transactions; Forge Global Advisors LLC (SEC-registered investment adviser) for fund products; and Forge Trust Co. (South Dakota chartered trust company) for custodial services. Accredited investors can buy and sell pre-IPO company shares through the Forge marketplace, access Forge Price data on hundreds of private companies, invest in fund vehicles, and hold private securities in custodial accounts. Forge discloses a 2-5% brokerage-fee range, but not the exact rate applicable to a specific transaction. Investors must engage a transaction specialist to obtain the commission agreement and an itemized estimate of third-party costs (transfer agent, legal opinion, escrow), which are not included in the stated range.
What is Forge Price and how reliable is it?
Forge Price™ is a proprietary data product calculated daily by Forge Data LLC for hundreds of pre-IPO private companies. It is derived from secondary market transactions, indications of interest (IOIs), and other data points on the Forge platform and other platforms. Forge explicitly states that Forge Price 'may rely on a very limited number of inputs in its calculation,' 'is not intended to, and does not necessarily, represent the market price of any securities,' and 'is not the price at which you could buy or sell.' For companies with low trading activity, a Forge Price may be calculated from a single IOI. Forge Price should be used as a directional reference data point, not as an executable transaction price.
What are Forge's fees?
Forge Securities LLC brokerage fees are tiered and success-based: direct secondary transactions cost 2-5% of transaction value (Form CRS maximum 5%), with larger trades, repeat clients, and Forge Pro institutional accounts qualifying for lower rates. Forge Fund SPV fee ranges are published in Forge Global Advisors' Form ADV Part 2A: single-issuer funds carry a 1-5% set-up fee, 1-5% management fee, 10-20% carried interest and a 1-2% redemption fee (multi-issuer funds: 0-5% management plus carry up to 20%); the exact rate for any specific fund appears only in its offering documents. Investors are typically required to close the fund-interest purchase through affiliated broker Forge Securities at 0-5% of subscription, and the adviser does not reduce its fees to offset those commissions. Additionally, direct secondary trades incur third-party costs absent from public market trading: transfer agent fees, legal opinion costs to verify registration exemption, and escrow fees; these are not quantified publicly and add all-in friction above the stated commission. Forge Trust Co. SDIRA custody fees: $50 setup + $200/year + $48/year per private company position + $40/transaction. No subscription or platform access fee.
How does Forge differ from Hiive and EquityZen?
Forge is best understood as institutional private market infrastructure. It offers a marketplace plus data products (Forge Price, FPMI index, quarterly Investment Outlook, Yahoo Finance integration), fund management (Forge Global Advisors LLC, SEC-registered investment adviser), and private securities custody (Forge Trust Co.), capabilities that Hiive and EquityZen do not offer. Hiive offers a live order book with disclosed brokerage fees (up to 5% buyer / 6.8% seller) and the strongest live price discovery. EquityZen offers the most retail-accessible packaged SPV entry with a 2.5% buyer fee, with sellers charged separately (post-Morgan Stanley acquisition February 2026) and platform-administered ROFR handling built in. Investors who primarily want to buy shares in specific companies may find Hiive or EquityZen simpler starting points. For investors who need the full range of private market services (trading, data, fund access, and custody), Forge is the most complete platform.
What is the Forge Private Market Index (FPMI)?
The FPMI is an equal-weight index of mid- and late-stage private companies tracked by Forge. It reported 75.6% over the last 12 months and 22.4% since inception (January 2019) as of September 30, 2025. The FPMI is a broad-based index: in Q3 2024, 41% of constituent companies showed price decreases, with an average markdown of -16.1%, and one company (Exabeam) contributed a -100% decline. The FPMI includes a broader cross-section of tracked companies, while the Hiive50 focuses on the most liquid securities on Hiive. Index performance does not include transaction costs, fees, or taxes.
What is Forge's ROFR situation?
The ROFR window on Forge is 30-45 calendar days. The confirmed platform-level exercise rate was ~8% at the Q1 2023 market trough, meaning roughly 1 in 12 successfully matched direct trades was acquired by the company itself. This rate was under 3% in the 2021 bull market and trended upward through Q2 2024. A ROFR exercise can indicate that the company considers the offered price attractive, but it may equally reflect cap-table control, compliance, employee-relations or transfer-policy considerations. AltStreet does not read a high exercise rate as a valuation signal on its own. Forge Fund SPVs generally address ROFR before or at the fund level, reducing the subscriber's direct exposure to the transfer-approval process. This does not guarantee that the underlying acquisition cannot be delayed, altered or blocked. For direct secondary buyers, ask the Forge specialist for any available ROFR history on your specific target company.
Does Forge offer custodial services for private securities?
Yes. Forge Trust Co. supports Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE IRAs and Individual 401(k)s. Confirmed fee structure: $50 one-time setup + $200/year account fee ($50/quarter) + $12/quarter per private company asset (Type 2) + $40/transaction for buys and sells. RECURRING annual custody cost for one private company position: approximately $248 ($200 account fee + $48 asset fee), EXCLUDING the $50 one-time setup fee, the $40 per-transaction purchase fee, and any wire or termination fees. First-year cost is therefore higher. Recurring annual drag after setup, excluding transaction, wire and termination fees: ~4.96% on a $5,000 Forge Fund position and ~0.24% on a $100,000 direct trade. Minimum cash balance: $500 ($100 for Coverdell ESAs); $15/quarter penalty below minimum. $150 account termination fee; $25 domestic wire fee. This is a structural advantage over Hiive and EquityZen, which require finding third-party SDIRA custodians. UBTI/UDFI analysis still required for leveraged fund vehicles held in IRA.
What is the Yahoo Finance partnership?
In March 2025, Forge and Yahoo Finance announced an industry-first partnership embedding Forge Price data directly in Yahoo Finance's platform for all US users. This allows investors to compare private company pricing data alongside public company data on Yahoo Finance without requiring a Forge account. Forge Price appears on company pages within Yahoo Finance for hundreds of late-stage private companies. This makes Forge Price one of the most widely distributed private-market pricing datasets AltStreet has identified, though its accuracy for thinly traded names is limited by Forge's own disclosures for retail investors who use public financial platforms.
What does Forge's research say about the private market?
Forge's October 2025 institutional research report documented that: total mid- and late-stage private company value tracked by Forge grew from $421B in 2015 to $4.1T as of Q3 2025 (7.8% of S&P 500 market cap); secondary market volume grew approximately 4x over the past decade; the median annual appreciation for unicorns from unicorn status to IPO was 65.7% (for 56 companies that went public 2019-2025); and the median age of a company launching an IPO was 13.5 years in 2024, up from 4 years in 1999. These data points support the investment thesis for late-stage private market exposure but should be read with survivorship bias in mind: companies that failed or were acquired at low valuations are underrepresented.
Is Forge Global legitimate and regulated?
Yes. Forge operates through three separately registered entities: Forge Securities LLC is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member; Forge Global Advisors LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser; and Forge Trust Co. is a South Dakota chartered trust company. Note that Forge Global, Inc. (the parent software entity) is explicitly not registered with the SEC, FINRA, or any state securities authority and does not engage in securities activities itself; only the registered subsidiaries do. All registrations are independently verifiable through FINRA BrokerCheck, the SEC's EDGAR/IAPD database, and South Dakota banking records.
What is the minimum investment on Forge?
Forge has a tiered minimum structure: direct secondary transactions require $100,000 standard minimum ($50,000 in limited cases where issuers permit smaller allocations). Forge Fund SPV investments are accessible at $5,000 minimum, the lowest entry point on the platform. Institutional bids are typically $1,000,000+. For the $5,000 Forge Fund minimum, be aware that Forge Trust Co. SDIRA custody fees create approximately 4.96% RECURRING annual drag after setup, excluding transaction, wire and termination fees on a $5,000 position. Size IRA allocations accordingly.
Update History
What's changed in this Forge Global review
New data, new findings, corrections, and confirmations as they emerge. Most recent updates appear first.
- New finding
FORGE TRUST IS BEING SOLD, NOT THE MARKETPLACE. Alto's October 6, 2026 release names the targets as Forge Trust Co. and Forge Services Inc. and the seller as Forge Global, Inc.; the Forge marketplace, Forge Price and the fund vehicles are not part of the transaction. Terms were not disclosed. The deal requires South Dakota Division of Banking approval and no closing date was given. AltStreet's review of Alto IRA covers the buyer. Entity structure
- New data
THE CUSTODY BUSINESS AS LAST REPORTED. Forge Global's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025: total custodial accounts 2,703,045 (up 421,069 in a year), assets under custody $18,447,670 thousand, custodial client cash $454,385 thousand, custodial administration fees $9,098 thousand for the quarter and $27,539 thousand for nine months (down 13 percent from $31,828 thousand on lower rates and a 3 percent decline in cash balances); 'cash administration fees are based on prevailing interest rates and client cash balances and currently make up the majority of custodial administration fee revenue.' These figures are the last public disclosure of the business Alto has agreed to buy. Custody figures