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FORUSALL
David Ramirez's ForUsAll brings crypto and fiduciary advice to 401(k) plans for small businesses. Backed by Peter Thiel, it serves Tesla and Airbnb.
FORUSALL
David Ramirez, John Ramirez, and Shin Inoue founded ForUsAll in 2012 after a stint with the Obama administration's economic policy team. The firm emerged from Y Combinator with a mission to democratize retirement plan access for small and mid-sized businesses, a segment historically ignored by legacy providers like Fidelity and ADP. Early backing came from Peter Thiel, whose Founders Fund led a seed round, signaling an ambition to disrupt the slow-moving retirement industry with technology-first fiduciary services. ForUsAll operates as a full-stack retirement plan administrator, blending proprietary software with human fiduciary advisory. The firm covers core 401(k) plan administration, pooled employer plans (PEPs), and a widely publicized alternative asset option — the Alt401(k) — which permits plan participants to allocate up to 5% of their retirement balances to a curated menu of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins. The crypto window is custodied by Coinbase Institutional. Traditional plan assets access a lineup of low-cost Vanguard and Dimensional Fund Advisors passive strategies. ForUsAll deploys capital exclusively through participant-directed accounts in the US market, with a geographic concentration in California and Texas. ForUsAll secures plans through a network of independent financial advisors who bundle the firm's fiduciary-oversight, investment-menu design, and employee-education modules into a single service. The firm does not publicly disclose total plan assets or participant count, but its publicly-reported Form 5500 filings indicate a focus on sub-100-employee plans. In 2022, the firm sued the US Department of Labor — ForUsAll v. Walsh — to block an enforcement memo that would have restricted cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans. A court ruling in 2023 allowed the firm to continue offering crypto while the broader regulatory picture remained unresolved. ForUsAll's structural edge lies in its regulatory activism and product-design speed — the firm does not wait for legislation to clarify fiduciary boundaries for digital assets. It ships a compliant product and defends it in court, a posture that differs sharply from the compliance-first posture of public-recordkeeper incumbents. The leadership's previous experience in both Y Combinator's shipping culture and DC pension policy informs a hybrid architecture that treats regulatory bottlenecks as product challenges rather than operational constraints.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2012
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Francisco
Corporate office
San Francisco, CA, United States
Principals
David Ramirez
Co-Founder & CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at ForUsAll?
ForUsAll does not operate a discretionary fund; it acts as a fiduciary plan administrator. The investment menu design is overseen by the firm's investment committee in conjunction with its ERISA 3(38) fiduciary service. Plan sponsors select offerings from the curated menu, which blends passive index funds from Vanguard and Dimensional Fund Advisors with the optional Alt401(k) crypto window. The crypto option is custodied by Coinbase Institutional and offered as a self-directed allocation up to 5% of account balances.
How does the ForUsAll Alt401(k) crypto option work?
Launched in 2021, the Alt401(k) permits participants to allocate up to 5% of their retirement account balance to a pre-selected menu of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum. The program uses an integrated trading, custody, and education layer built with Coinbase Institutional. Participants receive trade notifications and educational content with each transaction, and the firm's fiduciary oversight monitors concentration risk at the plan level.
What is ForUsAll's relationship with the Department of Labor?
ForUsAll sued the US Department of Labor in 2022 after the agency issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01, which warned fiduciaries against offering cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans. The firm argued the guidance was procedurally invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act. In 2023, a Washington D.C. district court denied the Department's motion to dismiss, allowing ForUsAll to continue offering crypto while the case proceeded — effectively creating a regulatory safe harbor for plan sponsors using its platform.
Does ForUsAll participate in fund commitments or only plan administration?
ForUsAll does not make institutional fund commitments or operate as an asset manager. It generates revenue as a fee-based plan administrator and fiduciary advisor for small- and mid-sized employer retirement plans. The firm collects a per-participant or asset-based fee from plan sponsors, not carried interest or management fees from pooled investment vehicles.
Which types of companies does ForUsAll serve?
ForUsAll targets small to mid-sized businesses with 10 to 500 employees, a segment historically underserved by large recordkeepers. Its publicly disclosed client roster includes early-stage technology companies, professional-services firms, and nonprofits. The firm distributes through independent financial advisors who value the integrated fiduciary, payroll-integration, and employee-education features.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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