Investment Advice for Trustees
Since the introduction of The trustee Act 2000, trustees now have special obligations concerning the services and admin of trust funds. The duty of care is applicable to professional and lay trustees. Still higher standards are expected from professional trustees.
A statutory duty of care applies to the trustee investments that are contained within the trust. For new or existing trusts, the trustees must take into account the trusts aims and the suitability of the investments to be held.
Trustees have a duty to protect the value of the trust fund, whilst providing income for the beneficiaries. It is essential for trustees to take into account the suitability of the investments in the trust, funding, the type of trust arrangement and the requirements of the beneficiaries.
A wide-ranging portfolio of assets should be used to meet the trusts specific targets.
This approach can help to limit the risks within the trust investment funds by investing across various asset classes. It is important to take into account risk any unique prerequisites of the trustees. This could also include investing in an ethical or sociably responsible way.
Trustees have an administrative duty to re-examine the assets held within the trust on a regular basis. This can be a time-consuming and lengthy process, especially if the trust executives are not seasoned investors.
Trusts and Financial Advice
It is important to seek individual and impartial advice on the assets held within any form of trust agreement. We regularly advise new and existing trustees on acceptable asset allocation investment strategies.
Trustees often engage the investor services of a bank or stock-broker. Sometimes the service is not particular to the demands of the individual trust. A one size fits all approach may not take into account the specific needs of the trust. For example, the prerequisites of a large educational trust should be different to a small family trust.
The costs to administer the investments are an important element. The admin charges charged by stockbrokers and banks for trust investment funds management can be high. This could impact on the investment returns the trust can accomplish.
Our investing procedure takes into account the fee, as this is a known factor when we recommend particular investment funds.
If as trustees you are looking at vesting it is fundamental to remember that the value of the trust investment funds and the income generated might rise as well as fall. There is no guarantee you will get back more than you vested.
Consilium Asset Management are based in Chipping Sodburychipping Sodbury and offer a unique Trustee investment management service for individual and corporate trusts.