Trustee Investments
August 12th, 2010Since the introduction of The trustee Act 2000, trustees now have special duties concerning the services and administration of trust funds. The duty of care is applicable to lay and professional trustees. Even So higher standards are expected from professional trustees.
A legal duty of care applies to the trustee investments that are held. For existing and new trusts, the trustees must take into consideration the trusts objectives and the suitability of the investments to be held.
Trustees have an obligation to protect the value of the trust fund, whilst providing income for the beneficiaries. It is critical for trustees to take into account the suitability of the investment funds held, funding, the type of arrangement and the requirements of the beneficiaries.
A wide-ranging portfolio of assets should be used to meet the trusts particular aims.
This type of approach can help to reduce the risks within the trust investment funds by investing across several asset categories. It is fundamental to take into account risk any specific demands of the trustees. This could also include consider investing in an ethical or sociably responsible way.
Trustees have an administrative obligation to review the assets held within the trust on a regular basis. This can be an endless and lengthy process, particularly if the trust decision makers are not practiced investors.
Trusts and Financial Advice
It is fundamental to seek unbiased and impartial advice on the assets held within any form of trust agreement. We regularly advise new and existing trustees on suitable asset allocation investment strategies.
Trustees frequently engage the investor functions of a bank or stockbroker. Sometimes the service is not unique to the demands of the individual trust. A one size fits all approach may not take into account the individual needs of the trust. For Instance, the prerequisites of a large educational trust might be different to a small family trust.
The costs to administer the investments are an important component. The admin costs charged by banks and stockbrokers for trust investment advice can be expensive. This could impact on the returns the trust can attain.
Our investing process takes into account the fee, as this is a known component when we recommend specific investment funds.
If as trustees you are considering investing it is important to remember that the value of the trust investment funds and the income generated could fall as well as rise. There is no guarantee you will get back more than you invested.
Consilium Asset Management are based in Chipping Sodburychipping Sodbury and offer a unique Trustee investment management service for individual and corporate trusts.