Trustee Investment
Since the introduction of The trustee Act 2000, trustees now have particular responsibilities relating to the service and admin of trust funds. The duty of care is applicable to lay and professional trustees. Still higher standards are expected from professional trustees.
A legal duty of care applies to the trustee investment funds that are contained within the trust. For new or existing trusts, the trustees must take into account the trusts objectives and the suitableness of the investment funds to be held.
Trustees have a responsibility to protect the value of the trust fund, whilst providing income for the beneficiaries. It is critical for trustees to think about the suitability of the investments held, funding, the type of trust arrangement and the demands of the beneficiaries.
A varied portfolio of assets should be used to meet the trusts specific objectives.
This type of approach can help to limit the volatility within the trust investment funds by placing across several asset classes. It is fundamental to take into account risk any special demands of the trustees. This could also include consider investing in an ethical or sociably responsible way.
Trustees have an administrative responsibility to re-examine the assets held within the trust on a regular basis. This can be a time-consuming and protracted process, especially if the trust executives are not veteran investors.
Trusts and Independent Financial Advice.
It is important to seek individual and unprejudiced advice on the assets held inside any form of trust arrangement. We continually advise new and existing trustees on suitable asset allocation investment strategies.
Trustees often engage the investor services of a bank or stockbroker. Sometimes the service is not specific to the demands of the individual trust. A 1 size fits all philosophy may not take into account the specific 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 investment funds are an all-important factor. The admin fees charged by stockbrokers and banks for trust investment funds advice can be high. This will impact on the investment returns the trust can accomplish.
Our investment procedure takes into account the charges, as this is a well-known factor when we recommend unique investments.
If as trustees you are thinking about vesting it is critical to remember that the value of the trust investment and the income generated might fall as well as rise. 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.
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