Trustee Investment
Since the introduction of The trustee Act 2000, trustees now have special duties concerning the services and admin of trust funds. The responsibility is applicable to lay and professional trustees. Yet higher standards are expected from professional trustees.
A statutory duty of care applies to the trustee investments that are held. For existing and new trusts, the trustees must take into account the trusts aims and the suitability of the investment funds to be held.
Trustees have a duty to protect the asset value of the trust fund, whilst providing income for the beneficiaries. It is crucial for trustees to consider the suitableness of the investment funds in the trust, funding, the type of arrangement and the requirements of the beneficiaries.
A diversified portfolio of assets should be used to meet the trusts special objectives.
This approach can help to limit the risks within the trust investment by vesting across varied asset categories. It is fundamental to take into account risk any unique prerequisites of the trustees. This could also include consider investing in an ethical or sociably responsible style.
Trustees have an administrative responsibility to review the assets contained within the trust on a regular basis. This can be a prolonged and lengthy process, specially if the trust executives are not seasoned investors.
Trusts and Independent Financial Advice.
It is important to seek independent and impartial advice on the assets held within any form of trust agreement. We continually advise existing and new trustees on suitable asset allocation investment strategies.
Trustees frequently engage the investor functions of a bank or stockbroker. Occasionally the service is not particular to the needs of the individual trust. A one size fits all philosophy may not take into consideration the personal needs of the trust. For example, the demands of a large educational trust would be totally different to a small family trust.
The costs to administer the investments are an important element. The admin charges charged by banks and stockbrokers for trust investment management can be expensive. This will have an affect on the returns the trust can achieve.
Our investment funds process takes into account the costs, as this is a well-known element when we recommend unique investment funds.
If as trustees you are considering investing it is essential to remember that the value of the trust investment funds and the income given 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.