America’s Most Advisor-Friendly Trust Companies Showcase - Flipbook - Page 18
2026 AMERICA’S MOST ADVISOR-FRIENDLY TRUST COMPANIES
prove that a potential partner can
back up its claims. Once you make
the calls, you’ll have a much better
idea of a trust company’s standing in
the industry and whether it would be a
good fit for your clients. If that side of
the company passes muster, you’ve
determined that even a tiny boutique
vendor may be worth a few basis
points more.
STRUCTURE YOUR
TALKING POINTS
Plenty of would-be advisor-friendly
firms operate on a commodity
basis, relying on technology and
standardization to ensure good
service for more-or-less generic trusts.
These trust companies generally offer
low, all-in pricing but can become
inflexible as trusts get more complex
or require special outside-the-box
handling.
Your best clients, meanwhile,
demand service and flexibility. The
trust company you recommend to
them reflects on you and the overall
experience you provide.
Look for a corporate trust company
that can provide evidence of:
• Years of experience in administering
trusts
• Specialization in trust administration,
custody, and fiduciary tax reporting
services
• Knowledge of changes in the
directed trust space and the trust
environment
• Dedication to fiduciary responsibility
• Insurance coverage against fiduciary
errors and omissions
• Staff continuity
• Examination by internal auditors and
external regulators
• Focus on the best interests of all
beneficiaries, both current and
future, while implementing trust
provisions
• An aversion to “interpreting” or
adding to the trust documents in
order to divine the wishes of the
creator
• State-of-the-art technology
• A reporting and accounting platform
that supports both your custody
platform and all assets that will go
into the trust
• Established partnership relationships
with multiple team members
Once you have your search narrowed
to one or two states, start interviewing
trust companies with the above
criteria in mind. Remember, you want
a partner that keeps its in-house
investment unit—if any—away from
your clients.
The partner should not be trying to
sell your clients proprietary investment
products but should have the capability
to support any investments that you
might recommend, now or in the
future. If the firm is not “friendly,” it
doesn’t really matter how nimble
its operation is or how in-depth the
services it offers.
INSIDE THE TRUST COMPANY
A deeper look at what goes on
inside the trust company starts with
understanding the trusts themselves.
A trust is a legal instrument used to
administer assets transferred from
one party (the grantor) on the behalf of
others (the beneficiaries). The trust can
own property and investment capital
to provide income to pay out to the
beneficiaries.
All the trust’s interests are laid out in
legal documents, and one or more
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trustees are appointed to manage
the assets. The trustee can be an
individual, but today’s best practices
suggest a corporate entity provides
the required services more reliably and
more efficiently.
Trusts fall under two main categories:
1. Revocable trusts, which maintain the
assets under the ownership of the
grantor, frequently until death
2. Irrevocable trusts, which remove
the assets permanently from the
grantor’s control and from the estate
A variety of specialized trusts provide
additional protection and flexibility, but
most trusts are created to serve the
following financial goals:
• Estate planning
• Asset protection
• Tax reduction
• Probate avoidance
• Charitable giving and philanthropy
• Supporting individuals with
special needs (guardianships and
conservatorships)
Historically, corporate trustees have
tried to take over the way trust assets
are invested, effectively capturing
those accounts away from the
grantor’s existing advisors. A new
wave of trust companies, however,
are satisfied with charging a token
fee for administration and leaving the
money management (as well as the
associated fees) to the professionals.
These trust companies would rather
cooperate than compete and have,
therefore, earned the designation
“advisor friendly.”
WHAT DO TRUST OFFICERS DO?
The trustee is the person or corporate
entity that manages the trust’s affairs
