America’s Most Advisor-Friendly Trust Companies Showcase - Flipbook - Page 25
2026 AMERICA’S MOST ADVISOR-FRIENDLY TRUST COMPANIES
COUNSEL
TRUST
Brandon Crooks
CEO
Counsel Trust Company
414 Union St, Ste 1900, Nashville, TN 37219
www.counseltrust.com
Counsel Trust, established in 2002 by trust professionals—all
former executive-level trust officers of banks—was created to serve
the needs of independent advisory firms. With deep experience in
providing directed trustee services to advisors, attorneys and other
firms with trust needs, Counsel is extending and broadening its
directed trustee services. Counsel Trust is chartered in Tennessee,
one of the most “trust-friendly” states, offering advisor clients
significantly enhanced trust and estate planning capabilities.
Our clients are located
throughout the country,
already accustomed to
communicating from a
distance, so the regular
rhythm of those relationships
has not changed. High- and
ultra-high-net-worth clients
continue to depart from
large bank trust operations,
frustrated by slow, expensive
and impersonal service.
Advisors who provide a
more personalized boutiquestyle experience stand to
gain significant assets. We
are excited to see a growing
level of understanding,
confidence and demand for
directed trust services from
our advisor clients. As their
most important clients age,
advisors are recognizing
the need for a dependable
corporate trustee partner.
Without a friendly corporate
fiduciary in place, the loss of
assets could be significant.
Counsel Trust is in a perfect
position to assist those advisors and their clients. We are
energized by the relief that
many advisors express to
us upon learning that there
are new and better trust
administrative alternatives
available to them.
Counsel understands how vital it is for advisors to direct and
control their client relationships. Counsel’s primary goal is
to become the advisor’s trust affiliate; offering seamless and
transparent back-office trust services. Advisors can also choose to
private-label their own trust company, with Counsel providing trust
administrative services in the background.
Counsel offers complete asset custody flexibility, enabling advisors
to maintain their own custodial platform (or choose another
platform) for complete portfolio management continuity. This
valuable capability avoids the inconvenience of transferring advisormanaged client assets to a separate trust custody platform.
New business contact name:
Brandon Crooks
CEO
Phone: (717) 718-1600
Email: bcrooks@counseltrust.com
Website: www.linkedin.com/in/
brandon-crooks-733a315/
CONTACT
States chartered/licensed in:
Tennessee
Average account size:
$2 million
Total assets (AUA): $3.2 billion
Custodians supported: Works
with all
Number of relationships with
advisors: 50+
Fees (for directed and discretionary trust services)
Annual minimum fee: $3,000
Fee scale:
First $1 million
0.40%
Next $2 million
0.35%
Next $2 million
0.30%
Next $5 million
0.25%
Over $10 million
0.20%
Number of in-house experts: 9
Trust accounting system: SEI
Supports directed trusts: Yes
Supports delegated trusts: Yes
Counsel Trust is committed to offering high-quality, attentive
trust administrative services, enabling advisors to concentrate on
investment management and maintaining the client relationship.
Advisory clients receive the benefit of quality management within
a trust structure that serves their unique estate- and investmentplanning needs.
STR AT E G I C F E AT U R E S
SPECIAL NEEDS TRUST
FORMATION
CREATION OF ASSET
PROTECTION TRUSTS
INTEGRATING ADVISORS IN
TRUST MANAGEMENT
25
Typical timeframe for acceptance of new trust: 24 to
48 hours
Marketing support includes:
Brochures and face-to-face
meetings with advisors, clients
and prospects nationwide
