America’s Most Advisor-Friendly Trust Companies Showcase - Flipbook - Page 3
2026 AMERICA’S MOST ADVISOR-FRIENDLY TRUST COMPANIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SCOTT MARTIN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
O
nce upon a time, wealth
managers and trust companies were natural rivals for
precious natural resources: client
loyalty and client assets. Since
then, a new wave of truly cooperative fiduciaries has emerged,
cutting through the tension by
giving up any pretense of doing
the investment management on
their own.
As a result, while some trust companies are still “friendlier” than
others, advisors no longer need
to make the impossible choice
of supporting their career or their
best clients. With the right partner,
we can offer wealthy families
stronger long-term outcomes
without sacrificing our own professional interests.
And as the “bad old days” recede
into history, everyone is free to
embrace the future. We can work
with multiple trust companies, assemble a dream team of specialists that are each the best in the
world for a given client. Technology like ours helps you build and
manage that team, but it starts
with vision. Are you up for it?
L
ife is full of challenges and opportunities, but
sooner or later, every life inevitably comes to
an end. Where financial planning stops, estate
planning starts. Every advisor’s goal should be
working with client families across the entire cycle, keeping
the accounts in place even as generations come and go.
Some of the most efficient
structures for multigenerational
wealth transfer are trusts, which
take the assets out of the client’s
estate and out of the advisor’s
direct oversight. Managing these
vehicles requires specialized
expertise, credentials, and
compliance with regulations that
few if any advisors are seriously
willing or even able to bear: running
a trust effectively, in other words, is
often incompatible with running a
client portfolio.
In the past, this bifurcation of
responsibility often meant that
advisors needed to surrender
client relationships when the
assets moved into the trusts.
Now, however, specialized estate
planning techniques ensure that
the advisor retains a seat at
the table, preserving the client
relationship he or she worked so
hard to cultivate.
Some trust companies are open to
working with advisors along these
3
parameters. Unlike their historical
counterparts, they focus exclusively
on trust administration, custody,
and other behind-the-scenes
functions, charging a fair fee for the
paperwork while allowing outside
wealth managers to monitor and
manage the investments. We call
these trust companies “advisor
friendly.”
Every advisor can take this
approach. If you aren’t already,
your strategic competitors won’t
hesitate to use it as leverage
between you and your top clients.
They understand market sentiment
shifts, but the estate’s manager
controls the AUM and fees for
generations.
That’s what’s at stake. You’re
not just considering your clients’
legacy—you’re shaping your
own. Today’s wealth creators will
eventually exit, making room for
the next generation. Thoughtful
inheritance structuring ensures you
remain part of the equation.
