America’s Most Advisor-Friendly Trust Companies Showcase - Flipbook - Page 8
2026 AMERICA’S MOST ADVISOR-FRIENDLY TRUST COMPANIES
the results here were expected: 66%
incorporate the estate into overall highnet-worth client planning.
But somewhere between 30% and
40% of your fellow advisors focus on
succession planning for client-owned
businesses, and a similar number
work actively to keep blended families
from tearing themselves apart over the
inheritance.
house legal expertise. That part makes
sense. Trust companies often have a
lot of legal talent on the team working
for the same clients, so building a
bridge back to the advisor would help
everyone do better.
Co-branded marketing and educational
support is welcome but not yet
considered an essential feature of the
relationship. If anything, a slightly larger
proportion of our audience covets a
purely white-label arrangement where
the trust company vanishes entirely in
client eyes, leaving only the advisor in
the picture.
What’s shocking is that very few
advisors are hungry for either digital
assets in the estate plan or support for
the wider universe of “alts.” Either their
existing partners already provide help
And then there are the special purpose
vehicles. Special needs trusts to
support incapacitated family members,
asset protection trusts as a shield
against litigation, and various charitable
and philanthropic structures are
unexpectedly popular.
If you aren’t familiar with these
instruments, there’s still time to catch
up, but every day you dither makes it
more likely you’re falling behind.
Lest we forget the mass affluent, a lot
of your fellow advisors report success
integrating estate planning into a
retirement-oriented platform. Get those
beneficiaries settled!
For that matter, rudimentary estate
planning is often the advisor’s
responsibility. Once upon a time, we
might have thought it was pushy to
bully recalcitrant clients into getting
the basic paperwork in place, but if
anything goes wrong, the heirs will
thank you for your tough love.
Most advisors are pretty happy
with their existing trust company
partnerships, but they’re always
looking for differentiators that take
the team to the next level. What
do your colleagues want that they
aren’t getting?
About 25% would love better access
to friendly estate planners and other in-
GET INSTANT INSIGHTS ONLINE
You can now monitor every Advisor-Friendly Trust Company at
thetrustadvisor.com. Watch exclusive video interviews with key
executives who run each company or scroll through the latest news
stories detailing all the great things going on throughout the industry.
Maybe you’ll see something that gets you to start a conversation of
your own.
And our AI assistant has already done all the homework required to
walk you through the due diligence before you make any big decisions.
Try it out. Ask it about various estate planning situations your clients
might be facing. Obvously it isn’t a lawyer, but it can put you in
touch with people who are, saving everyone’s time and trouble. The
algorithms are designed to learn and adapt, offering highly personalized
matches that align with the specific requirements of each financial
advisor. The more you use it, the more it learns.
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