Australian Trustee Services | Choosing One Investment Firm Over Another

A trust, as it is understood in the financial world, is a legal relationship. Much like its generic meaning—to rely on the integrity or confidence of a person or thing—a trust, in the strictest sense, describes a relationship where a person relies on another to act on their behalf. More to the point, a person or organisation (called the beneficiary) relies on another person or organisation (called the trustee) to safeguard and manage their assets and/or investments.

The title given to the work carried out by trustees on behalf of beneficiaries is trustee services.

As with everything, there are companies that specialise in offering trustee services, catering to a broad spectrum of beneficiaries.

This broad spectrum includes everyone from private fund investors to those beneficiaries needing protective trustee services, such as; Special Disability Trusts (trustee services put in place to help immediate family and guardians with the raising of children and dependants with disabilities), and, minors’ trusts (trustee services designed for the management of a child’s assets until they reach a certain age.)

With such a broad spectrum of beneficiaries and investment management firms offering trustee services in Australia (and in some cases global trustee work for larger funds) it’s easy to see how beneficiaries are at a disadvantage when first looking into finding trustee services to fit their needs.

 
When looking into finding the right trustee services for your needs (e.g. trustee services Australia, or, Sydney trustee services) a good place to start is with official agencies such as the Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA). The Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia provides a comprehensive step by step approach to understanding the trustee and beneficiary relationship, and, any necessary documentation on setting up and running Australian trustee services.

Understanding the way trustee services are supposed to work from an official third-party agency (like the Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia) will ensure that you get all the relevant information on trustee services before entering into such a relationship.

The fiduciary duties owed by management firms offering trustee services will vary from one account to the other and will typically be spelled out in the form of a deed.This is important for obvious reasons.

Delegating trustee services to an investment management firm under deed essentially binds the trustee to the terms and conditions agreed upon, regarding the management of the beneficiary’s fund, and thereby stipulating the way in which trustee services will be utilised in growing the initial fund entrusted by the beneficiary.

In order to get the most out of an investment as a beneficiary, it is important not only to choose the right trustee service provider but also to understand how trustee services will operate in order to maintain/grow the initial fund.

Find out how trustee services from one investment firm may compare to another. Beneficiaries must ask themselves; do the trustee services offered by this investment firm fit the fund I’m looking to entrust to them?

This guest post was written by Suejee Kim. She is a student journalist and copywriter at Connecting Digital. To learn more about Trustee Services visit One Investment.