What is the function of a trust company? We actually administer trusts. You would go to your attorney and have your trust document drafted. It gives instructions on how you would want assets to be administered, both during your lifetime, if you were incapacitated, and at your death.
We also do investment management, which is something a lot of people don’t think we would do. If you have assets you want professionally managed, we have the ability to do that. We also do individual retirement account administration, say if you roll over your IRA from a previous employer and need somebody to manage that, or if you have retired and you’re actually getting 401(k) out.
What’s the difference between having a trust and a written will? A will would only affect those assets in your sole name at the time of your death. If you have an asset in a joint name – such as a house – the will has no bearing on that asset if the other individual is still living. Even if your will said, “I want my house to go to my cousin,” it doesn’t matter if you and your husband own it together.
In a trust, the assets are titled in the name of the trust. You would have it in the John Doe trustee of the John Doe trust. From there, during your lifetime, you say what you want to do with your assets if you are incapacitated or at the time of your death. It’s a much more comprehensive estate-planning tool.
Is it a myth that you must be rich to have a trust? That’s definitely a myth. It depends on the circumstances. If there is a situation where you have a child with special needs, they may need a trust where it’s only $150,000, to take care of them. It depends more on family situation. It depends on what threshold you want to establish a trust and whether there are children involved.
Our suggestion is to talk with your attorney. They can advise you at what point in time you should establish a trust.
Representing about 1,300 clients, Trust Company of the Ozarks reached $1 billion in administered assets last year, up from $905 million. What put the company over that milestone? We’ve never had a $1 billion goal out there. I do think it’s a testament to our current clients and professionals in town who understand we are a professional trust company.
We have seen some wealth transfer from the baby boomers, passing it down to the next generation. That is really just starting at this point in time. What we’ve seen, as we’ve been in business longer and longer, we are named in a successor capacity by more people. In business for 16 years now, people are naming us in documents. As the population ages, people are needing our assistance at this point in time. The market has been good for us.
What’s the next step after $1 billion? When we started, our idea was to be the bank trust department for the independent community banks that didn’t have a trust department. That was the idea in 1998. We had a meeting with all of the different banks and gave them our ideas. At that point in time, we had 20 banks and 20 individuals who said, “We think this is a great idea and want to invest in it.” That’s how we got our original capital to start the company. Through the years, we’ve been that department and we’ve picked up some bank trust departments that wanted to get out of the business. We have picked up trust departments in Maryville, Caruthersville, Fulton and Sullivan. We are at each end of the state now.
That was one of our ideas from the beginning. As we’ve done that, banks have referred their best customers to us. It’s nice for them, because we don’t compete with them, we are a nondeposit trust company. This was an avenue for them to refer their best customers. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
The next step really is to keep building those relationships. And we are always looking for bank trust departments that want to exit so we can pick up that business.
How has the recession affected Trust Company of the Ozarks? What I’ve noticed, is as it gets harder, people tend to ferret out professional money managers. When everything is going up and you can use a dart and the Wall Street Journal to pick a stock, it’s easy. When you have to really do some research and look at it that way, people then gravitate toward professional money managers. The recession has really helped our business.[[In-content Ad]]
Logistics company Premier Truck Group is building a new truck sales and repair facility in Strafford, using precast contract, metal framing, thermoplastic polyolefin roofing and standing-seam metal in its construction.
