TD Ameritrade Institutional and National Advisors Trust Company Form Strategic Alliance to Offer Trust Services for RIAs

Posted by Steven Maimes. Contributor — on January 29th, 2015

New trust services program can help advisors guide clients in the preservation and transfer of wealth across generations

With baby boomers projected to pass on trillions of dollars in the coming decades, registered investment advisors (“RIAs”) not only must focus on attracting younger clients, they need to help existing clients preserve their wealth and hold on to the assets they already manage.

“Advisors Private Wealth Trust offers advisors an attractive solution for providing trust services to their clients. We believe advisors and their clients will benefit by working with a trust services company that’s owned by advisors, understands the needs of RIAs and has a history of stable ownership.”

With that in mind, TD Ameritrade Institutional1 has formed a strategic alliance with National Advisors Trust Company, FSB, an independent, advisor-owned trust company, to create Advisors Private Wealth Trust (“APWT”), a corporate trustee offering exclusive to RIAs that custody assets with TD Ameritrade Institutional. These services are available now.

Advisors who offer trust services can better position themselves to attract clients who are looking to preserve their family’s wealth for future generations. And for advisors, designating a corporate trustee can address what’s known as “successor trustee risk,” which emerges when a new trustee takes over after the primary trustee dies. In such cases, trust assets could move away from the independent advisor and into a local or national bank that was appointed the successor trustee.

Independent advisors can improve their chances of retaining assets they manage by offering clients a trustee choice that also supports the independent investment management model of RIAs. Moreover, advisors can put themselves in front of the next generation investors, a group projected to inherit as much as $30 trillion in financial and other assets from baby boomers by the year 2030.2

This strategic alliance combines the reach of TD Ameritrade Institutional, one of the country’s largest custodians with more than 4,500 RIA clients, and NATC, a nationally chartered trust company that was founded by advisors and has no competing investment management business. APWT will serve as TD Ameritrade Institutional’s corporate trustee solution, one that is integrated with TD Ameritrade Institutional in terms of client service and technology.

“As the baby boomers age, demand for trust services will only increase, particularly among high net worth investors. With Advisors Private Wealth Trust, RIAs can grow their businesses and gain a share of the wealth set to be transferred between generations,” said Jim Dario, managing director of product management and services at TD Ameritrade Institutional. “This new offering can help advisors build stronger relationships with the next generation and it puts them in a better position to keep the assets they already manage.”

Service and Support

“We look forward to rolling out a comprehensive suite of corporate trustee services to advisors on the TD Ameritrade Institutional platform,” said Jim Combs, president and chief executive, National Advisors Trust Company. “Advisors Private Wealth Trust offers advisors an attractive solution for providing trust services to their clients. We believe advisors and their clients will benefit by working with a trust services company that’s owned by advisors, understands the needs of RIAs and has a history of stable ownership.”

Advisors Private Wealth Trust offers advisors a conflict-free way to access corporate trustee services, with custody of the assets remaining at TD Ameritrade Institutional. Beyond competitive pricing, advisors receive ongoing support from TD Ameritrade Institutional as well as dedicated trust officers to help establish trust accounts and provide administrative services.

By offering trustee services through Advisors Private Wealth Trust, advisors can ensure their clients’ trusts receive independent, impartial oversight from a committed, dedicated trustee, all while continuing to manage the assets. Clients can be assured their trusts will receive professional fiduciary oversight, a duty that family or friends may not always be equipped to handle, and that they can still work with their advisor to manage the assets.

Advisors can take the opportunity to review any trusts they manage and now can provide another option for clients to appoint an RIA-friendly successor trustee, such as Advisors Private Wealth Trust, helping increase the likelihood they will retain assets when the current trustee dies or becomes incapacitated. If the successor is an unaffiliated financial institution, such as a big bank, advisors risk seeing those assets walk out the door.

About National Advisors Trust Company

National Advisors Trust Company (NATC) is an RIA-owned firm dedicated to the success of independent financial advisors. NATC helps advisors grow their business by providing world-class trust and custody services in every state in the nation. A federally chartered institution, NATC is the nation’s largest RIA-owned independent trust company, with $10 billion assets under administration. Visit www.natrustco.com.

Notes

(1) TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade, Inc. a brokerage subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation.

www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-CM-AWAMS-Wealth-Transfer-Final-June2012-Web-Version.pdf)

Posted by:  Steven Maimes. The Trust Advisor

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