A growing number of RIAs are positioning themselves up-market, targeting larger households, multi-generational families, and clients whose needs extend well beyond investment management. Ultra-high-net-worth clients often rely on trusts not just for estate planning but as central vehicles for governance, control, tax efficiency, and multi-generational wealth transfer. These structures must be administered accurately and consistently for years — often decades — after they are created.
For these clients, a capable corporate trustee is not merely helpful; it is essential. Attorneys and planning professionals can design sophisticated trust arrangements, but the trustee is the party responsible for carrying them out. As RIAs seek to serve larger, more complex families, the absence of a trustee solution becomes a strategic limitation. Many firms find that they can provide strong planning advice, only to see implementation, and the associated assets, move to a trust company or financial institution that may also offer wealth management.
This is one reason trust capabilities are increasingly central to the up-market strategy conversation.
