Independent Trustees

AN INDEPENDENT TRUSTEE IS ONE NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY BANK OR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.  INDEPENDENCE HAS MANY BENEFITS FOR YOU.

Historically, trustees were not tied to banks.  Banks are in the business of loaning money out that is given to it by depositors.  What is promised to be returned to the depositors is not the actual funds they deposit, or even the earnings the bank has made on those funds.  What the depositor is given is the equivalent of what they deposited with a certain specified return added to it.

Acting as trustee is a very different business. A trustee must keep the actual items deposited and may never loan them out or offer an equivalent upon distribution.  The trustee must give all profits from the funds to the trust, and is solely compensated by the agreed upon payment from the depositor in the trust.

Being a trustee does not have to be tied to being a bank, since the functions of each are very different.  An independent trustee is a trust company or trustee not affiliated with any bank, brokerage or other financial institution.  They have a unique role in the financial industry, bringing back the traditional, separate role of trustee of a trust, apart from other businesses frequently tied to the role of trustee, such as banking or brokerage services. There is a national association of independent trust companies, (AITCO) and independent trust companies have their own set of Arizona Revised Statutes regulating them separately from other financial institutions.  

The ability to be independent provides many benefits for the beneficiaries of a trust estate.  Some of these benefits are:

• The ability to avoid conflicts of interest with respect to choosing related services, such as banking or brokerage

• The ability to adapt to requests of beneficiaries for specific banking or brokerage use, even differing between beneficiaries of the same trust

• The ability to choose the most cost effective or most profitable investments or services

• The ability to keep fees lower by specialization

Providence First Trust Company has been a completely independent trust company since its inception.  During all of those years, all of the advantages listed above, and more, have kept our clients committed to our company and its independence, and have allowed us to grow in the specialized market of independent trust companies, to be one of the oldest independent trust companies in Arizona today.

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