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Wealth structuring and asset protection
A trust that owns a holding company, with investment powers reserved to you or your appointee.
Open Wealth structuring and asset protectionTrust administration
Trust administration services
Trust administration services cover the daily work of running a trust. As trustee of record we hold the assets, check each instruction against the deed, approve distributions, keep the accounts and report to the people the deed names. We run new trusts and take over existing ones, and your bank and advisers stay in place.
Who it is for
Families, advisers and trustees who need a trustee of record
- Families looking for personal trust services, with a trustee to hold and run a new or existing trust
- Settlors who keep investment powers under the deed and want a trustee to check, approve and record
- Lawyers and accountants who refer clients for professional trustee services on a structure they have designed
- Trustees elsewhere who want to move a trust to a Hong Kong trustee and need corporate trustee services after the move
How it works
How we take over an existing trust, or start a new one, in five steps
Review the deed and the assets
We read the trust deed, the letter of wishes and the asset list, and confirm what the deed lets each person do.
Onboard every party
Identity, address, source of wealth and tax self-certification for each person the law requires us to know.
Take title and open the record
Assets move to the trust or to a company the trust owns. We open the trust ledger and the document vault.
Run the trust
We check each instruction against the deed, approve distributions, keep accounts and file what the trust must file.
Report and review
The people the deed names receive statements and a yearly review of the structure and its records.
In detail
What trust administration covers each year
A trust is a continuing duty, not a one-off set-up. The trustee keeps it working for the people the deed names, year after year, and keeps the evidence that it did.
Each year the trustee, as trust administrator, works through this trust administration checklist:
- Accounts for the trust and for any holding company it owns, prepared and approved
- A record of every instruction, distribution and consent, tied to the clause of the deed that allowed it
- A refresh of the checks on settlors, beneficiaries, protectors and controlling persons when the facts change
- Statements and a yearly review for the people the deed names
- The filings the trust must make, supported by the tax filings your advisers prepare
Our role
What we do, and what we do not do
We do not give legal, tax or investment advice. Your own advisers do that; we administer the trust.
What we do
- Hold legal title to the trust assets, or to the shares of the holding company that owns them
- Check every instruction against the deed and the law before we act
- Approve and pay distributions as the deed provides
- Keep the trust accounts, the minute book and the document vault
- Coordinate with your bank, lawyer, accountant and auditor
- Prepare the reports the deed requires and support tax filings your advisers prepare
What we do not do
- Decide how the assets are invested. That sits with the settlor, an investment committee or the manager the deed names.
- Pick securities or run the portfolio.
- Hold client money outside the trust structure.
Documents and timeline
Documents and timeline
- Trust deed, any deed of amendment and the letter of wishes
- Identity and proof of address for each settlor, beneficiary with a vested interest, protector and controlling person
- Source of wealth and source of funds for the assets going into the trust
- Tax residence self-certification for each account holder and controlling person
- Asset schedule with the account statements or title documents behind it
Onboarding time depends on how quickly the documents arrive and on the checks we must run on each person.
We tell you what is missing at each step.
FAQ
Questions people ask before moving or starting a trust
What is trust administration?
Setting up a trust creates it; administration is what follows, for as long as the trust runs. Some providers sell it as trust management services. A trustee follows the deed, keeps the accounts and records, and reports to the people entitled to know. It does not cover drafting the deed or advising on law, tax or investments, which stay with your advisers.
Can we change the trustee of an existing trust?
Often, yes. The deed and its governing law say how a trustee can be replaced, and the outgoing trustee, the incoming trustee and your lawyers agree the handover. As corporate trustee and administrator of trust records, we start a handover with a review of the deed. Then we take over the assets, the accounts and the records. Some deeds need the protector to consent.
Who keeps running the investments?
The person the deed names does: the settlor, an investment committee or a licensed manager, as the deed provides. Your private bank can keep running the portfolio under its own licence. The account sits in the name of the trust or its holding company, and we keep a record of each instruction the manager gives.
What records does the trustee keep?
Accounts, a decision log and the document vault. The record exists so that a beneficiary, an auditor or a court can follow each decision. Who may see it, and how long it is kept, depend on the deed and the governing law, and we set out both before we take on the trust.
How are trustee fees set?
The set-up fee for a standard trust is published for each place we cover. Annual administration, event-based work and anything outside the standard scope are quoted after we review your case, because the work differs from one trust to the next. The quote lists each fee component and what drives it.
Where we work
Related jurisdictions
Singapore
Asia Pacific. We work alongside a local partner who takes a defined role in the trust.
See SingaporeCayman Islands
Americas and Caribbean. We work alongside a local partner who takes a defined role in the trust.
See Cayman IslandsTalk to a trust officer about administration
Tell us about the trust and the assets, and a trust officer will reply.