Trust Solutions FAQs

Still have questions? We have addressed several below. Is yours among them? If not, let’s talk.

You: Does Second Opinion accept trusts with non-financial assets like real estate?

Second Opinion: We are not a trust company and do not have hard-and-fast rules about assets held in trust, whether they are financial securities or other sources of value including real estate, art, and royalties from oil-and-gas or intellectual property. Before accepting any assignment involving non-financial assets, we will first assess whether we have the expertise to serve your interests.

You: I’m a lawyer as well as the trustee of client trusts. What can Second Opinion do for me?

Second Opinion: We manage trust assets. Our fees are reasonable, and we favor funds with low operating expenses. We help trustees deliver low cost structures for investment assets where they serve as fiduciaries. In addition, we help them leverage their time by:

• Rebalancing portfolios to align them with investment policy guidelines that we either develop or implement for trusts,
• Tax-loss selling throughout the year, not just the fourth quarter,
• Creating portfolio alerts for securities that increase or decrease in price,
• Monitoring performance and comparing it to appropriate benchmarks,
• Culling through index funds and exchange traded funds (which now total 7,200 and $4.8 trillion in total assets) and weeding out the ones that fail to meet our criteria
• Developing strategies for low-basis, concentrated positions, and
• Building fixed income portfolios that address duration, call provisions, and liquidity. We use fixed income as a defensive asset class and prefer Treasuries over corporates and municipals.

You: Do you allow concentrated positions in your portfolios?

Second Opinion: In general, yes. But concentrated positions in trust accounts are often there for tax-related reasons. In our view, investment management decisions driven primarily by tax considerations are dangerous. We will discuss the risk-reward tradeoffs with you before accepting these money management assignments.

You: Do you work with non-corporate trustees?

Second Opinion: Yes.