Services by Type
Personal Trust Administration
Charitable Trust Administration
Private Foundation Administration
Estate Settlement Trusts
Personal Representative Services
Bill Paying Service
Overview of Fiduciary Services
- Trust Independence.
- Santa Fe Trust Specialization.
Santa Fe Trust is an independent trust company, not owned or operated by a bank, savings and loan, broker/dealer, or insurance company. SFT’s specialized fiduciary model allows us to focus on providing trust services and administration as our only business.
SFT’s specialized methods allow the trust client to utilize the services of the most qualified and talented investment, tax and insurance experts available to provide comprehensive and personalized solutions to SFT’s client’s trust investment needs.
SFT also acts as a corporate trustee for special asset trusts, providing the personalized attention necessary to service unique assets and their associated trust clients.
- Options for Trust Relationships.
SFT acts in a variety of trust capacities. Following is a table that sets forth some examples of potential relationships and the role played by each party. - Appointment of Financial Advisors.
In SFT’s experience, no one knows a client’s investment preferences, financial goals, risk tolerance and personal history better than his or her financial advisor. The transfer of assets into trust can drastically change the work of years of disciplined effort. SFT allows an FA’s trust client(s) to move an existing trust to Santa Fe Trust or appoint us as the trustee of a new trust while retaining their qualified FA to assure continuity of the client’s comprehensive financial and estate plan that incorporates the trust. Trust clients do not lose the investment management services of their qualified, trusted financial advisor, who continue to manage trust client’s assets after transfer to a trust administered by SFT. - Administration of Trusts.
SFT trust administration objectively follows the express direction of our client’s trust document. SFT makes discretionary decisions with sensitivity to our trust client’s intentions at the time the trust was formed. SFT also recognizes the importance of the needs of each trust beneficiary. - Customer Service.
Personal attention in professional service is a standard of Santa Fe Trust. - ATTENTION. Each trust is assigned to an individual trust officer. The size of a trust is not a factor at SFT. The same personalized, courteous and responsive service is provided for all SFT accounts.
- PERSONAL CONTACT. SFT does not direct incoming calls to a call center. Your client will speak directly with the assigned trust officer or his or her team members. Each administrative team has intimate knowledge of each assigned account and generally resolves phone or email inquiries and requests within 24 hours.
- INFORMATION. SFT’s state-of-the-art trust accounting systems generate instant account information and we provide easy-to-read, periodic statements of account and detailed year-end tax reports. Cash disbursements are generally provided within 48 hours.
- PRICING. Unlike traditional trust companies that charge a combined fee for their administration and investment management services, our administration fees are separately stated from those charged by Financial Advisors. Combined fees of Santa Fe Trust and a Financial Advisor are generally about the same as the undifferentiated fee that would be charged by a traditional trust company that does not allow outside investment management.
- SFT PAYS FOR ITSELF. Unlike traditional trust companies that charge a combined fee for trust administration and investment services, SFT allows trust assets to perform competitively. Many SFT customers find the improved returns associated with SFT’s unbundled, competitive approach earn enough to pay all SFT fees and, in some instances, earns them many times over, with the balance redounding to the trust’s principal account.
- Experience.
The Santa Fe Trust staff has a long and varied trust experience. The complex issues of trust administration and the individual needs of trust beneficiaries are accommodated by SFT’s independent business model. SFT’s trust officers and their teams are well versed in trust law and the review, interpretation and administration of trust documents. SFT is experienced in managing the financial and trust affairs of individuals and dealing prudently with the personal needs of all types of beneficiaries. - Strength and Security.
Santa Fe Trust is an independent, privately owned, New Mexico state-chartered trust company. Our business is operated under the regulation and supervision of the New Mexico Financial Institutions Division (FID). Santa Fe Trust is the largest independent trust company in New Mexico. Santa Fe Trust maintains fidelity bonding and liability insurance coverage on all our employees to protect the trust assets under our management and the investments of our shareholders. - Geographic Scope of Operations.
Santa Fe Trust has no offices outside the state of New Mexico; however, SFT’s trust clients are found across the United States. We administer each trust in accordance with the state law requirements expressed in the trust document. It is generally not required for the official situs of a trust to be moved to New Mexico before we can serve either as its trustee or as the administrative agent to the trustee.
We do not solicit trust business directly from trust clients or beneficiaries who live outside New Mexico. However, we routinely work with non-resident trust clients or their professional advisors who initiate the first contact with us and express an interest in employing our services.
Santa Fe Trust does not compensate financial and professional advisors who include us as a member of their trust planning and design teams. These are compensated, if at all, directly by the trust clients in accordance with arrangements they make directly with the trust clients for providing these services.
After we assume a trusteeship of any kind, most trust documents will give us discretion to hire administrative agents to assist us with trust investment, legal or accounting matters. In most cases, SFT may be free to investigate and hire such qualified agents as a trust client or beneficiary may recommend, regardless of where they live or have their principal place of business. When SFT hires such agents on behalf of a trust, their service fees and any commissions will be expenses of the trust and not of SFT. Financial advisors whom we hire to manage trust assets generally must obtain authorization to sell any securities and/or insurance products to us in New Mexico. - The Trust Administration Process.
- What is Trust Administration?
Our trust administration services typically include the following activities: - Comprehensive trust accounting;
- Monitoring investment performance and managerial oversight of outside financial advisors who provide investment management services;
- Processing recurring and discretionary beneficiary distributions;
- Reporting periodically to beneficiaries via statements of account;
- Preparing trust tax returns (service is outsourced with oversight);
- Providing trust-type specific communications and administrative duties, e.g. "Crummy Letters" and policy reviews for Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts;
- Computing Charitable Remainder Trust income tax deduction, cash flow projections and providing trust design and documentation consultations;
- Providing trust funding and asset transfer assistance;
- Paying bills for our bill paying service clients (no trust required);
- Personal representative services for New Mexico estates;
- Trust estate administration for deceased trust clients.
- Our Trust Accounting Systems. Santa Fe Trust uses an outsourced, instant update accounting program that provides immediate record of transactions for each trust account involved in asset trading.
Please click here to view a sample periodic account statement.
- What is Trust Administration?
- Account Size.
SFT does not impose rigid conditions on the minimum size of a trust or estate we will accept for administration. SFT does impose minimum annual fees that will oftentimes determine if it is economic and reasonable for us to administer an account that is relatively smaller. - Trust Administration Teams.
Each SFT trust account is assigned to one of our professional administration teams, each of which consists of a Trust Officer and an administrative assistant. All calls concerning a trust client’s account are directed to the trust’s administrative team. We match each account with the team that has the most experience with that particular type of trust. - Trust Assets.
Santa Fe Trust administers trusts funded with most all forms of publicly traded securities, including but not limited to publicly traded stocks, bonds, cash management vehicles, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, closed-end funds and real estate investment trusts.
Santa Fe Trust also administers special asset trusts, containing tangible personal property, real estate, oil and gas interests, partnerships, annuity contracts and closely held corporate stock. Special asset trusts typically present unique administrative issues. SFT accepts such assets in trust with proper trust documentation and acceptable performance. SFT often provides special asset trust clients with the means of placing assets in trust that are difficult to place. Each special asset trust is treated with special attention. Special asset trust fees reflect the specific costs of administrating these trusts. - Compensation.
Santa Fe Trust charges an asset based fee on all trusts for which we provide fiduciary, administrative and record-keeping services, other than Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts for which we charge a flat annual administrative fee.
SFT charges a new account set up fee.
Santa Fe Trust does not charge account closing fees.
Our standard fee schedule presumes a trust is funded primarily with intangible financial assets that are readily marketable.
We charge by the hour for services related to administering trusts with assets that require intensive management, such as special asset trusts.
Please contact one of our trust professionals toll-free at 888-984-2775 to obtain an applicable fee schedule and discuss any unique administrative needs.
Option 1: A competitive financial advisor allows a trust to perform competitively. SFT’s Self-directed Trust allows a qualified financial advisor (FA) to direct investment of trust assets under SFT’s supervision. This is SFT’s most common trust relationship in which SFT assumes full fiduciary responsibility and appoints the trust maker’s choice of qualified FA to provide investment management services as SFT’s agent. SFT and the FA set forth an agreement to govern the investment policies and restrictions set forth in the trust documents. The FA takes responsibility for the details and implementation of the investment plan. The FA is not a co-trustee and has no greater liability than in a typical discretionary brokerage account situation. SFT monitors the investment activities and performance of the FA to oversee the trust’s assets.
Option 2: SFT acts in a "pure" directed trustee capacity where the trust document and applicable state law properly differentiate between SFT’s limited administrative duties, (trust accounting, distributions, tax returns, account statements, etc.) and the investment-related services of the trust’s investment advisor. Many financial advisors are precluded by their broker dealers from assuming the fiduciary liability of a "co-trustee for investments".
Options 3-7: These options are variations of the first two. With the exception of SFT’s private foundation services, SFT can act in any of them, including providing third party administration services on an agency basis to the trustee and conditionally serving as a co-trustee with trust clients, their family members or other individuals.