Trust Fund not being managed efficiently

webangel25

I wondered if anyone could advise me. I was left a small trust fund which is managed by a group of solicitors who are the trustees - they in turn have a company which manage the portfolio - it is only £12k but as I don't have a pension it is important to me to have it yield the best possible return. Last year it made £1.53p and I have not been provided with any information as to how it was invested.. in fact it is difficult to get them to respons to my emails at all. I feel it would be better sitting in a bank account gaining interest at a normal rate. Thank you for any advice

cloud_dog

What are the terms of the trust?

Linton

If the trust is invested in shares or share based funds then the returns would have been fairly poor over the past couple of years because of the problems with the global economy. You cant make a judgement over such a short period. On average however the returns should be better than you can get from a standard bank account.

SeniorSam

The fact that the solicitors are Trustees puts the onus totally on them and any other Trustees. They have a duty of care and can be brought to book if it is shown that they have not taken enough care to ensure the security of the Trust funds. If it is the solicitors own company (doubtful) that manage the funds, then they have a duty to report progress.

If you have written asking for information and accounts and been ignored, you can take further action, but advise them first of all, that this is your intention.

Sam

xylophone

http://www.anthonygold.co.uk/cms/document/pw__trustees.pdf

dunstonh

Last year it made £1.53p

Last year was a negative year on the markets. So a profit in that year is very good.

it is only £12k

Which is a problem as it it not going to get the same level of servicing as someone with £120k for example. It is not cost effective to do so. The trustees and anyone else involved need to be paid. You ask them to do more and the trust will pay more which will handicap the return.

xylophone

It is possible that the investments have been chosen for growth rather than income- has the capital value increased?
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/trusts/types/index.htm

webangel25

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send links and advise me. It is much appreciated. I will take time to review the information/links you kindly providedand I will then be fully informed and can make further decisions... also keep an eye on my own situation in future.