Over the past few years, we have experienced an increasing number of requests to set up trusts for families as part of their legacy and estate plan. This is largely due to a greater awareness of asset-protection strategies, increasing wealth, and the complexity of family structures such as blended families, cross-border assets, and vulnerable families.
Families also have a desire for more intentional legacy planning beyond just asset distribution. More clients now see trusts not merely as tools for the ultra-wealthy, but as vehicles of stewardship — a way to pass values alongside wealth. As a result, there has been a surge in the appointment of independent and bank-affiliated institutions as corporate trustees.
There are, of course, advantages to using trusts and corporate trustees. When one transfers their assets into a trust, they transfer the legal ownership of their assets to it. As such, a trust creates a legal separation between the settlor (the person who sets up the trust) and the assets. If properly set up, it provides creditor protection, long-term guidance on how assets should be managed and distributed, which mitigates family disputes.
As opposed to human trustees, corporate trustees ensure continuity far beyond the lifespan of individual trustees. Also, because corporate trustees are regulated entities, they offer stronger processes, audit trails, and checks compared to appointing family members as trustees. Having corporate trustees also reduces the emotional burden on family members who may otherwise be placed in difficult roles. Because of the longevity of corporate trustees, it helps to enforce conditions and instructions such as support for minor or special needs dependents, or phased-out distributions which may span decades.
Corporate trustees play a very specific role. Clients often mistakenly assume they can “do everything.” In our experience working with corporate trustees, be it independent or bank trustees, these are some critical considerations if you are considering setting up a legacy and estate plan.
A. Trustees Are Not Investment Professionals
Corporate trustees are not licensed and do not have the competence to provide investment management services. While you can set up your investment mandate for the trustees to ensure it is adhered to, you cannot expect them to execute it. They do not have the expertise to help you craft a detailed investment policy statement that is suitable. Neither will they be able to help you estimate the returns you will need to achieve your trust objectives, determine the asset allocation, or pick the suitable instruments to give the highest probability of success. In our experience, even if they were to appoint investment managers, they may not competently know whether the mandates are properly followed and if expected and actual returns are reasonable.
B. Trustees Are Not Wealth Advisers
Trustees do not create financial plans, cashflow projections, or financial analyses that are tied to family goals. This role is often underestimated. For example, settlors often want to phase out the distribution of their assets based on certain milestones of their beneficiaries, whether it be tertiary education funding, business ventures, payouts when a grandchild gets married, etc.; this has to be coordinated with the investment and withdrawal plan. You cannot expect the corporate trustees to do this for you.
C. Trustees Are Not Lawyers
Trustees do not advise on complex tax matters, cross-border structuring, family law implications, or business succession issues. They administer according to the trust deed; and in our experience, the trust deed sometimes gives them so much power that you as a settlor may not be comfortable with, and also not in your favour.
A trust is only as good as the team that designs, executes, and continuously reviews it. Legacy and estate planning has evolved from a “lawyer-only” or “trustee-only” model to a multidisciplinary, team-based approach.
So, who is needed in a proper legacy and estate planning team?
A. The Trusted Wealth Adviser (The Coordinator & Steward)
You will need a trusted wealth adviser to create the overall wealth management plan that is aligned with your ikigai goals, values, family dynamics, and also ensures financial sustainability of the trust. The trusted adviser estimates investment returns based on the needs of the trust and subsequently decides the asset allocation of your investment portfolios. He monitors the performance of these portfolios and suggests changes to give the highest probability of success in meeting the trust objectives. He may hold family meetings if needed, to communicate the intent of the settlor. He may also provide continual financial education to the next generation of beneficiaries. And because he is the only party with a 360° view, he coordinates communication across the rest of the team members — business exit specialist, investment manager, lawyer, trustee, and other professionals — to create the legacy and estate plan.
B. Business Exit Specialist
Business owners have an additional asset that brings complexities to their legacy and estate plan — their shares in their business! This is where a business exit specialist comes in. Working hand-in-hand with the rest of the team, a well-thought-through business succession plan that is integrated with the legacy and estate plan will ensure that personal, wealth, and business goals are met.
C. Investment Manager
The investment manager’s job is to manage the portfolios under trust in accordance with the investment policy statement created by the wealth adviser after understanding the intentions of the settlor for his beneficiaries. The investment manager works with the trustees and wealth adviser to provide performance reports regularly and also planned withdrawals in accordance with the phased payout plan under the trust. For example, a payout needed in 2 years’ time may require an investment decision to be taken today depending on market conditions.
D. Lawyer (Estate, Family, or Tax Specialist)
Lawyers draft documents such as wills, deeds of gift, letters of wishes, and trust deeds for clients. Often, they amend standard trust deeds provided by corporate trustees to meet client requirements. They also ensure that trustees are not given more powers than they need, and review legal risks, cross-border implications, compliance, estate tax exposure, forced heirship, business-succession issues, and more.
E. Trustee
The trustee is the custodian and administrator of the trust. Working together with the rest of the team members, they owe a fiduciary duty of care to the beneficiaries to ensure that the settlor’s wishes are carried out faithfully. They also provide fiduciary oversight, governance, continuity, and regulatory compliance.
In a dinner some months back, when I was answering questions from a friend regarding his intention to write a will, a lawyer friend suddenly blurted out that financial advisers should stay away from giving advice on estate planning, implying that it is the lawyer’s job.
I disagree, and I am sure many estate lawyers would too. Estate and legacy planning is not just a legal, trust-administration, or investment-management exercise alone. It is a coordinated, values-driven, multidisciplinary process.
The trusted wealth adviser is often the only professional who journeys with the family over decades, understands their values, guides their life decisions, and ensures the plan remains relevant. Their role is not to replace the lawyer or trustee, but to integrate and coordinate the entire legacy framework.
The writer, Christopher Tan, is Chief Executive Officer of Providend Ltd, Southeast Asia’s first fee-only comprehensive wealth advisory firm and author of the book “Money Wisdom: Simple Truths for Financial Wellness“. He is also a Certified Ikigai Tribe Coach.
The edited version of this article was published in The Business Times on 17 November 2025.
For more related resources, check out:
1. Legacy Lessons From a $68 Million Dollar Family Story
2. The Quest to Find a Trusted Financial Adviser
3. Business Exit Planning Case Study: Common Mistakes to Avoid
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