When a trust holds money or assets, someone has to decide what to do with them — and that someone is the trustee. Getting investment right is one of a trustee's most important jobs: do it carelessly and the trustee can be personally liable to make good the loss. As a solicitor you will advise trustees on what they can invest in, the process they must follow, and how to protect themselves; you may also act for beneficiaries who think a trustee has fallen short.
This lesson builds the full picture, from the power to invest through to what happens when things go wrong.
- Powers of Investment — the general power to invest as freely as an owner, and the separate power to acquire land.
- Duties When Investing — the standard investment criteria, taking advice, and reviewing the portfolio over time.
- The Duty of Care and Even-Handedness — the standard of care expected, and holding a fair balance between beneficiaries.
- Ethical Investment — when trustees may take ethical or ESG considerations into account, in private and charitable trusts.
- Delegation of Investment Functions — how trustees can hand investment to an agent, and the safeguards they must put in place.
- Remedies, Defences and Limitation — what beneficiaries can claim, how loss is measured, and the defences available to trustees.