SARASOTA, Fla. - Wealth, not investment savvy, was the common denominator of trust beneficiaries who gathered here last week for Heirs Inc.'s first conference.
The 80 participants diverged widely in their understanding of how trusts work and what makes assets grow.
At the high end of the sophistication scale was a woman who said she handles her own investment trading, using principal from a matured trust.
At the other extreme was a beneficiary who piped up during a legal seminar, "What is a common trust fund? What does that mean?"
Heirs Inc., launched in 1991, describes itself as a "support group" for beneficiaries and creators of irrevocable trusts. Its goal, according to membership literature, is to "improve the administration of trusts, primarily through education."
Most of the panel discussions at the daylong conference did have a classroom flavor, with lawyers, investment managers, and trust officers from brokerage firms giving nuts-and-bolts lectures and answering questions.
Sessions carried titles like "What Nobody Ever Told You About Your Trust" and "Investing Your Trust Assets: Why Banks and Brokers Do It Differently."
Conference participants ranged in age from early 30s to late 70s. Floridians turned out in force, but most participants came from farther afield, including Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut.
Complaints about banks were rampant. A recurring theme was that banks put too much energy into promoting new trust business, and not enough into servicing existing accounts. Participants insisted that it would be wrong to dismiss such concerns as idle griping by the privileged.
"We're talking about things poor people deal with too, which is a bureaucracy that doesn't budge," one beneficiary said.
Three bank trust officers were in attendance, and the beneficiaries seemed to relish the chance to give the bankers a taste of their own medicine.
During one question-and-answer session, a trust banker stood up to talk. Realizing she couldn't be heard, she asked if she could step up to the podium.
Conference organizer Standish H. Smith deadpanned, "Sure, you can use the microphone, but a small fee will be charged."
