|
Category:
Published: March 2007
Learn how the Adirondack Trust Company's Trust and Estate Planning Department can help you plan for your present and future investments and peace of mind.
I interviewed John M. Fullerton, Senior Vice President, & Trust Officer and Jack P. Barry, AVP, & Trust Development Officer of the Adirondack Trust Company (ATC) to determine just what the Trust Department at Adirondack Trust does. The Trust and Investment Department of ATC is an area of the bank that I was not familiar with. I was surprised to find that they are not your average bankers. It is a group of dedicated professionals who help individuals, companies and institutions with the following: Investment Management, Retirement Planning, Trust Services, and Estate Settlement.
Success Magazine: John, please share with me an example of the services your bank provides?
John Fullerton: We had a client relationship where a husband and wife initially did not have a clear understanding of their financial picture or how to plan for their future. We analyzed their assets and liabilities and determined that their net worth, accumulated from hard work and a life time of savings, was more substantial than they imagined.
They did not have a will, or transfer plan for their business and personal assets, and they paid more in taxes than was necessary due to poor investment planning. We analyzed their short term and long term goals, their risk tolerance and their investments.
We also helped them to seek legal counsel to create Wills and Trusts to protect their hard earned assets and to create Powers of Attorney to be used in the event that they became unable to handle their financial affairs.
With them we designed a plan that protected their assets, diversified their investments, reduced their tax burden and provided for proper transfer of assets when the time would come. And it is good thing that we did. Within a year of the plan being created and ATC taking over the management of their investments, the wife became ill with Alzheimer's disease and shortly after, the husband had a heart attack. Since they did not have a close family, we assisted them to get the wife placed in a nursing home and helped obtain home healthcare for the husband. Because ATC was appointed in the husband's Power of Attorney we were able to help with these matters and to pay bills on their behalf.
Within the last several years they have both passed and because they had done the appropriate planning we were able, as executor, to settle their estates and see that their assets were distributed as they desired. While every relationship is different most of or clients' situations change over time and we strive to meet these changing needs through caring personal service.
SM: Jack, what other services does ATC offer to its Trust & Investment clients?
JB: The Trust Department offers numerous services to clients, but the thread that connects almost everything we do is investment management. In addition to Investment Management Accounts, we deliver investment services through other relationships including Personal Trusts, IRA's, Simplified Pension Plans (SEPS), Profit Sharing Plans and 401k's. Our intent is to create a personal relationship that opens the lines of communication with our clients. We are located right here in the community, not in a distant city where you only have contact through an 800 number. We meet face to face with our clients to review their financial situation, to discuss how their investment portfolio is doing and to answer their questions. In this way we become aware of changes in their situation and modify their plan, if necessary.
SM: You work with individuals and companies?
JF: Yes, the Trust Department of the Adirondack Trust Company works with individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. We have the expertise to help many types of clients with diverse needs. We have officers who are dedicated to managing investment portfolios, others who are trained in trust and estate administration, and others who are expert with retirement plans. We are dedicated to providing our clients with financial services for all phases of their lives.
|
