Practical Considerations For Trustees

The profound impact which the current pandemic has had on all aspects of life cannot be understated. This, of course, includes the global economic downturn; in some quarters it has been compared to, or indeed said to be likely to eclipse, the Great Depression.

The spectacular collapse in global stock markets is also likely to have another effect, which is unlikely to crystallise for some time: disgruntled beneficiaries and settlors with reserved powers laying the blame with trustees for the significant depletion in the value of a trust's assets, particularly where the trust's portfolio is focussed on investment in equities. Claims for relief in the form of damages and/or the reconstitution of the trust fund will follow.