Trusts

Trusts are the most common form of wealth structure. A trust is formed when you give your assets to a trustee to hold for the benefit of specified persons or beneficiaries (this can include yourself).

A trust has unique benefits because it separates the legal and beneficial ownership of your assets. Benefits can include ease of succession, avoidance of probate and legal requirements on death, together with protection from taxation.

A range of trust structures has been developed to help us meet your needs:

A Full Discretionary Trust (FDT) gives the trustee wide powers to choose how the trust fund should be invested and distributed.
A Partial Discretionary Trust (PDT) allows you to retain investment control. This means you can invest in a wider range of investments than a FDT.

Although Discretionary Trusts are normally irrevocable and only the trustee can bring the trust to an end, it is sometimes possible to offer a revocable trust, though this may offer less protection.

If a managed company is required, the trustee will arrange for a company to be incorporated in the Isle of Man.

Important information: risk warning
Although your portfolio is carefully managed and well diversified, the value of your investment and the level of income you may receive can go down as well as up. Your returns may also be affected by exchange rate fluctuations if your investment is converted into another currency at a later date.

Find out more about Wealth Structuring with Barclays:

Wealth Structures fact sheet (PDF)*
(for services from the Knightsbridge branch Barclays Bank PLC.)

Wealth Structures fact sheet (PDF)*
(for services from the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey branches of Barclays Private Clients International)

*To view these documents you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you're using access technology software on your computer, visit http://access.adobe.com for more information about using PDF files.