PUBLIC TRUST

Hokitika Guardian, 10 September 1930, Page 2

PUBLIC TRUST

INCREASED business, A RECORD YEAR. New business for the year ended March 31st. by the Public Trust Office constitutes' a further record, states the annual report. During the period 3845 new estates and funds of a total value of £8,473,916 were accepted for administration, compared with 3508 estates and funds to the value of £7,091,350 the preceding year. This is the first occasion upon which new business for any year has exceeded £8,000,000. The value of estates and funds under administration on March 31st. 1929, was £48,334,790, while the corresponding figure for the year just past was £53,049,437, an inincrease of approximately £5,000,000 for the year.

The figures for the new business accepted for the past seven years are as follows Year ended Business March 81st, ; , £

WILLS ON DEPOSIT

The growth in the number of wills on deposit has been phenomenal. During the year ended 6893 additional wills were deposited and the total number now held stands at 63,253, an increase of 5412 over the previous year’s total. New wills are coming in at the rate of over 6000 -per annum. The prospective business represented by. wills on deposit is very large. Estates administration and trust work is of a very special nature, and in a marked degree the conduct of it call's for efficiency, safety, and kindly dealing with the beneficiaries. The office administration provides for all these features in the State guarantee of the Public Trust’s integrity, states the report. '. . The many expressions of appreciation on the part of clients . bear ' witness to the efficient and sympathetic manner in which their affairs have beer! handled, and go to show that nothing is being left undone by the Public Tmstee to secure the proper fulfilment of his vital obligation to render the best possible service in the conduct of his business and in the protection of those whose affairs are handled by him.

DECENTRALISATION. An Important factor in obviating da* lay and speeding up the transaction of business is the scheme of decentralisaton which has been in operation for many years past. In nddition to the representation provided by the District Public Trustees the office has in the smaller centres district managers working under the control of the District Public Trustees,in whose districts they are stationed. Extensions were made during the year by the appointment of district| managers at Pahiatua and Dargaville.; Since the end of the year further appointments have been made at Westport, T'aumarunui, Cambridge, Oamaru, Pukekolie, atid Rotorua. '• ’ ’■

A corollaryVto the common fund system of investment for estates and funds is the finding; of investments for the money that ffows into the common fund. During'the year the volume of investments has been lidavv, the money invested amounting to £4,216,590. . . The office is pot designed as a profitmaking concelm, and its policy is to share with its clients the benefits accruing from successful working and improvements in'j management and control. During t\he year further concessions have bee|i made to clients by way of charges, involving a reduction of thej minimum fee for the administration oY small estates, and in the charges made for the administraticy of compensation moneys. Due recognition has been paid to the human\ element and provision made for securing direct personal attention and' contact in the conduct of the office business. ... It is very gratifying that so many letters of commendation reach the Public Trustee from 'beneficiaries regarding the'manner in which their interests have been safeguarded.

GUARDED BY LAW. The trust relationship is jealously guarded by law, even in, cases where no loss is involved and where there is no charge of an attempt to over-reach or defraud. The investment system in vogue in the Department since 1891, is exceptionally advantageous and offers to clients in the alternative methods of the Common Fund and the social Investment scheme a unique choice. After 'providing for working expenses, allocations to reserves required anti a return for the Government guarantee of the\ common fund any residue, of the earnings is returned in one form or another. tp the clients. After'dealing with training of junior officers tbe report aces on to state that the accounting system has stood the test qf years and meets all demands made upon it. During the anxieties and \ uncertainties of the past eight or nine years the management of landed interests, especially in the case of farming properties, has entailed a great deal of\responsibility and perplexity, but the office has seriously ad-

dressed itself to solving the problem, and overcoming the difficulties, and the efforts have met with a satisfactory measure of success. LAND VALUES. There is widespread evidence that in many cases the remuneration received by the farmer does not represent an adequate return for his labour and capital invested, after he has paid his fixed charges. With the recent fall in produce prices this difficulty lyis necessarily become considerably accentuated. The executive of a fanning organisation has suggested that in order to prescribe. a uniform method of assessing land value's a conference of Government land yaluers should lie summoned by the Valuer-General. It recommends that the basis in assessing valued should be in the main the average productive value or carrying capacity of land, and the average capable management over a period of ten years. To overcome the difficulty created by intricate points of law in the establishment of next-of-kin of intestate estates, a special Act is provided. On behalf of estates under administration the Public Trustee is interested in various public and private companies in the Dominion and elsewhere, find tile total value of shares controlled Is now a very large amount. The Family Protection A ft, death duty- life policies, the liabilities of ah estate, iiiiciaiitied lands a ltd propert”, charitable atlri public trusts, arfe dealt with comprehehrively arid the report continues that everyone with dependents should see 'that adequate provision is made for them as far as cirumstances will permit. Intestacy does not provide for the conservation of an estate over an indefinite period in a manner calculated to the best advantage of beneficiaries. Financial crises in tho United States and a series of occurrences in London, together with the nmite financial nosition in Australia will have all bad important repercussions on the financial nosition in this Dominion, whi"h Have been accentuated by the low redoes obtainable for the Dominion’s chief primary products. Tile position was soon •rejected in the increased demands made upon the offioe funds. Steady progress-was made during the year rewards the eomnletion of various duties imposed: upon the Public Trustee in the liquidation of ex-enemy property in the Dominion.

mi ... ... ... 3,781455 1925 ... ... ... 4,021,809 1920 ... 4,051,447 1927 5,551,019 192S ... ... 6,511,928 1929 7,091350 1930 8,473,916 Total . ... ... 40,682,684