PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4482, 20 October 1922, Page 4

PUBLIC TRUST OFFICE.

ANNUAL REPORT. < In ;hjs annual report the Minister in charge of the Public Trust Office, the Hon. J. G. Coates, says that the present year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Public Trust Office, apd the figures appearing in the report indicate how large a volume the business has assumed : in fact, the year is a record one> the new business transacted having amounted tp £5,383,460. The progress during the past few years has been particularly marked, as is evidenced by the fact that the value of estates and funds under administration, which in 1914 amounted to £12,282,883, has more than doubled itself in the past eight years, being on March. 31, 1922, no less than £25,497,779, notwithstanding the fact the the Office has recently transferred to the newly created Native Trustee assets amounting to £2,250,000.

The growth in the number of wills on deposit has* also been phenomenal. The number held in safe custpily on March 31, 1922, was 31,839. When it is remembered that pp. March 31, 1914, the wills deposited after fprtytwo years of office activity numbered 6427 only, some idea will be gained of the extraordinary advance in this department of the office work during the eight years which have since elapsed. The number of new estates accepted during the year for administration was 2318, pf which no less titan 414 weriC completely administered before the close of the year. This is’ conclusive evidence of prompt administration. Tjhe profits for, tjic year amounted to £11,053, notwithstanding the fact that' concessions amounting tp £57,500 were made tp* the z estates, thereby reducing the -'profits' by that amount The almost total cessation of the realisation o,f assets seriously lessened the income of the Office as compared with what it would have been had normal times been experienced. The present conditions restricted the amount of cash available for. investment, and'helped tp reduce the profits earned.

The principle embodied in the Act ofl 1872, when the New Zealand. Public Trust Office .was founded, has been adopted in other parts of the British Empire, notably in the United Kingdom and some of the Australian States. That the principle of State trusteeship is still arpusing considerable interest is shown by the inquiries Which have been received, during the year, particularly from the United States and from. Canada. Certain gentlemen in the United States of America have been supplied with sets of statutes and other Jiterature bearing on the work of the Public Trust Office, and many of the large trust companies in that country have, at their request,, been furnished with details of the. system. Provision is made by, section 43 of the / Public Trust Office Amendment Act, 1913, for the debiting of losses made by the staff of the Office in the course of the administration • of estates. A reference to the profit and. loss account for the year shows that

the amount required to meet such losses was £6l only. When it is’ chosidered that the Office is administering . estates of a total value of over £25,000,000 it will be readily seen that this creditable result is evidence of careful management.

Special provision has been made for the prompt investment of moneys which are directed to be invested outside the Common Fund of the Office. If investments cannot be found at once the ampujit available is temporarily invested in Common Fund securities until such time as permanent investments can be obtainedThis provision ensures that funds required to be specially invested shad not be idle and unremunerative wTiile desirable investments are being sought and it should commend itself to testators’ and others who desire to avail themselves of the system of special investment of estate funds. During the year funds of estates directed to be specially invested outside the Common Fund have been invested at 6% per cent, or 7 per cent, without any difficulty in obtaining securities. Under the Office Regulations’ the Public Trustee has power to reduce teh amount of the commission .which he is authorised to charge for the administration of estates, and during the past year many reductions have been made in proper cases by the Public Trustee. The .economies which have been effected in the admihistrar tion of the Department are worthy, of special note. The figures appearing in the Public Trustee’s repprt indicate that the total savings’ reach £54,516 per annum, so that although, in-common with other, institutions at the present time, the Office has been faced with a marked decline in revenue, it has not only succeeded in meeting this reduction, but has earned a profit on the year’s transactionsThe Office is serving a useful function in providing facilities for the ready ,and economical administration of estates, and the fact that it has now a history of fifty years’ behind it been fully justified. The place which it holds in the estimation of the community is evidenced by the figures showing the number of wills deposited with, the Public Trustee .and the number of estates voluntarily entrusted to his charge each year.