FiduciaryBenchmark — Independent Annual Review of Fiduciary Process

Why an annual review

The law judges your process, not your returns. Courts evaluate whether fiduciaries followed a sound, documented process at regular intervals — and recent decisions have made the quality of your documentation the center of the fight.
The gaps are cheap now and expensive later. An unreviewed investment policy, an undocumented fee comparison, a missing annual review memo — none costs much to fix this year. All of them cost dearly in a dispute.
Demonstrated process is evidence you control. Beneficiary relationships, renewal conversations with fiduciary-liability insurers, successor-trustee transitions — all go better with an independent written record in hand.

Methodology

Send the working documents. Governing instruments, investment policy statement (if one exists), account statements, fee schedules, meeting minutes or review memos — whatever your process actually produces.
Analysis against published standards. Our software and analysts review policy adequacy, benchmark selection, fee reasonableness against comparable alternatives, documentation completeness, and monitoring cadence.
An experienced professional reviews every finding. Context matters: what looks like a gap sometimes has a sound reason. Findings with legitimate explanations are set aside and documented as such — that documentation is itself part of your record.
You get the report, and the fix-list. What holds up, what needs attention, and a practical path for each item that does — so next year's review is cleaner than this year's. Reviewed annually thereafter.

Illustrative example — not an actual client

A family trustee with a sensible portfolio and clean intentions — but no written investment policy, no documented fee comparison, and no record of annual reviews. The investing was defensible; the process was invisible. In a beneficiary dispute, the missing paper costs more than any investment decision ever did. An annual review finds exactly this, while it's a filing problem instead of a litigation problem.

What happens after your review

If everything checks out

You get that in writing, with the numbers. That documented clean bill is the point of an annual review — evidence for your file, dated before anyone asked for it.

If the review finds gaps

If a review finds something, it's usually fixable. The report pairs each finding with a practical path, so it gets fixed while it's a filing problem instead of a litigation problem — and next year's review, with the gaps closed, becomes the clean written record. When you want independent confirmation for your file, a licensed professional can review the findings and sign an opinion; they are paid the same whether they note a gap or clear it, which is exactly what makes their clearance worth showing.

How we build a review — the full method →

Prudence is a process. Once a year, prove yours.

Why an annual review

Methodology

What happens after your review

One engagement. One flat annual fee.

Reserve a place — no payment today