US Bank To Launch Delaware Trust Office In Wilmington

Eliane Chavagnon

2 May 2013

US Bank is unveiling a Delaware trust office in Wilmington, designed to serve high net worth clients and led by Raymond Radigan, managing director of trust for the Private Client Reserve’s eastern region.

The firm has also brought in Kelly White and Dawn McGill from Wilmington Trust to manage the day-to-day operations of the new office.

White - formerly a vice president and senior relationship manager - joins as a relationship manager, while McGill - latterly a client service advisor - joins as a wealth management special assistant to White.

The PCR is US Bank’s high net worth unit, which serves clients with at least $1 million in investable assets. However, trust services will also be available to clients of Ascent Private Capital Management, the bank’s ultra high net worth business, which serves individuals with at least $50 million in investible assets.

The new office will work with clients’ tax and legal advisors, helping them create specialized trusts in Delaware that “cannot be established in many other jurisdictions.”

Delaware trusts can offer significant income and estate tax benefits, in addition to greater flexibility in establishing multi-generational trusts, including dynasty trusts. A number of firms have made hires to their trust businesses or indeed opened new ones over the past year, as developments in the US tax code - such as the 2010 Tax Relief Act - have driven demand for these services, industry professionals have said.

In June 2012, Harris myCFO, the US-based family office advisory unit of BMO Financial Group, unveiled BMO Delaware Trust Company. By establishing a presence in Delaware, the firm said its UHNW clients would have significantly more flexibility in planning strategies. The same month, Citi Private Bank, which established its first international trust company in 1960, took on Jane Monahan as director and head of its Delaware Trust business.

US Bank already offers similar services through a trust office in South Dakota.

Meanwhile, US Bank has been hiring steadily for its high net worth and ultra high net worth businesses for many months now, in a sign that it is making a determined effort to grow in these markets. It has hired in San Francisco, Chicago, Naples and Minneapolis, to name a few.