057: Understanding the Uniform Prudent Investor Act with Jeremy Lau
Sam Price sits down with Jeremy Lau of Prudent Investors to unpack what happens the moment a successor trustee inherits an investment portfolio. Most fiduciaries know they have a job to do. Few understand the Uniform Prudent Investor Act actually governs how they do it, from diversification to tax sensitivity to monitoring costs that never show up on a brokerage statement.
Jeremy walks through the hidden expense ratios buried inside mutual funds, why a trading program with hundreds of tiny positions can quietly balloon trust accounting fees into the tens of thousands, and what separates a financial advisor who protects a fiduciary from one who leaves them exposed. He also breaks down risk tolerance as two distinct factors, not one, and explains why an investment policy statement matters more than most successor trustees realize.
This episode hands fiduciaries a checklist they didn't know they needed.
In this episode, you will hear:
- What a successor trustee actually inherits when a settlor passes away
- The Uniform Prudent Investor Act and why it applies to fiduciaries, not financial advisors
- Risk tolerance as two separate factors, ability and willingness, not one
- Hidden costs inside mutual funds and ETFs that never appear on a brokerage statement
- How a trading program with hundreds of tiny positions can balloon trust accounting fees
- Why an investment policy statement protects a fiduciary who delegates investment decisions
- What to look for when choosing a financial advisor to manage trust assets
Resources from this Episode
https://www.prudentinvestors.com
The 6-Stage Probate Process: How to Navigate California Probate: https://a.co/d/82310Rw
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