Trust officer at Absa

Job Summary

• To administer trusts including: Testamentary Trusts, Agencies, Living Trusts and Curatorships in accordance with the Trust Mandate. Responsible for taking all assets forming part of the trust into possession and to invest and administer these to the optimal benefit of the beneficiaries within the parameters of the Trust document and legislation.

Job Description

Accountability:  General Administration of Trusts

• Keep abreast of knowledge and skills relevant to the area of work by reading all communication received from legal department and attending all informative sessions (updates received from legal department, broadcasts etc.)
• Receive newly opened trust file for Testamentary or Inter Vivos Trust from Assistant Administrator: Trust and / or Administrator: Trust and approve that the information was captured correctly according to information in the Will or Trust Deed.
• Prepare the letter to SARS (to register as taxpayer) and attach the trust document.
• Hand this letter to register as a taxpayer to the mailing department for mailing to SARS.
•     Prepare the first letter (welcome and informative letter) to the client according to the Trust Manual. Attach the needs analysis form to the client's letter and hand these documents to the mailing department mail to the client
•     Provide security to the Master of the High Court when needed as a requirement in the Will or as set out in the court order in the case of a third party inter vivos trust, by completing the necessary documentation. The documents to be completed will be those required by the insurance company who stands surety for Absa Trust, obtain the nominated trustee's signature and arrange for payment of the premium to the insurance company.
•     Prepare the Acceptance of Trusteeship, obtain the nominated trustee's signature and attach the other necessary documentation (which could be the existing Letter's of Authority, poof of advertisement, Inventory etc.) according to the Master of the High Court's requirements to be submitted to the Master of the High Court.
•     Take responsibility for the legal operationing of the trust by diarising and following up on issuing of Letters of Authority by the Master of the High Court within reasonable time. (A trustee cannot act legally if the Letters of Authority had not been issued)
•     Arrange insurance on fixed properties according to the replacement value of  the property and ensure annual payments of the premiums. (The Trust manual stipulates the process to be followed when insuring trust assets as well as the reports which are printed monthly to remind them on premiums to be paid.)
•     Arrange for the monthly rates and taxes bill to be mailed to Absa Trust and ensure payment upon receipt. Write to the different municipalities for change of address and obtain confirmation. Diarise to follow up monthly if the bills were received for payment.
•     Arrange with renting agencies to find a tenant it the Trust has a fixed property as an asset and collect the rent
•     Advertise to find a tenant if there is no renting agency involved and then prepare the necessary lease agreement and monthly on behalf of the trust obtain approval from the relevant parties (the tenant and the nominee for Absa Trust). Make practical arrangements
• with the tenant to ensure collection of the rent timeously. ( the receival of the rent must be followed up monthly and the Trust Officer needs to diarise if the tenant will make a direct deposit into the Trust's bank account, pay by check etc.)
•     If the Trust has other assets like furniture, cars, policies etc, ensure proper transfer into the name of the trust, and arrange insurance to minimize risk for Absa Trust or Trustees. Follow up on the payment of the premiums (annual or monthly) by working through the specific reports printed from the trust system, as indicated in the Trust manual.
•     Prepare monthly debit orders for payment of allowances on the Trust system in terms of the client's needs analysis and hand it to the Trust manager for approval.
•     Evaluate requests (i.e. allowances, schoolfees) received from clients according to the guidelines in the Trust manual and prepare recommendation for submission to the Trust Manager. Attach all necessary documentary proof.
•     After approval, prepare the debit order for payment of the request in accordance with the approved amount, sign the debit order and hand to the Trust Manager to co-sign before handing it to the Administration department to capture. 
•    Facilitate ad-hoc payments to clients in the same manner as the monthly allowances.
• Evaluate the requests by considering the trust capital, termination date of the trust, client's circumstances etc.; as guided in the Trust manual.
•    Facilitate all correspondence to clients via letter, sms, e-mail.
•     Handle daily incoming and outgoing mail, faxes, e-mails and telephone enquiries from clients, municipalities, brokers, insurance companies etc. (all people or institutions who need to communicate with Absa Trust as Trustee of the trust)
•     Revise investment portfolios regularly (as per the Trust Manual) to ensure that the investment policy is being adhered to.
•   Ensure liquidity of funds by timeously arranging for investments to be realised.
• Withdraw funds from the money market by liasing with the investment managers.
•    Calculate the fees to be taken and give instructions to the administration department for collection of all fees to which Absa Trust is entitled; i.e. Acceptance fees, Distribution fees, Management fees, Income tax fees
•    Conduct general filing of correspondence, yearend statements and returned
• Certificates of Maintenance.
•     Prepare termination statements of the trusts to be terminated and verify the calculations made of the trust capital available and amount available for distribution according to the trust system. (There is no draft and the information is available on the trust system.)
•     Give instructions to the administration for final payments of trust capital to be paid out to clients via debit order.
•     Prepare final letters and the receipt to clients so that they can acknowledge receipt of their inheritance from the trust
•     Hand over terminated file to Assistant Trust Officer prepare for binding and storage in strongroom.

Accountability:  Client Services

    Interact with walk-in and telephone clients on a daily basis when they come in to discuss matters relating to their trust.
    Attend to requests and queries received per sms, e-mail, mail or fax on a daily basis, by evaluating requests and make payments.
    Keep clients informed of processes, procedures and progresses of their Trust Fund so that they can be updated on income earned, investment made, payments and expences.
    Adhere to the guidelines of Service Level Agreements with the different service providers (Brokers, Attorneys, Investment companies, Absa Fund Managers). These agreements are put in place so that Absa Trust gets the services they expect in order to give good services to the clients.

Accountability:  Investments

•     Create investment proposals for New Funds received using the Latest Investment model according to the Trust Manual to ensure that investments are done according to the FAIS act, Trust manual and the approved Investment model.
•     Review existing investment compositions of all the trusts under administration, annually or as prescribed in the Trust Manual to comply with legislation and to make sure that the trust monies are invested optimally.
•    Lay the proposed investments before the Investment Committee in their weekly meetings and discuss the reasoning, to obtain the Committee's approval
•     Give the necessary instructions to the administration department for the placing of the different investments as approved by the Investment Committee
•    File Investment proposals in the Trust File for record keeping purposes.

Accountability:  Check accuracy of Risks/Reports

•     Check risk reports (reconciliations, overdrafts, uninvested funds, new trusts, trusts to be terminated etc) on a monthly basis for discrepancies as these serve as management tools that ensure that available funds are invested timeously, reconciliations are done monthly, overdrafts are limited or authorised by the Trust manager etc.
•     Work through the different reports and correct transactions and details where applicable to check that the information on the investments and bank account reconcile with the information on the trust systems
•     Indicate reasons for discrepancies and correction measures on the reports, sign off and date as per prescribed rules in the Trust manual.
•     Hand over the reports to Trust Manager on or before the due date as agreed upon from time to time in the trust office between the staff and management, and in line with the recommendation by internal audit.
•     Give instructions to the administration department for implementation of the correction measures where necessary.

Accountability:  Formulate year end statements

•     Check the accuracy of the financial statements and make changes as required by capturing the changes on the system if necessary. (The preferred language might be wrong as well as the codes use for capturing transactions.) Sort statements annually as prescribed in the manual, in the office per trust.
•     Verify that the tax schedule and certificate of maintenance were attached to the yearend statement before these are mailed to the client
•     Prepare Manual Statements where necessary, that is if the client request us to do so or if the trust has assets which is not captured on the trust system
•     Verify that the yearend statements were mailed to all the beneficiaries who are entitled to one, by working through the client lists to check that a statement was mailed to each client.
•     Follow up on outstanding addresses, by trying to contact the client on any other address or telephone number and update the trust system accordingly.
•     Follow up by comparing returned mail and information already captured on the trust system to ensure that all the Certificates of Maintenance that were sent out, are returned. Once received, update the Trust System for audit purposes.
•     Where there are outstanding Certificates on the respective due date, implement the measures according to the Trust Manual to ensure compliance with the Trust Manual.

Accountability:  SARS E-filing

•     Verify that the annual IT12TR returns for all the Trusts under administration were submitted to SARS on or before the due date, by working through the list of accounts under management and comparing it to printouts received from e-filing reflecting the information on tax returns submitted.
•     Submit the bi-annual Provisional Tax returns for all the Trusts under administration on or before the relevant due dates
•     Give instructions for payments to SARS where applicable of taxes due, within the time limits.
•     Ensure that the different Assessments received from SARS is correct and sign off accordingly by checking the calculations on the IT 34 received from SARS with the
• Trust Information for correctness.
•     Verify that the Assessments (IT 34's) were printed and filed in the Trust file for audit purposes, by working through the list of account under management and compare it with the printouts received from e-filing about the issued assessments. 
   

Education

• Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC): Financial Sciences (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised