Decades of Insightful Trust Administration
About Us
Committed to Your Objectives
San Pasqual Trust was founded in 2007 by professionals with decades of experience as trustees.
We are a private financial institution, state-chartered in both California and Nevada. We are the first California-based trust company that provides “trustee only” services.
As a “trustee only” company, we avoid the inherent conflict associated with other trust firms that also sell their own investment advisory approaches or products.
We are committed to implementing your plan and objectives for future generations.
Our Founders
Philip V.
Swan
Philip V. Swan (deceased) was the founder and CEO of the investment firm Philip V. Swan and Associates in Pasadena (now Clifford Swan). He was the Chairman of the Board of San Pasqual Trust from 2007 through 2016 and served as a private trustee for families from 2000 through 2016.
Richard S. Arnold
Richard S. Arnold was originally an estate planning attorney with O’Melveny and Myers, later led the trust division of J.P. Morgan California, and has been a private trustee since 1987. He was the first President of San Pasqual Trust and served in that role from 2007 to 2011. He has continually been a member of San Pasqual Trust boards since the firm was founded.
Richard H.
Patterson, Jr.
Richard H. Patterson, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of San Pasqual Trust, was a partner and trust and estates litigation attorney in a Los Angeles law firm. He then served as Vice President and General Counsel of Braille Institute of America for eleven years. He was a private trustee from 1998 until 2007 when San Pasqual Trust received its charter from the state of California.
By the Numbers
280
client and family
relationships
Working in teams, we maintain low client-to-professional ratios. This allows us to remain accessible and able to serve the unique needs of each client.
$4B+
assets under
administration
In addition to cash and marketable securities, we administer trusts with complex assets including real estate, operating businesses, unique collections, oil and gas interests, and intellectual property holdings.
75+
investment management relationships
We most often administer assets managed by investment firms with whom our clients have longstanding relationships. We eliminate the conflict inherent in managing assets ourselves and focus on asset allocation and performance monitoring.
From the CEO
Thank you for your consideration of San Pasqual Fiduciary Trust Company. Our firm was founded in 2007 and is a privately held trust company with charters in California and Nevada. San Pasqual Trust of California is based in Los Angeles. San Pasqual Trust of Nevada is headquartered in Reno. Our firm administers revocable and irrevocable trusts, most often put in place for the lifetime of children and grandchildren. We also serve as trustee for other types of trusts requiring a corporate trustee, and we administer private foundations and charitable trusts.
Our trust company business model is unique – we do not engage in wealth management. Our model eliminates a conflict inherent with every trust company that manages trust assets. We do not have in-house investment funds, nor do we earn fees from managing marketable securities or real estate. We outsource all investment and real estate management, in most cases to the investment manager or managers the family or client has worked with for many years. We do not receive rebates, referral fees or any other form of compensation from any firm. We are focused on trust administration.
Our clients have the benefit of San Pasqual Trust being a regulated financial institution. We are examined by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and by the Nevada Financial Institutions Division. We also have internal and external audits of our financials and operations on an annual basis, and those audits are reviewed by our Boards of Directors and provided to our regulators.
All of the principals of San Pasqual Trust serve clients – we do not have anyone in our firm devoted solely to business development. Our team members do not have sales goals and are not compensated for bringing in business. The commitment of senior management and our team to direct client service sets us apart. The professional experience of our team is also exceptional. Four of our team members, including our firm President and our CFO, are former CPAs – two were at one time with Arthur Andersen and one with Deloitte. Five of our trust officers are attorneys. In addition, we have three trust officers who hold the CTFA (Certified Trust and Financial Advisor) designation. We have other trust officers who have worked as paralegals for estate planning law firms and administered trusts in that capacity. As mentioned above, San Pasqual Trust is a privately held corporation and the principals of the firm are all shareholders. We are fortunate to be able to provide equity awards to our team. We do everything possible to avoid a “revolving door” of trust professionals.
Our firm is currently acting as trustee for approximately 280 client and family groups and we are named as successor trustee in many other relationships. We have doubled in size over the past four years and now hold approximately $4 Billion in trust assets.
Other things that make San Pasqual Trust unique – we do not have an “800 number,” our trust officers endeavor to be accessible and responsive to our clients, and we are less bureaucratic than other financial institutions. When needed, we take action quickly rather than making a client wait two weeks or a month (or more) for a decision.
We are honored so many individuals and families have chosen San Pasqual Trust to serve in the important role of trustee or co-trustee, entrusting us to complete their estate settlement and carry out the plans they have in place for their heirs. Please contact us with questions – we are happy to provide you with more information.
Richard H Patterson, Jr.
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
213.452.8530 – rpatterson@spftc.com
In Memoriam
Philip V. Swan
1929–2017
Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, 2007–2016
We acknowledge and will forever appreciate the contributions of our co-founder, Philip V. Swan (1929–2017). Phil Swan was in the investment management business for most of his career, retiring from his investment firm, now Clifford Swan Investment Counselors, in 2000. He then worked as a private trustee well into his eighties and served as chairman of San Pasqual Trust from 2007 to 2016. It was Phil’s vision to create a California state-chartered trust company that would not manage assets in-house, eliminating the conflict inherent with every trust company that also engages in wealth management. Phil also understood the importance of a trust company truly focused on client service, and one that would provide children and grandchildren the benefit of working with same family advisors used by their parents and grandparents. To this day, the memory of Phil’s energy and enthusiasm and his commitment to the care and well-being of his clients guide everyone at San Pasqual Trust California and San Pasqual Trust Nevada.
Community Involvement
In response to challenges faced by residents of the greater Los Angeles area arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, our firm formed a Philanthropic Task Force to provide volunteer services and monetary support to charities in Southern California and Northern Nevada. The PTF is comprised of any member of the San Pasqual Trust team who wishes to participate. The firm allocates funds to the PTF, and the committee members determine the charities to receive our volunteer and financial support. All members of our team can also make gifts to the charities selected by the PTF, which serves to enhance the PTF’s impact. In the past year, the PTF has designated gifts to Communities In Schools of Los Angeles, Heal the Bay, the Downtown Los Angeles YMCA and Hope for Firefighters.
The firm also encourages our team to volunteer, during business hours, for the charities selected by the PTF. Our team has served on site at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the Northern Nevada Food Bank, Midnight Mission and the Hope for Firefighters event in downtown Los Angeles, and at beach clean-up events for Heal the Bay. And there is always strong firm participation in the YMCA Stair Climb, which supports the Downtown Los Angeles Y.
The Trust Endowed Fund
Inspired by co-founder Phil Swan’s philanthropic commitment and in honor of his service as a board member of the Pasadena Community Foundation, our firm established the San Pasqual Trust Endowment which supports PCF’s grantmaking in Pasadena and Southern California. The fund allows PCF to fund grants in their discretion to address community needs where they can make the greatest impact.
Charities We Support
