Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM

, By Douglas Moore, managing director and U.S. head of estate & charitable planning, Citi Trust, New Y

By Douglas Moore, managing director and U.S. head of estate & charitable planning, Citi Trust, New Y

The variety of alternative investments available to the public has exploded in the last 10 years — just as prudent investor standards have empowered trustees to explore strategies that better serve clients. No wonder that fiduciaries increasingly consider and choose alternative investments for trusts and other estate-planning structures. And naturally, they have to get up to speed very quickly on this brave new world of alternative investments, that is to say private equity, hedge funds and commercial real estate funds. (See “So, What Exactly Is an Alternative Investment?” p. 44.)

Not all trusts-and-estates professionals have kept pace. While some are well-versed in alternative investments, many of even the most sophisticated practitioners still are at the beginning of the learning curve. Yet all involved in investing for wealthy clients — and that can mean lawyers, fiduciaries, investment committee members, accountants and clients — need to go beyond merely understanding what alternative investments are, their promises and pitfalls. Advisors of all stripes need to take a hard look at what using alternatives can mean in various legal structures and become well-versed in exactly how fiduciaries should handle these investments.