When to switch your wholesale fund trustee: 7 signs it’s time for a change

Most fund managers do not think about their trustee very often, and that is usually a good sign. A trustee that works quietly in the background, gets things done on time, and never causes a surprise is doing exactly what it should. But when the relationship is not working, the cost shows up everywhere: delayed capital calls, frustrated investors, compliance gaps, and a creeping sense that you are managing service providers rather than your fund.

1. Turnaround times are too slow

In funds management, speed matters. A capital call that should go out within a week takes three. A new investor waits weeks for AML/KYC. Slow turnaround is usually structural — the provider is too large to prioritise smaller funds, or processes are designed around the provider’s convenience rather than yours. Whatever the cause, investors blame the fund manager, not the trustee, for delays they experience.

2. Fees keep going up without a clear explanation

Annual fee increases are normal. But step-changes, surprise out-of-scope charges, or fees scaling faster than fund complexity are all worth questioning. A good trustee explains its fees clearly and proactively. A trustee that is defensive or vague about fees is often signalling the numbers will not stand up to scrutiny.

3. Your investor experience is suffering

Investors notice late reports, statement errors, clunky portals, and slow query responses. They may not always complain directly, but the friction shows up in slower follow-on subscriptions and harder AGM conversations. Your trustee is part of the service experience you offer investors.

4. The fund has outgrown the trustee

A trustee that was right at $10 million may not be the right partner at $50 million or $100 million. Larger funds need more sophisticated NAV calculations, more frequent reporting, better technology, stronger compliance frameworks, and established relationships with larger auditors and custodians.

5. Your strategy is changing and your trustee cannot keep up

Strategies evolve. Does your trustee have experience in the asset class you are moving into? Can they accommodate sub-trusts, feeder structures, new fee arrangements? Will they support new investor types? If the answer to any of these is no, your trustee is becoming a constraint on your growth.

6. Compliance feels reactive rather than proactive

A good trustee flags issues before they become problems, monitors regulatory change, and brings you compliance updates that matter to your strategy. Signs of reactive compliance: you hear about ASIC publications from other sources, reviews feel like tick-box exercises, and your trustee has not raised any observations in the last twelve months.

7. You no longer have a relationship with the people doing the work

In a healthy trustee relationship, you know the people, have a direct line to a senior manager, and decisions can be made on a phone call. In a deteriorating one: your senior contacts have moved on, requests go through a generic inbox, and you feel like a small client in a large firm — because you are.

What to do if more than one of these resonates

Document the issues, raise them with your current trustee, benchmark alternatives, understand the transition process, and consider timing. Switching is a normal part of the funds management lifecycle — the right partner at launch is not always the right partner three years in.

Working with FundPro

FundPro is an independent provider of licensing, trustee and fund administration services to investment managers across private credit, property, venture capital, private equity and other unlisted asset classes in Australia. Our directors James Watson and Jonathan Raymond personally manage each engagement. Get in touch at info@fundpro.com.au.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice.