Pension Manager Jobs

Trust department managers are responsible for ensuring that the trust department meets all of its goals. These usually include obtaining a specified number of new trust clients, providing excellent service to all clients, and executing the various trusts according to the clients’ wishes

. The trust department may also have the goal of increasing its clients’ assets (investments) by a target percentage. Trust department managers will need to develop strategies to meet these goals, and then make sure that these strategies are properly executed by the department’s employees.

The trust manager is also responsible for making sure that employees in the department are conducting all trust business according to bank policies and federal laws. Trust accounts carry various tax consequences and reporting requirements. The manager must know these and develop policies and procedures that ensure that these are being met for all trust accounts.

They may assist in the development of the bank’s trust policies, and make sure that the trust accounts meet these guidelines. Managers may help resolve some client disputes or problems. Trust department managers also look at department staffing needs. They want to keep the work flowing as efficiently as possible, especially all legal and tax reporting, statements to clients, and required trust disbursements. To that end, they look to see if there are appropriate numbers of people working on the various accounts, and if these people are properly trained and performing at optimum levels. If not, managers may ask supervisors or trainers to work with the staff to improve their performance.

Like other banking managers, trust department managers may need to provide leadership and motivation. Since managing involves working closely with both employees and customers, you should enjoy working with people in this position. If you enjoy managing and leading a team of employees, being in a position of trust and confidence of important bank clients, and developing strategies and goals this may be the right career path for you.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the future outlook for bank managers in general is good, and the overall number of banking jobs is expected to grow over the next ten years.

Educational Requirements

Trust department managers are expected to hold a bachelor’s degree in a field related to banking, finance, or business. Some banks prefer employees with an education in accounting or economics. Often, banking institutions expect or encourage their management employees to earn a master’s degree in business administration, especially in these leadership positions.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

You will need to possess quite a bit of knowledge, skills, and abilities if you want to become a trust department manager. While some banks require a slightly different skill set than others, most banks expect trust department managers to have extensive previous experience in the banking industry as well as in trust departments. Most banks usually require a minimum of three to five years of previous experience. Managers are expected to have a thorough knowledge of trust department products and services, as well as bank and federal banking regulations and policies associated with them.

Since trust department managers are responsible for managing employees, banks expect these employees to have excellent leadership skills, and be able to make decisions for the department and customers based on bank policy and products and services available. Some banks also expect trust department managers to have project management skills. Depending on the bank, the manager may also be required to have excellent salesmanship skills, in order to grow the trust department and bring in new trust clients. Trust department managers should be able to motivate their team of employees to provide excellent customer service.

Because trust department managers may interact with the public on a daily basis, they should possess excellent communication skills. They also frequently juggle multiple tasks and priorities and so should have good organizational and time management skills. Trust department managers should also have strong problem-solving and analytical skills, and be able to think strategically.

Average Salary

The average salary for trust managers can vary widely from bank to bank and state to state. The bottom line is, though, that these professionals do well financially. According to www.salary.com, trust department leaders can earn anywhere from $108,000 per year to more than $300,000 per year.

Potential Career Paths

Trust department managers have a few potential career paths, especially at a large bank. If the trust department manager is managing a smaller department, he or she could be promoted to a larger, more prominent department. Trust department managers could also be promoted to a position that manages multiple departments. Other potential advancement opportunities for trust department managers include being promoted to executive positions such as vice president, or moving to a different bank where the trust department is larger.

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