Georgia § 53-12-340 - Investment standard.

§ 53-12-340. Investment standard.

A trustee shall invest and manage trust assets as a prudent investor would by considering the purposes, provisions, distribution requirements, and other circumstances of the trust. In satisfying this standard, the trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution. A trustee's investment and management decisions respecting individual assets shall be evaluated not in isolation but in the context of the trust portfolio as a whole and as a part of an overall investment strategy having risk and return objectives reasonably suited to the trust. Among the factors that a trustee shall consider in investing and managing trust assets are such of the following as are relevant to the trust or its beneficiaries: General economic conditions; The possible effect of inflation or deflation; Anticipated tax consequences; The attributes of the portfolio; The expected return from income and appreciation; Needs for liquidity, regularity of income, and preservation or appreciation of capital; An asset's special relationship or special value, if any, to the purposes of the trust or to one or more of the beneficiaries or to the settlor; The anticipated duration of the trust; and Any special circumstances. In investing and managing trust assets, the trustee may consider the personal values of the beneficiaries, including but not limited to a desire to engage in investing strategies that align with social, political, religious, philosophical, environmental, governance, or other values or beliefs of the beneficiaries. Any determination of liability for investment performance shall consider not only the performance of a particular investment but also the performance of the portfolio as a whole and as a part of an overall investment strategy having risk and return objectives reasonably suited to the trust. A trustee shall make a reasonable effort to verify facts relevant to the investment and management of trust assets. A trustee may invest in any kind of property or type of investment consistent with the standards of this article. A trustee who has special investment skills or expertise shall have a duty to use those special skills or expertise. A trustee who is named trustee in reliance upon such trustee's representation that such trustee has special investment skills or expertise shall be held liable for failure to make use of such degree of skill or expertise. In investing and managing trust assets, a trustee may only incur costs that are appropriate and reasonable in relation to the assets, the purposes of the trust, and the skills of the trustee. A trustee that is a bank or trust company shall not be precluded from acquiring and retaining the securities of or other interests in an investment company or investment trust because the bank or trust company or an affiliate provides services to the investment company or investment trust as investment adviser, custodian, transfer agent, registrar, sponsor, distributor, manager, or otherwise and receives compensation for such services, if the costs are otherwise appropriate and reasonable in relation to the assets. (Code 1981, § 53-12-340 , enacted by Ga. L. 2010, p. 579, § 1/SB 131; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-86/HB 865.) The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, substituted "A trustee shall invest and manage trust assets as a prudent investor would by" for "In investing and managing trust property, a trustee shall exercise the judgment and care under the circumstances then prevailing of a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters," and inserted ", and other circumstances" and added the second sentence; added present subsections (b), (d), (f), (g), and (i) and redesignated former subsections (b), (c), (d) and (f) as present subsections (c), (e), (h) and (j); substituted a semicolon for a comma in paragraph (c)(4); deleted former subsection (e), which read: "A trustee may invest in any kind of property or type of investment consistent with the standards of this article."; and added ", if the costs are otherwise appropriate and reasonable in relation to the assets" at the end of subsection (j).