PERPETUAL TRUSTEES COMPANY, LIMITED,

Southland Times, Issue 24460, 13 June 1941, Page 3

PERPETUAL TRUSTEES COMPANY, LIMITED,

FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING The fifty-seventh annual meeting of the Perpetual Trustees Estate and Agency Company of New Zealand, Ltd., was held in the board room of the company on Tuesday, June 10. Mr Edgar Hazlett, chairman of directors, presided, and he was supported by the following:—Messrs W. Downie Stewart, James Begg, C. Stanley Smith, W. R. Brown, R. J. Gilmoui- (Invercargill), E. G. Kerr (Timaru), R. K. Ireland (Oamaru), A. R. Turnbull (North Canterbury), H. S. Lawrence (Christchurch) and the general manager, Mr A. Ibbotson. Apologies were received from Messrs W. Somerville and T. Coull, and the meeting was well attended.

CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS When we met last year we all had hopes that the wai’ might have been over by now, said the chairman. These hopes have not been fulfilled and the conflict continues with all its many tragedies. We are all confident that the victory will eventually be ours. Numerous clients of ours are away on active service as are many members of our staff. We have clients living in Great Britain, South Africa, Canada, Australia and other countries. Their private affairs here are managed by this company and we have had many acknowledgements of the good work carried out by our trained staff on their behalf. Taxation work continues to increase in volume and now demands a very considerable amount of time and attention on the part of the staff. Temporary vacancies on our staff, through our men going on active service, have been filled in the meantime by young ladies coming to our assistance, and their work has been very helpful. The provisions for supplementing the salaries of those members of our staff on active service have been arranged on a 'oasis that we believe to be satisfactory to those concerned. A vacancy on our Board of Directors has been filled by the appointment of Mr William R. Brown. Mr Brown was recently president of the New Zealand Society of Accountants, and has had long experience of accountancy work in Otago. His father, the late Mr James Brown, well-known in the commercial j world, was a strong and valued sup- j porter of this company. The board feels sure shareholders will approve of Mr Brown’s appointment as a director of this company. DEATH DUTIES

A matter - of considerable moment to executors and trustees is developing through the high incidence of death duties and the present difficulties of realizing assets. Because the duties have to be paid within a few months of the decease, the executors find themselves forced to realize the more readily saleable and attractive assets. This has the effect of leaving the estate with the more doubtful or perhaps unsaleable assets with which to carry out the trusts of the will.

After the duties have been paid, the legacies, if any, left by a testator have to be paid out. Again, unless there are special directions in the will that the legacies are not to be paid immediately, the best of the remaining assets may have to be sold. Greater care and thought have, therefore, to be given in these days both by testators and their legal advisers as to the constitution of the assets of the estate in question and as to whether legacies should be bequeathed, and if so, when they should become payable. No doubt the chief emphasis will be required to be placed on the testator’s duty to the members of his own family to make sure that their interests may not be jeopardized. A year ago I stated how necessary it was to stress again and again the wisdom of testators revising their wills periodically because of these rapidly changing times and of new circumstances and prospects affecting one’s life and property. The need to do so is just as urgent today as it was then, and I have no hesitation in again drawing your attention to this matter.

LEGISLATION It was not anticipated that any legislation which would directly affect our class of business would be enacted during the past year except perhaps legislation of a financial nature. However, a piece of tax legislation of major importance was passed in part IV of the Finance Act, 1940, which had the effect of increasing and altering the rates of death duties on estates and gifts to what may be termed the high water mark of taxation on capital. Some consternation was caused when it was found that charitable bequests and gifts were not to be exempt from duty, but, fortunately, the seriousness of this alteration was indicated to the Government, and a clause in the Finance Act (No. 2), 1940, restored this very proper exemption. It will be realized that the raising and payment of death duties, amounting in the larger estates to over 50 per cent., will impose on executors much greater difficulty and anxiety than has heretofore been experienced by them. It is obvious that to meet the duties the liquid and saleable assets will be the first to be disposed of, thus leaving the more difficult and doubtful assets in the hands of trustees to administer according to the trusts of the will.

As I have already said, very great care and foresight will, therefore have to be exercised by testators in preparing their wills to ensure that that part of their estates which is left after payment of duties and expenses may be dealt with in a practical manner. The powers of trustees to invest trust funds have been enlarged by the National Savings Act, 1940, which empowers trustees to invest in any national savings investment account. The Fair Rents Act, 1936, has been further extended to September 30, 1941. BRANCHES Our branches at Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru, Timaru, and Christchurch continue to show steady progress and to provide moderately remunerative results. Your directors consider that the purpose in view when establishing branches outside of Dunedin has been accomplished and that these branch businesses have added to and will continue to add to the usefulness of our institution as a trustee company. I desire to place on record our indebtedness to our branch directors— Messrs R. J. Gilmour, of Invercargill, R. K. Ireland, of Oamaru, E. G. Kerr, of Timaru and A. R. Turnbull and H. S. Lawrence, of Christchurch—and also to add a word of appreciation of the work of our branch managers and their respective staffs. To my co-directors resident in Dunedin, I desire to express my appreciation of their co-oper-ation at all times so willingly given and of the work of the staff at head office and Dunedin branch. The chairman then commented upon various aspects of the annual accounts and the upward trend in the volume of the company’s business as indicated by the figures, and concluded by moving the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheets. Mr William R. Brown, in seconding the adoption of the report and balance sheet, said the chairman had so fully and clearly covered the affairs of the company that it left little for comment in a general way. The more he learned of the active operations of this com-

i pany, the still further convinced he i became of the valuable service such an j institution offers to the public. With the increasing complexities of the various forms of taxation, it is a great comfort to know that such an institution as the Perpetual Trustees Company is available and at the disposal of all who care to take advantage of the services which it has to offer. It had the advantages of a trained and expert personnel and also permanency, and was peculiarly fitted to bring to bear an entirely impersonal attitude to the problems with which it had to deal. Mr Brown dealt with the favourable position in which New Zealand was placed as compared with some other parts of the Empire, and he instanced some war legislation necessary in the Mother Country for the adjustment of liabilities. “May God forbid such a state of emergency will arise in our Dominion,” said Mr Brown, “but if it should the clients of the Perpetual Trustees Company can rest assured that should they be implicated their affairs will be in the hands of competent persons skilled in the handling of such matters.” DIRECTORS AND AUDITORS On the motion of Mr J. Sutherland Ross, seconded by Mr J. S. Skinner, the retiring directors—Messrs Edgar C. Hazlett, R. J. Gilmour and W. Downie Stewart—were reappointed. Mr F. G. Duncan proposed and Mr P. H. Power seconded the reappointment of tire auditors. VOTE OF THANKS A vote of thanks to the directors and staff was proposed by Mr Nat Paterson and was replied to by the chairman (Mr E. C. Hazlett) and the general manager (Mr A. Ibbotson). (Extended report by arrangement.)