TITLE 18
Fiduciaries
CHAPTER 18-15
Rhode Island Uniform Prudent Investor Act
SECTION 18-15-2
§ 18-15-2 Standard of care
Portfolio strategy Risk and return objectives.
(a) A trustee shall invest and manage trust assets as a prudent investor would,
by considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other
circumstances of the trust. In satisfying this standard, the trustee shall
exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution.
(b) A trustee's investment and management decisions
respecting individual assets must be evaluated not in isolation but in the
context of the trust portfolio as a whole and as part of an overall investment
strategy having risk and return objectives reasonably suited to the trust.
(c) Among circumstances that a trustee shall consider in
investing and managing trust assets are any of the following that are relevant
to the trust or its beneficiaries:
(1) General economic conditions;
(2) The possible effect of inflation or deflation;
(3) The expected tax consequences of investment decisions or
strategies;
(4) The role that each investment or course of action plays
within the overall trust portfolio, which may include financial assets,
interests in closely held enterprises, tangible and intangible personal
property, and real property;
(5) The expected total return from income and the
appreciation of capital;
(6) Other resources of the beneficiaries;
(7) Needs for liquidity, regularity of income, and
preservation or appreciation of capital; and
(8) An asset's special relationship or special value, if any,
to the purposes of the trust or to one or more of the beneficiaries.
(d) A trustee shall make a reasonable effort to verify facts
relevant to the investment and management of trust assets.
(e) A trustee may invest in any kind of property or type of
investment consistent with the standards of this chapter.
(f) A trustee who has special skills or expertise, or is
named trustee in reliance upon the trustee's representation that the trustee
has special skills or expertise, has a duty to use those special skills or
expertise.
History of Section.
(P.L. 1996, ch. 276, § 1.)
