AJ Bell Investcentre, AJ Bell’s adviser arm, has today launched a discretionary loan trust designed for Financial Planners and advisers supporting clients with inheritance tax (IHT) and estate planning needs.
It follows the launch of a discretionary gift trust and absolute gift trust for use with AJ Bell Investcentre general investment accounts in December.
The company said it worked with Technical Connection to develop the trust deeds, that are designed to offer access to flexible, open architecture solutions at a time when IHT is pulling more families into its net.
The company said its range of trusts offer flexible, tax-efficient solutions for advisers who are dealing with an increased number of client queries around IHT and estate planning – a trend it reckons is set to continue.
Research from AJ Bell and Ad Lucem found that 63% of advisers see IHT and estate planning as an important or critical part of their proposition, with four in five advised clients saying IHT planning is an important part of the advice they expect. Three-quarters (76%) of advisers also stated they would value access to open architecture investing through a GIA, coupled with a range of trusts with full provider support.
Mark Rendle, AJ Bell advised product director, said: “It is no secret that advisers need a range of tools and investments to plan tax efficiently for clients, particularly when guiding them through the increasingly complex estate planning process. That is why we have launched our third trust in a matter of months, providing advisers with a range of investment options to protect client wealth and improve the intergenerational wealth transfer process.”
He said the firm will be launching its first onshore bond link in due course.
The discretionary loan trust is now available on the AJ Bell Investcentre advised platform and can be used with GIAs, providing advisers with an open architecture structure. AJ Bell now offers three types of trusts for use: Absolute Gift Trust, Discretionary Gift Trust, and Discretionary Loan Trust. Advisers can access supporting documents on all three trusts via the AJ Bell Investcentre website.
• Research source: AJ Bell, Ad Lucem. Based on a geographically representative online survey of 1,000 advised clients and 100 financial advisers across 100 different firms, carried out between May and June 2025.