Sentinel Trust

Sentinel Trust is an independent multi-family office and corporate trustee based in Houston, Texas. The Flowers and Fruehauf families created it in 1997 as the successor to their own single family offices, each of which had more than four decades of history. The families wanted to recruit stronger talent, reach institutional investment opportunities and run their affairs more efficiently than a single-family structure allowed, and they opened the firm to other families in a similar position. Sentinel Trust is responsible for more than $5 billion for about 30 client families.

What the firm does

• Fiduciary services: acts as trustee, co-trustee, executor and agent. It is qualified as a corporate trustee, chartered by the State of Texas and supervised by the Texas Department of Banking.
• Complex trust assets: administers trusts holding family businesses, family limited partnerships, real estate, oil and gas, and personal-use property such as residences, and has coordinated trust decanting and reformation.
• Investment management: individualised portfolios across public and private equities, hedge funds and real assets, overseen by an investment committee chaired by the founder.
• Administration of wealth: bill payment and cash flow across family entities, bookkeeping for individuals and entities such as FLPs, and consolidated accounting and reporting on assets held at Sentinel Trust and at other managers.
• Personal and lifestyle support: help with residences, aircraft and watercraft, insurance and appraisals, domestic staff hiring and payroll, health care coordination and travel.
• Philanthropy: screening charitable requests, reporting on the impact of gifts, and bookkeeping for family foundations.

For family offices

Sentinel Trust is itself the product of two family offices combining, so it is a natural option for families weighing whether to keep, shrink or replace a single family office. It also works alongside a family's existing office staff where one exists. Each senior officer serves only a small number of families, and the firm says its family office services are, in virtually all cases, covered by the client's global fee rather than billed hourly or item by item.

Considerations and fit

The firm focuses only on very high net worth families and keeps its client list small, so it suits families that want a high-touch relationship and a corporate trustee in the same firm. It operates from a single Houston office. Fees and minimums are not published.

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Sentinel Trust?

The Flowers and Fruehauf families created Sentinel Trust in 1997 as the successor to their single family offices. D. Fort Flowers, Jr. founded the firm and is Executive Chairman.

Can Sentinel Trust serve as a trustee?

Yes. It is a corporate trustee chartered by the State of Texas and supervised by the Texas Department of Banking, and it serves as trustee, co-trustee, executor and agent.

How does Sentinel Trust charge for family office services?

According to the firm, family office services are in virtually all cases covered by the client's global fee, with no hourly or a la carte charges. Specific fee levels are not published.

• Trustee, co-trustee, executor and agent services
• Investment management and manager selection
• Wealth and succession planning
• Consolidated accounting and reporting across managers
• Family office administration and lifestyle support
• Philanthropy and foundation administration

• Corporate trustee chartered in Texas
• Founded from two multi-decade single family offices
• Each senior officer serves only a few families
• Administers trusts holding family businesses, FLPs, real estate and oil and gas
• Bill pay, cash flow and entity bookkeeping
• Domestic staff payroll and benefits
• Aircraft, watercraft and residence support
• Family office services covered by a single global fee

Built for Private Wealth Owners / Principals, Single Family Office (SFO).

Yes

Dedicated senior relationship officer and in-house team