National Advisors opens doors to alternatives

National Advisors Trust Co. said today that it was expanding the alternative-investment-custody services that it provides to advisers. The firm saw a business opportunity because The Charles Schwab Corp. of San Francisco announced plans several weeks ago to discontinue its custody services for alternatives, said Ron Ferguson, chief executive of the trust company in Overland Park, Kan. Schwab is re-evaluating its decision. “We are open to providing more scrutiny in looking at alternatives to determine what the underlying risk is, so that we can hold more of these investments,” Mr. Ferguson said. The firm has been involved with custody services for alternative investments since 2001, and it provides pooled funds and hedge fund accounting and valuation services. National Advisors is a federally chartered trust company with more than 125 registered investment advisory shareholder firms and more than $3.8 billion in assets.