Pendleton Square Trust

What Pendleton Square Trust does

Pendleton Square Trust Company, LLC is a Tennessee-chartered independent trust company founded in 2015 in Nashville by Betsy Blunt Brown, organized under the holding company Pendleton Square Holdings, LLC. The firm provides trust administration, estate administration, and private foundation administration services to high-net-worth families, family business owners, and the professional advisors (investment advisors, estate attorneys, CPAs) who serve them. It operates exclusively as a corporate trustee and explicitly does not provide investment advisory services, partnering instead with each family's chosen financial advisor so that the trustee role remains conflict-free.

Core services include administering a broad range of trust types (revocable, irrevocable, generation-skipping, dynasty, charitable, and Tennessee-specific vehicles such as the Tennessee Investment Services Trust for self-settled asset protection, the Tennessee Incomplete-Gift Non-Grantor Trust, and the Tennessee Community Property Trust, with dynasty trust terms permitted up to 360 years), administering estates in Executor, Co-Executor, or Agent roles, and administering private family foundations including grant-making and governance support. The firm manages special assets (real estate, closely-held businesses, mineral and timber interests, art and personal property) alongside traditional financial assets and coordinates tax compliance, distributions, and consolidated reporting. Revenue is generated primarily through a percentage of assets under administration or a negotiated annual trustee fee, billed annually, with investment management fees collected separately by the family's chosen advisor; no fees are charged for trust document review or transition planning. The company has no disclosed proprietary technology platform and no disclosed AI capabilities, operating as a relationship-driven professional services firm with approximately 30 named officers and a distributed regional office footprint.

The firm operates from five offices (Brentwood/Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Atlanta, and Scottsdale), with an additional Charlotte, NC presence led by Managing Director Andrea Chomakos, and a team of roughly 30 trust, estate, tax, compliance, special assets, and operations professionals, several of whom hold CTFA, ATFA, CFP, CPA/PFS, and JD credentials. There is no indication of institutional private equity or venture capital funding; ownership rests with the founder/CEO and the holding entity.

Name

Pendleton Square Trust

Legal name

Pendleton Square Trust Company, LLC

Website

https://pendletonsquaretrust.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pendleton Square Trust is a Tennessee-chartered independent trust company founded in 2015 that provides trust, estate, and private foundation administration to high-net-worth families, family business owners, and their professional advisors, compensated via AUA-based or negotiated annual fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trust and Estate Administration Services

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

akta.pro primary industry

Fiduciary Agency & Trustee-for-Hire Services (FSAAANAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Directed Trust & Trust Advisory Services (FSAAANAK), Family Office Trust & Fiduciary Services (FSAEAKAF)

Keywords

• Trust administration services
• Estate administration services
• Private foundation administration
• Fiduciary trustee services
• Wealth transfer planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Trust Administration Services: Pendleton Square is compensated for trustee services based on a percentage of assets under administration or a negotiated annual fee. The investment management fee is charged separately by the financial advisor. They do not charge fees to assist advisors in reviewing trust documents or to propose a transition plan.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pendleton Square Trust is an independent, Tennessee-chartered trust company that provides professional trust administration, estate administration, and private foundation administration services. The company acts as Trustee, Co-Trustee, Executor, or Agent, partnering with families' selected investment advisors rather than competing with them. It administers a broad range of trust types including revocable, irrevocable, generation-skipping, dynasty, charitable, and Tennessee-specific vehicles such as TIST, TING, and Community Property Trusts.

Product overview

Pendleton Square Trust is an independent trust company offering a unified platform of trust and estate administration services. The core offerings consist of Trust Administration (the primary business), Estate Administration, and Private Foundation Administration services. The company specializes in administering various trust types including revocable living trusts, irrevocable grantor trusts, generation-skipping and dynasty trusts, charitable trusts, and Tennessee-specific trusts such as TIST (Tennessee Investment Services Trust), TING (Tennessee Incomplete-Gift Non-Grantor Trust), and Community Property Trusts. The company provides flexible fiduciary roles as Trustee, Co-Trustee, Agent, Executor, or Co-Executor, and emphasizes its independence from investment management to avoid conflicts of interest. Services are delivered across five office locations with a focus on serving families and their professional advisors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trust Administration Core trust administration services including administering trusts per fiduciary principles, making distributions, maintaining records, coordinating with investment advisors, managing special assets, processing tax returns, and educating beneficiaries. The company administers a broad range of trust types including revocable, irrevocable, generation-skipping, dynasty, charitable, and Tennessee-specific trusts.
• Estate Administration Estate administration services providing independent Executor, Co-Executor, or Agent services for handling estates of deceased individuals, including administering estates per will terms, paying bills and distributions, managing special assets, maintaining records, and coordinating with attorneys and advisors.
• Private Foundation Administration Full array of services for private family foundations including administration, grant-making support, philanthropic advisory services, charitable goal setting, grants management, due diligence on grantees, tax return oversight, and online grant applications.
• Tennessee Asset Protection Trust (TIST) Self-settled domestic asset protection trust under the Tennessee Investment Services Act, allowing grantors to be beneficiaries while protecting assets from creditors, ranked among the best asset protection trust regimes in the nation.
• Tennessee Incomplete-Gift Non-Grantor Trust (TING) Irrevocable trust established in Tennessee by out-of-state residents from states with income tax and/or capital gains tax to avoid taxes at the state level.
• Tennessee Community Property Trust Special joint trust for married couples providing a 100% step up in basis at death of first spouse and a second 100% step up at second death.
• Dynasty Trusts Long-term trusts in Tennessee that can last up to 360 years to allow wealth to continue into multiple generations, leveraging Tennessee's favorable dynasty trust legislation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Dynasty trusts can last up to 360 years in Tennessee
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Bessemer Trust: Large, family-owned independent wealth and trust advisory firm serving ultra-HNW and single-family-office clients nationwide. Competes for the same independent-corporate-trustee mandates from families with complex estates, though at a significantly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• BNY Mellon Wealth Management: Top-tier global wealth and trust administrator serving UHNW families with complex multi-generational trust needs. Represents the institutional incumbent alternative for clients evaluating independent corporate trustees like Pendleton Square.
• Northern Trust: Major bank-affiliated wealth management firm with one of the largest personal trust businesses in the U.S. Represents the legacy bank trust department model that Pendleton Square explicitly differentiates against, but competes for the same HNW trust administration mandates.
• JPMorgan Private Bank: Global private bank with large personal trust and estate administration practice. Pendleton Square's CEO Betsy Brown previously served families at JPMorgan Private Bank, and the firm competes for HNW families in major metros including Atlanta where Pendleton Square now has a presence.
• Synovus Trust Company: Bank-affiliated trust company serving the Southeast, headquartered in Georgia. Pendleton Square's COO Derek Church was previously a Senior Compliance Officer at Synovus Trust, and the firms overlap directly in the Atlanta and Georgia HNW market where Pendleton Square opened its Atlanta office in 2022.
• First Horizon Bank (IBERIABANK/First Tennessee Trust): Tennessee-headquartered bank with a substantial personal trust division following the IBERIABANK/First Tennessee merger. Direct incumbent competitor for trust administration business in Nashville, Memphis, and across Tennessee where Pendleton Square's roots and primary office network reside.
• Regions Bank Wealth Management (formerly Regions Morgan Keegan Trust): Bank-affiliated trust and wealth business with strong Southeastern presence. Pendleton Square's Memphis Managing Director George Pappas previously led trust administration at Regions Morgan Keegan Trust, reflecting direct competition for HNW trust business in Tennessee and the Mid-South.
• Truist Wealth (formerly SunTrust/BBT Trust): Large Southeast-headquartered bank with a significant personal trust division and historical SunTrust/Branch Banking heritage. Multiple Pendleton Square team members came from Truist/SunTrust and compete against its trust services in the Southeast markets Pendleton Square serves.

Direct peers

• Cumberland Trust: Tennessee-based independent trust company founded in 2003 with overlapping offices in the Southeast. Most directly comparable peer — Pendleton Square's CEO Betsy Brown previously worked at Cumberland Trust, and the firms compete for the same HNW families seeking conflict-free corporate trustees in Tennessee.
• Argent Trust Company: Independent, non-depository trust company with a Southeastern footprint and Tennessee operations (Argent Trust Company of Tennessee). Multiple Pendleton Square team members previously worked at Argent, indicating direct competition for the same advisor referral network and HNW client base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pendleton-square-trust-&-family-office

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pendleton Square Trust