Evolution Trustees

What Evolution Trustees does

Evolution Trustees Limited is an Australian specialist fiduciary that provides corporate trust and responsible entity services to asset managers, institutional investors, and debt providers. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Sydney with a Melbourne office, the firm holds Australian Financial Services Licence 486217 and supervises over A$16 billion of funds across more than 160 entities as of early 2025. Its service catalogue spans responsible entity services for registered schemes, custodial services for retail and wholesale funds, wholesale trustee services for unregistered schemes, managed investment trust (MIT) structuring for property, infrastructure, agriculture, and debt, debt security trustee work, escrow and agency services, governance and compliance advisory, ASIC registered agent and company secretarial services, and carbon credit (ACCU) services under its AFSL.

The firm operates an in-house custom technology platform that accelerates custodial service delivery while maintaining ASAE 3402 Type 2 (GS007) audited internal controls and security standards. Asset class coverage includes cash and credit funds, equities, funds of funds, property and infrastructure, income funds, carbon assets, private equity, social impact funds, and renewable energy and natural resources, indicating a deliberate strategy to serve inbound foreign capital into Australian real assets alongside domestic wholesale clients.

Evolution Trustees is a private, management-owned company with a majority independent board chaired by David Grbin. It generates revenue through professional service fees negotiated per mandate rather than standardised pricing, distributed via a consultative enterprise sales motion targeting institutional counterparties and their advisors. The firm is differentiated by its specialist-only focus (which reduces conflicts of interest), direct access to decision makers through its management-owned structure, and partnerships with top-tier law firms and international fund administrators.

Name

Evolution Trustees

Legal name

Evolution Trustees Limited

Website

https://evolutiontrustees.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Evolution Trustees is a Sydney-based, AFSL-licensed specialist fiduciary that provides corporate trust, responsible entity, custody, MIT, debt security trustee, escrow, and governance services to Australian asset managers and institutional investors, supervising over A$16 billion across 160+ entities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Trustee and Fiduciary Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Structured Finance Legal, Trustee & Administration (FSACACAJ)

Keywords

• Corporate trustee services
• Responsible entity services
• Fund custody services
• Managed investment trustee
• Debt security trustee

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fiduciary Services: Professional fiduciary services including responsible entity, custody, wholesale trustee, managed investment trustee, debt security trustee, and escrow & agency services. Revenue is generated through fees for trustee services, custody services, and advisory engagements with wholesale clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Evolution Trustees is a specialist fiduciary that provides corporate trust, responsible entity, custody, managed investment trustee, debt security trustee, escrow and agency, and governance and compliance advisory services to wholesale asset managers and institutional clients. It also holds an AFSL authorising advice and dealing in Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and eligible international emissions units, supporting asset classes including equities, fixed income, property, infrastructure, private equity, carbon assets and renewable energy.

Product overview

Evolution Trustees is a modern specialist fiduciary that provides corporate trust and responsible entity services to asset managers and institutions. The company offers a unified platform of eight core fiduciary service modules: Responsible Entity Services (for registered schemes), Custodial Services (for retail and wholesale funds covering real assets, private debt, infrastructure, private equity, and venture capital), Wholesale Trustee Services (for unregistered schemes), Managed Investment Trust (MIT) services (for property, infrastructure, agriculture, and debt), Debt Security Trustee services (for debt capital markets), Escrow & Agency services (for M&A, project financing, and real estate), Governance and Compliance Advisory services, and ASIC Registered Agent/Company Secretarial Services. The company also holds an AFSL authorizing advice and dealing in Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and eligible international emissions units.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Responsible Entity Services Provides overarching supervision and coordination of third-party service providers for registered managed investment schemes, ensuring compliance with the Corporations Act, scheme constitution, compliance plan, ASIC policy and relevant laws. Targeted at asset managers operating registered schemes.
• Custodial Services Top-tier custodial services for retail and wholesale funds offering asset holding for real assets, private debt, infrastructure, private equity and venture capital. Supported by ASAE 3402 Type 2 (GS007) audited internal controls.
• Wholesale Trustee Services Acts as trustee to wholesale unregistered managed investment schemes, ensuring the trust operates in accordance with governing documents, legislation and tax requirements. Targeted at wholesale fund managers.
• Managed Investment Trust (MIT) Services Establishes and manages MIT structures for property, infrastructure, agriculture and debt, providing withholding tax benefits to foreign capital investors. Targeted at inbound institutional investors.
• Debt Security Trustee Services Acts as security trustee for debt structures to independently hold security interests on trust for creditors, including debt capital markets and syndicated debt facilities, with experience in debt restructures and workouts.
• Escrow & Agency Services Provides independent escrow agent services for M&A transactions, project financing and real estate, as well as debt agency services for interest and principal collection and distribution. Targeted at transaction parties and their legal advisers.
• Governance and Compliance Advisory Services Offers design and implementation of tailored governance, risk and compliance frameworks, operational tools and Compliance Committee membership services for investment managers and funds.
• ASIC Registered Agent and Company Secretarial Services Provides registered office, maintenance of company registers and ASIC data maintenance services using industry-leading software for fund vehicles and corporate clients.
• Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Services Provides general advice and deals in Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and eligible international emissions units under AFSL 486217, supporting asset managers establishing carbon and sustainability structures.

Quantifiable outcome

• $A16bn of funds under supervision
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Community CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEvolution Trustees acts as Trustee for the Community Capital Private Equity Fund (CCPE) and the Community Capital Credit Fund (CCCF), established in partnership with Barrenjoey Private Capital. The partnership supports Social Purpose Organisations (SPOs) through innovative funding models where a portion of fees is redirected to not-for-profit organisations.
• Barrenjoey Private CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Barrenjoey Private Capital to establish Community Capital Private Equity Fund and Community Capital Credit Fund, supporting Social Purpose Organisations with sustainable funding and enabling private capital to generate meaningful social benefit.
• Pledge 1%minorOthersEvolution Trustees is a signatory to Pledge 1%, a global initiative encouraging companies to donate 1% of profits towards causes to end slavery. This reflects the company's commitment to philanthropy and social impact.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• State Street Australia: Major global custodian with Australian corporate trust capabilities; competes with Evolution on custody mandates for larger wholesale funds and institutional clients.
• Apex Group: Global fund services platform offering fund administration, custody, depositary and trustee services across Australia; competes with Evolution on larger wholesale mandates and cross-border fund structures.
• TMF Group: Global provider of corporate secretarial, fund administration and trustee services with a significant Australian presence, overlapping with Evolution's ASIC registered agent and fund governance offerings.
• Vistra: International corporate services and fund administration group providing trustee, fiduciary and compliance services across multiple jurisdictions, including Australia.
• Ocorian: Global provider of fund administration, corporate services and fiduciary/trustee services, serving institutional clients with structures that overlap Evolution's wholesale trustee and debt security mandates.
• BNP Paribas Securities Services Australia: Global custodian and securities services provider with Australian trustee and custody offerings, often competing on cross-border MIT and wholesale fund mandates.

Direct peers

• Perpetual Corporate Trust: Largest Australian corporate trustee and responsible entity, directly competing with Evolution Trustees across wholesale trustee, responsible entity and debt security trustee mandates for the same institutional client base.
• Australian Executor Trustees (Insignia Financial): Long-established Australian corporate trustee (now part of Insignia Financial/IOOF group) offering wholesale trustee, responsible entity and custody services overlapping directly with Evolution's core product modules.
• Mainstream Group Holdings: Australian-headquartered fund services and corporate trust specialist serving asset managers and institutional investors with administration, custody and trustee services — a closely comparable mid-market fiduciary peer.
• Equity Trustees: ASX-listed Australian trustee company providing responsible entity, custody and estate services to institutional clients — closely comparable in product mix and target customer base to Evolution Trustees.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/evolution-trustees

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Evolution Trustees