Rice, Heard & Bigelow

What Rice, Heard & Bigelow does

Rice, Heard & Bigelow, Inc. ("RHB") is a privately-owned professional trustee firm founded in 1782 in Boston, operating as a Massachusetts corporation from One Federal Street. The firm is structured such that its seven principals — Robert G. Bannish (President), Gregory Gullickson, Zachary Bourque, Kevin T. McQuaid, Sarah M. Allen, Adam C. Rutledge, and Gregory J. Murphy — are named as individual trustees rather than the firm acting as corporate trustee, an unusual model in the U.S. trust industry. RHB serves high-net-worth individuals, families, and charitable entities nationwide and internationally, with many client relationships spanning multiple generations.

RHB's core services are trust administration, estate planning, tax preparation and planning, and investment management. Trust services cover asset management, distributions, recordkeeping, beneficiary communication, and trust tax return filing. Investment management for both trust and non-trust assets is delivered through Minot DeBlois Advisors, a wholly-owned registered investment advisory subsidiary formed in 2009 that offers traditional and ESG investment approaches. Tax preparation is billed on an hourly basis, while trust administration and investment management operate as managed-service fee streams.

The firm reaches clients entirely through direct engagement and professional referrals — primarily through estate planning attorneys, the Boston Estate Planning Council, and continuing legal education networks — with no intermediary or institutional sales motion. There is no external ownership, no parent company, and no evidence of venture or private equity backing; the firm has remained independent across multiple predecessor entities (Minot office → Minot, Williams & Bangs → Minot, DeBlois & Maddison → 1983 spin-off as RHB).

Name

Rice, Heard & Bigelow

Legal name

Rice, Heard & Bigelow, Inc.

Website

https://riceheard.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1782

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rice, Heard & Bigelow is a privately-owned Boston professional trustee firm founded in 1782, where individual principals serve as named trustees for high-net-worth families and charitable entities, providing trust administration, estate planning, tax, and investment management services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trust and Fiduciary Services

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (525920), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Financial Vehicles (52599)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal & Family Trust Services (FSAAANAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trust & Fiduciary Advisory for HNW/UHNW (Trust Structuring & Trustee Oversight) (FSAAABAF), Trust & Estate Tax Planning & Compliance (FSAEAKAE), Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI), Family Wealth & Multi-Generational Planning RIAs (HNW/UHNW-lite) (FSAAACAH)

Keywords

• Trust administration services
• Estate planning services
• Fiduciary services
• Tax preparation services
• Investment management services

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Trust Administration Services: Professional trustee services for individuals, families, and charities including trust management, distributions, record-keeping, beneficiary communication, and trust tax return filing. Principals serve as individual trustees rather than corporate trustee.
2. Tax Preparation and Planning: Comprehensive income tax services for individuals, trusts, estates, and charitable entities. Tax returns are prepared in-house by professionals with experience in federal and state tax issues. All tax preparation services are billed on an hourly basis.
3. Estate Planning Services: Development and implementation of estate plans in conjunction with outside estate planning attorneys. Trustees work closely with estate planning attorneys to ensure personalized, accurate and well-crafted plans.
4. Investment Management: Investment management services for trust assets, advised by Minot DeBlois Advisors, a wholly-owned registered investment advisory firm. The firm offers both traditional investing and ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) investing approaches.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Rice, Heard & Bigelow provides professional individual trustee services, managing and administering funded trusts for individuals, families, and charitable entities. Its principals are personally named as trustees rather than the firm acting as a corporate trustee, supporting discreet personal service through long-standing, often multi-generational relationships. Complementing trust administration, the firm prepares income tax returns for trusts, estates, charities, and individuals, and offers wealth, tax, estate, philanthropic, and investment planning, including ESG investing via its wholly-owned subsidiary Minot DeBlois Advisors.

Product overview

Rice, Heard & Bigelow is a private professional trustee firm offering a unified suite of fiduciary services centered on trust management and administration. The firm's core offerings consist of Trust Management (individual trustees serving as named trustees rather than corporate trustee), Traditional and ESG Investing (investment management for trust portfolios advised by subsidiary Minot DeBlois Advisors), Estate Planning, and Tax Services. The unique structure of the firm—where principals serve as individual trustees rather than the company serving as corporate trustee—distinguishes its approach from modern trust companies and corporate trustees. All services are delivered through collaboration across legal, tax, and investment professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trust Management
• Estate Planning
• Tax Services
• Traditional and ESG Investing
• Minot DeBlois Advisors (Wholly-Owned Subsidiary)

Quantifiable outcome

• Benjamin Franklin's $4,000 bequest grew to $125,000 over 64 years of trustee administration.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Minot DeBlois AdvisorscoreTechnology or IntegrationWholly-owned registered investment advisory subsidiary that advises RHB trustees regarding the investment of trust assets. Minot DeBlois Advisors was formed in 2009 and allows management of assets not in trust, including individual accounts and IRAs for existing clients who desire a fiduciary investment philosophy.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bessemer Trust: Private, family-owned multi-family office serving UHNW and HNW families with individual trustee and wealth management services. Bessemer is the most direct comparable to RHB in the independent private trust company model, though at materially larger scale.
• Wilmington Trust (M&T Bank): Wealth management and trust services franchise of M&T Bank, historically a direct competitor in the private trust company category. Comparable in target clientele and service mix (trust, estate, investment) though now operating under a bank-holding parent.
• Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge: Boston-based private investment management and trust company serving HNW individuals, families, and institutions. Highly comparable in scale, geography, and operating model — both firms are independent, Boston-headquartered private trust companies competing in the same Northeast HNW market.
• Fiduciary Trust Company: Private, independent trust company providing investment management, trust and estate administration, and family office services to HNW individuals and institutions. Comparable in scale and operating model to RHB as a standalone private trust company.
• Glenmede: Privately-held investment and wealth management firm with a dedicated trust company serving individuals, families, and endowments. Closely aligned with RHB's individual-trustee, multi-generational relationship model and similarly focused on Philadelphia-based HNW clients.

Broad incumbents

• Northern Trust Wealth Management: Large institutional wealth manager offering private banking, trust, and investment services to UHNW/HNW families globally. Comparable service offering but at much greater scale, with corporate (not individual) trustee structure — competes for the same client mandates as RHB.
• BNY Mellon Wealth Management: Wealth management arm of BNY Mellon providing trust administration, investment management, and private banking to UHNW clients. Competes with RHB for large HNW trust mandates, particularly those involving complex perpetual/charitable structures.
• U.S. Trust (Bank of America Private Bank): Bank of America's private wealth franchise offering trust, estate, and investment services to HNW/UHNW households. Direct competitor for Boston and Northeast HNW trust business, though positioned at institutional rather than individual-trustee scale.
• Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH Wealth Management): Private, partnership-owned bank and wealth manager with a dedicated trust and estate services business for HNW families. Shares the partnership/private ownership ethos with RHB and competes for similar East Coast HNW mandates.

Regional players

• Boston Private (now part of Silicon Valley Bank / First Citizens): Boston-headquartered private bank and wealth manager that historically served many of the same HNW New England families as RHB. Direct regional competitor for trust and wealth management mandates in the Boston market, though now operating under SVB/First Citizens ownership.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Rice, Heard & Bigelow