Trust Estate
Argent Wins Contract To Run Raft Of Royalty Trusts
The work of managing mineral rights – often a source of new high net worth individuals – has come into focus over recent years due to energy sector trends such as fracking. Royalty trusts are a vehicle used to manage assets in the space.
Argent Financial Group last week announced that one of its companies will take over responsibility for a range of royalty trusts from Arkansas-based Simmons Bank.
The newly-formed Royalty Trust division will include six royalty trusts – Sabine Royalty Trust, Permian Basin Royalty Trust, Cross Timbers Royalty Trust, PermRock Royalty Trust, Marine Petroleum Royalty Trust, and the Westbrook-Thompson Agency – and seven employees, Argent said.
Argent said the work will carried out by Argent Trust Company.
A royalty trust is a type of corporation that usually operates in the energy or resource mining industries which have ownership rights to mineral deposits, wells, or reservoirs. Their main purpose is to distribute the generated resource sales income to shareholders.
“Argent has a long history of both trust and mineral management, so the addition of these relationships is a natural fit for us as we continue to grow and expand our book of royalty trust business,” Reid Harrell, CEO of Argent Trust Company, said.
Under the agreement, Argent Trust became successor trustee of the above-named trusts and assumed day-to-day responsibilities on January 1, 2023.
Additionally, Argent Trust will act as agent for Simmons Bank with respect to the Hugoton Royalty Trust, pending necessary approvals to assume the successor trustee role for that trust. The newly-formed group within Argent will be led by Ron Hooper. Hooper and his team have more than 40 years of experience managing royalty trusts.
Argent’s Dallas office will also expand this year, and it is expected to be ready for operations by the summer.
The work of managing mineral rights – often a source of new high net worth individuals – has come into focus over recent years due to energy sector trends such as fracking. It is an important wealth generator in states such as Texas. See an article here and another here.
