Southeastern Trust Company

Overview

Southeastern Trust Company describes itself as a boutique wealth management company serving the community. As an independent trust company chartered in Tennessee, it can serve as a corporate trustee or executor.

The firm reports more than 250 years of combined wealth management experience among its staff.

History

Southeastern Trust Company was founded in Chattanooga and serves the community as a boutique wealth management company.

Leadership

- Bart Rolen, Chief Executive Officer - Teresa Whitton, President - Britt Messer, Chief Investment Officer

Services

The firm’s core services include family office services, wealth planning, investment management, trusts and estates, and special needs trusts.

Its family office work can include banking and credit consulting, estate and wealth transfer, charitable giving plans, private investments, real estate, and family education.

Southeastern Trust provides financing guidance through multiple bank partners for real estate investments, second homes, and lines of credit secured by investment accounts.

The firm’s estate and wealth-transfer planning helps families direct assets to beneficiaries, address potential tax burdens, protect assets, and reduce probate-related delays and costs.

Its charitable giving service helps families develop philanthropic visions, coordinate annual meetings and Form 990 filings, manage required distributions, and work with charitable beneficiaries.

Southeastern Trust evaluates private investment managers and funds, reviews existing private investments, and builds personalized investment-management plans around clients’ long-term goals.

The firm reports substantial experience managing residential, commercial, vacation, rental, and timber real estate held in trusts.

Its advisors help families establish learning goals, improve communication, and discuss family values as part of family education.

What the firm offers

• Investment management
• Financial planning
• Tax planning
• Estate planning
• Trust and fiduciary
• Philanthropy
• Family governance and education
• Private and alternative investments

Client Focus

Southeastern Trust works with families seeking coordinated support for wealth planning, investments, trusts, estates, philanthropy, real estate, family education, and the transition of generational wealth.

Approach

Southeastern Trust says it designs portfolios around each family’s values and emphasizes long-term planning, transparent fees, and personalized service.

FAQs

Related resources

• LocationMultifamily offices in Tennessee

  This Tennessee directory gives families and business owners a way to compare firms serving the region. It can help a Chattanooga area reader place Southeastern Trust Company alongside other providers offering investment management, trust administration, estate planning, and family education.

• Network siteEstatePlanner.com

  EstatePlanner.com's guides explain wills, trusts, beneficiary choices, and related planning questions in accessible language. A family considering Southeastern Trust Company's estate planning, tax planning, and trust services can use these materials to identify topics for discussion with advisers and attorneys.

• GuideMFO vs SFO vs virtual family office

  This comparison outlines how a multifamily office differs from a single family office or virtual family office. It helps an owner assess which operating model may fit a family seeking investment management, fiduciary support, alternative investments, and coordinated planning without assuming every family needs the same structure.

• GuideWhen does a family need its own office

  The article presents practical signs that a family's financial affairs may warrant dedicated office support. Readers can consider factors such as complex assets, succession concerns, philanthropy, governance, and the time required to coordinate advisers when evaluating services like those offered by Southeastern Trust Company.

• Similar firmsClarity Family Office
  Seven Springs Wealth Group
  Steel Grove

  Profiles of Clarity Family Office, Seven Springs Wealth Group, and Steel Grove provide additional points of reference on this site. Reviewing their stated services and client focus can help a family or business owner compare approaches to investment management, planning, fiduciary work, and family support.

Sources

1. https://www.setrustco.com/
2. https://www.setrustco.com/chattanooga-football-club/
3. https://www.setrustco.com/our-team/
4. https://www.setrustco.com/what-we-do/
5. https://www.setrustco.com/what-we-do/family-office-services/

Claim or correct this profile

This profile is a factual summary written in our own words from public sources. It is for information only. It is not an endorsement, rating, ranking or recommendation, and it is not investment advice. MultiFamilyOffices.com is not affiliated with the SEC or with this firm unless stated. Form ADV figures are self-reported by the firm.