Why I Co-Founded Atlas Trust Company

A Cook Islands Trust is only as good as the trustee that runs it. The trustee holds legal title to the assets, processes every distribution, and is the party a creditor ultimately has to deal with.

This page explains what a trustee does day to day, the experience that led me to co-found a trust company, what it was built to do differently, and why clients remain free to choose another trustee.

What Does a Trustee Actually Do?

More than most clients expect. A licensed Cook Islands trustee holds legal title to the trust assets, keeps the trust in good standing with the regulator, approves and processes distributions, signs account and investment paperwork, and, if a creditor ever comes, acts under the trust deed and Cook Islands law rather than on instructions from a U.S. court. We set out the full division of roles in trustee, Protector and settlor.

Most of that work is routine. That is why speed matters. A client asking for a distribution to pay a tuition bill or close on a house usually needs the money within days, not weeks.

The Experience That Started It

Over years of working with Cook Islands trustees on behalf of clients, I kept seeing the same thing: routine requests took too long. Distributions, signatures and simple questions could sit for weeks, and the service was not what U.S. clients were used to from their banks, advisers or law firms. We knew we could do better, with more modern technology and a faster turnaround on the requests clients make most.

That experience shaped how I think about trustees. The legal structure can be sound and the client can still lose confidence in it, because the part they touch every year is the administration.

What Atlas Was Built to Do

Atlas Trust Company is a licensed Cook Islands trust company, founded in 2025 and led by CEO Marcos Almeida. The Cook Islands Financial Supervisory Commission approved me to hold a trust-company license, and Atlas was formed to serve U.S. and international clients establishing Cook Islands Trusts. It was built around a few specific commitments.

Responsiveness. Atlas prioritizes fast responses to client requests. A distribution needed for a closing or a tuition bill should take days, not weeks.

An experienced team. We work with Sam Gilling and Marcos Almeida, who together form a reliable and experienced team. They use cutting edge technology to keep cost low and service fast. And always a predictable flat fee. Marcos previously led the legal department at a long-established Cook Islands trust company. He is a STEP-registered Trust and Estate Practitioner, and the rest of the team is drawn from established trust companies and law firms.

Digital assets. Atlas is set up to hold and administer digital assets with the same care as traditional ones.

A flat fee. Within the firm's $7,000 annual fee, $5,000 goes to the trust company, as set out on our pricing page. When Atlas is the trustee, that covers all of its trustee services and the annual Cook Islands government fees for the trust and its Cook Islands LLC. Atlas does not charge hourly fees.

Why Disclose It, and Why Clients Still Choose

I co-founded Atlas. That is disclosed because a client should know when the firm recommends a company its principal is connected to. I retain a beneficial interest in it through my Cook Islands trust. Marcos and his team run its day-to-day operations.

The recommendation is not a requirement. Clients can use any licensed Cook Islands trustee, and our guide to choosing a Cook Islands trustee sets out the criteria we would apply to Atlas or anyone else: licensing, operating history, experience with U.S. clients, financial stability, responsiveness and fee transparency.

We decline engagements structured to defeat a known creditor.