Category: Group risk regulation · Reviewed by Matt Bartlett, Director · Founder · Last reviewed 2026-06-10
The Trustee Act 2000 (c. 29) modernised the law of trustee powers and duties in trusts governed by the law of England and Wales. The Act introduced the statutory duty of care (section 1), broad statutory powers of investment (sections 3–7), broad powers of delegation to agents (sections 11–27), and powers to acquire land (sections 8–10). The Act applies to all trustees including trustees of group life trusts and many trustees of registered pension schemes, subject to the trust deed and other applicable statutes.
Category: Group risk regulation Enacted: 23 November 2000 (came into force 1 February 2001) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Related concepts: Trustees of group life trust, Trustee responsibilities group life, Group life trust
The statutory duty of care under section 1 applies to a trustee exercising the powers conferred by the Act unless the trust deed expresses otherwise. The standard is what is reasonable having regard to any special knowledge the trustee has or claims, and (for a professional trustee) what is reasonably expected of someone acting in the course of that business or profession.
The Act implements the recommendations of the Law Commission Report No. 260 (1999) — Trustees’ Powers and Duties. It replaced and substantially modernised provisions of the Trustee Act 1925 and the Trustee Investments Act 1961. The Act has direct relevance to group life trustees and informs the standard of care expected of pension scheme trustees (though the Pensions Act 1995 also applies for occupational pension scheme trustees).
Before the Trustee Act 2000, trustee investment powers were heavily circumscribed by the Trustee Investments Act 1961, which imposed a “narrow range / wider range” categorisation of permitted investments. The 2000 Act swept this away, conferring broad statutory powers of investment subject to the new duty of care and standard investment criteria (s.4).
The Trustee Act 2000 has been supplemented by ongoing case law on trustee duties (notably Pitt v Holt [2013] UKSC 26 on the limits of the rule in Re Hastings-Bass), and by the Pension Schemes Acts 2017 and 2021 (master trust authorisation, climate risk reporting). The framework remains substantially as enacted in 2000.
A trustee of a group life trust delegating administrative functions to the insurer relies on section 11 of the Trustee Act 2000 (powers to employ agents) read with section 22 (review of agents) and section 23 (liability). The trustee documents the delegation in trustee minutes and reviews the insurer’s service periodically.
This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. Last reviewed by Matt Bartlett on 2026-06-10. Next review: 2026-12-10.
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