ABA Graduate Trust School
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Curriculum

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Level 1 Courses

Level 2 Courses

Account Administration
The Account Administration courses help you understand the more advanced aspects of account management and fiduciary oversight.  In addition, the faculty draws from its experience to add practical observations and lessons you can apply immediately.  This combination of a strong theoretical foundation and practical application helps you perform as a leader and catalyst for growth in your organization.

Fiduciary Law
The Fiduciary Law courses expand your understanding of more advanced legal, regulatory and compliance issues.  You'll get a solid foundation in the advanced principles of fiduciary law and the risks inherit in our industry.  In addition, the faculty will share practical observations and lessons that can help you immediately address these issues.  The program equips you for expert performance in understanding and minimizing risk and litigation for your organization.

Tax and Estate Planning
You'll gain valuable knowledge about our transfer tax system, methods of reducing estate taxes and estate planning techniques, from the simple to the sublime.  Classes also address the latest in charitable giving strategies, planning techniques for business owners and estate planning for large accumulations in retirement plans.  Successful completion of these classes enables you to better serve your clients in an advisory role and understand strategies recommended by client's legal and tax advisors.  Faculty members are carefully selected for their technical knowledge, passion for the subject and sincere desire to develop other professionals.

Personal Financial Planning
The Personal Financial Planning courses recognize the shift in our industry to offering a broad range of financial services and the central role financial planning plays in identifying current and future needs that can be met by those services. You'll work in teams on in-depth case studies that include examples from financial planning, investment management and estate planning. By identifying issues and possible alternatives, you'll apply the concepts learned from a broad range of classes, learn how financial planning brings together all of the varied financial needs of our clients and how these needs change during different stages of life.

Investment Management
The Investment Management courses provide the knowledge you need to successfully interface with both your clients and their investment advisors.  Instructors drawn from a stellar pool of experienced professionals deliver a solid foundation in classic investment concepts, as well as address cutting-edge investment practices. The goal is to help you deal confidently and knowledgeably with the frontline investment requirements of your clients.

Independent Research Program
The Independent Research Program consists of five case studies. Your responses to each case study provide practical application to theories presented in the ABA Graduate Trust School curriculum. You'll spend an average of 15 hours completing each case study. Experienced industry practitioners evaluate each case study and provide individual feedback.

The Independent Research Program is designed to provide you with the opportunity to apply theories learned in the classroom, develop your research skills, your ability to analyze complex situations and effectively explain them to management and clients. In addition, the Independent Research Program assists you in preparing for the CTFA exam. For more detail on this portion of the curriculum, visit the Independent Research Program page.

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Questions? Please contact Maryann Johnson or Gloria Becker for more information.