Pub. 5 2016 Issue 4

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 14 Breakfast together. Pictured left to right- Bryce Carr, Emprise Bank, Wichita; Greg Rosa, Emprise Bank, Wichita; Barbara Braa, Central Bank of the Midwest; and Janice Peters, Guaranty State Bank & Trust, Co., Beloit. MOKAN TRUST CONFERENCE T HE MISSOURI AND KANSAS BANKERS Associations have planned a multistate trust conference for the past 37 years. The MOKAN Trust & Financial Services Conference has grown to over 250 trust officers from 13 states, drawing attendees from the entire region. The sold-out trade show had 47 vendors and a waiting list in hopes of a spot opening up. The 2016 conference was packed with speakers and events from Wednesday, May 4th through Friday, May 6th and was held at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel. The conference opened with a presentation from Lindsey Piegza, Chief Economist for Stifel Nicolaus. She highlighted recent activity by the Federal Reserve Board including their recent statement that economic growth has declined from moderate to slow in the first quarter of 2016. In spite of the slowed growth there is still pressure by some members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to raise interest rates again in the near future, partially to restock their tool box in the event that they need to respond in the future with lowered rates. Lindsey believes that the Federal Reserve will raise rates one more time this year. Three breakout sessions filled the first afternoon. An ethics talk titled, “Quicksand! Ethical Hazards for Trust Officers and Fiduciary Services Companies” walked through scenarios to prevent ethical issues. The room was filled for the talk titled “Retirement Accounts in First & Second Marriages: The Fun Begins.” The talk included tips for establishing a plan that provides for the surviving spouse as well as biological children. The third option for this round of breakout sessions was a presentation titled, “Discretionary Distributions & the Problems They Cause Corporate Trustees.” This talk led attendees through the process of establishing guidelines for the purpose and term of the trust as well as the general provisional document instructions. Day two kicked off with Joe Williams III and Scott Colbert from The Commerce Trust Company with a talk on “Mid-Year Outlook for the Financial Markets and the Impact of Fed. Action.” Scott Colbert began with the statement that he believes there is almost no chance of a recession. Acknowledging that the GDP grew at a slower than expected rate, energy prices are very low. Expanding further, he explained that no recession has started due to low energy prices and the benefits to the rest of the economy outweigh the deficits felt in the energy sector. The decreased number in the workforce is expected to limit economic growth with eight tenths percent growth in the population but only one half percent growth in the labor force. The two items that promote strong growth are number of workers and productivity. He also discussed the rapid decrease in household debt in the U.S. and the role that plays on cash flow and spending. Colbert stated that he thinks we’ve seen the only rate increase that will come from the Fed in 2016. Joe Williams provided insight that economists are predicting 2.6% growth in GDP but they over predict 92% of the time. People are back to believing in the stock market again with a 20 year trend at 7.8% and about the same for bonds. Gold is trending at about 6%. Future expectations for bonds and gold to trend down with most commodities seeing a long period in decline. He is projecting the market to grow this year but it is susceptible to sharp declines if any crisis occurs. Williams anticipates the market to be up June - September with a correction September- November. Michael Kitces from Pinnacle Advisory Group opened a talk titled, “Estate Planning in 2016 & Beyond,” with an overview of the impact the 2012 ATRA legislation had as it took temporary estate planning tax laws and made them permanent. Reviewing the historical trends in tax law, he doesn’t think Congress has the appetite to increase estate taxes but may very well crackdown on some of the work-arounds that ultra-high net worth estates use to avoid taxes altogether and force a 10- year payout. We may also see the elimination of the stretch IRA. Issues pertaining to portability and remarriage were addressed and Kitces noted that portability is now the pillar of estate planning. An Action COACH program was given by David Drewlow and outlined how to become a person of influence. This uplifting talk centered on the significance of integrity, nurturing others and having faith in other people. Friday morning didn’t resemble one of winding down with two sought-after speakers to close the conference. Skip Fox of McGuire Woods delivered an informative talk titled, “Recent Developments in Estate Planning and Estate and Trust Administration.” The primary message was that he sees very little chance of any significant change in the gift tax, generation skipping tax, or the estate tax. The only chance of these items seeing a change would be if the White House and both houses of Congress go to the Democrats. Stating that “bureaucracy has run-amok,” Fox outlined things to consider with high net worth clients. The closing talk was “Planning for Retirement Benefits, Continued: What the Retiree, IRA Owner & Beneficiary Need to Know,” by Natalie Choate, Nutter McClennen & Fish. She