Cook Islands Finance has concluded its engagement at the STEP Orange County Institute in Newport Beach, California – meeting directly with U.S. estate planners, private-client advisers and fiduciary professionals to discuss the practical use of Cook Islands trusts in cross-border wealth and asset-protection planning.

The conference is regarded as a key gathering for California-based practitioners serving high-net-worth and internationally mobile families – an important target audience for the Cook Islands trust industry.

Chief Executive Officer Tony Fe’ao said the event brings together the right market for the jurisdiction.

“Orange County has a strong concentration of wealth, and that continues to grow. With that comes increased demand for advanced trust and estate planning. The advisers who serve those clients are largely based in Southern California, and this conference brought around 200 of them together.”

The exhibition floor featured a broad cross-section of financial service providers from across the trust and estate planning sector.

“The Cook Islands was one of only two non-US based jurisdictions represented – a significant presence that placed us directly in front of advisers who make decisions that can ultimately translate into new business and growth for the financial services sector back home.,” stated Fe’ao, adding:

“When advisers are comparing options, being physically present matters. It allows us to explain how our framework works, answer technical questions directly, and position the Cook Islands clearly alongside US-based (domestic) alternatives for trust services,”

Anna Fedosova, the Chair of STEP Orange County was please with the success of this years conference.

“From my perspective as Chair, the level of engagement this year was exceptional. We saw consistently full rooms, active dialogue during technical sessions, and a high volume of meaningful interactions on the exhibition floor. Attendees came prepared with sophisticated questions, particularly around international planning and asset‑protection structures, which really elevated the quality of discussion. It was clear that practitioners were eager to learn, collaborate, and deepen their expertise—resulting in one of our most dynamic conferences to date.”

Fedosova who is also VP and Senior Trust Officer at Columbia Trust in California, also commented on the importance of including international perspectives and jurisdictions in the programme and exhibition floor.

“Including international perspectives is absolutely essential. Our members advise globally connected families, and their planning work increasingly spans multiple jurisdictions. By bringing international trust companies, regulators, and experts into the program, we ensure that advisers are hearing directly from the sources they rely on when structuring cross‑border plans. Having jurisdictions like the Cook Islands represented enriches the educational content, broadens practitioners’ understanding of the tools available to them, and strengthens the cross‑border relationships that drive successful outcomes for clients.”

A highlight of the programme was a technical session delivered by Noovai Aspris of Trustees & Fiduciaries Cook Islands, focusing on foreign asset protection trusts and cross-border structuring using the Cook Islands jurisdiction. The ensuing Q&A session demonstrated strong engagement from advisers and provided useful market insight. It also led to increased visits to the Cook Islands exhibition table and a number of post-event follow-up discussions.

Aspris, who also attended the conference last year, said maintaining visibility in the United States remains essential.

“The value always is keeping Cook Islands at the forefront of advisors’ minds here in the US, which is our primary client base. 80-90% approximately of our clients in the Cook Islands trust industry come from the US, so keeping Cook Islands top-of-mind, when thinking about foreign asset protection trusts, is always the value that we get out of attending these conferences.”

Aspris said ongoing engagement is critical in a relationship-driven industry.

“It’s absolutely essential – this kind of focus, and this kind of industry where trust is at the core of what we do – it’s really important that we have these face to face meetings with our US counterparts, and that we’re consistently talking about our product (trusts), showing them that we’re staying on top of things at our end.”

Cook Islands Finance will continue engaging with advisers through STEP and other professional forums as part of its ongoing U.S. outreach, with conferences scheduled in New York in March and Los Angeles in June.

For more information, visit cookislandsfinance.com or email enquiry@fsda.gov.ck.