Trust Company Talks

The Difference Between Service and Hospitality: A Conversation with Van Eure

There's a question every long-running business has to answer: How do you keep doing the work well, year after year, after the founders are gone, the industry has changed and customer expectations have only climbed? Few restaurants in North Carolina have answered it as clearly as The Angus Barn. On the newest episode of Trust Company Talks, hosts Bill Noble [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/william-h-noble/] and Burke Koonce [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/m-burke-koonce-iii/] sit down with Van Eure, owner and operator of The Angus Barn, the legendary Raleigh steakhouse her father co-founded more than six decades ago. Eure recounts the restaurant's origin story, her own unlikely path back into the family business after five years teaching school in Kenya and the leadership philosophy that has carried The Angus Barn into its current era. Most of the conversation centers on what Eure calls real hospitality, the kind that goes well past customer satisfaction into an experience that guests remember for years. She speaks to a hiring process focused on servant-hearted candidates, a service model that gives every employee the authority to resolve a guest issue on the spot and a set of practices that keep the entire team, including the dishwashers, focused on the same guest experience. In the conversation: * The difference between customer service and real hospitality * The hiring philosophy that produces a 4% turnover rate, against a 30% to 40% industry average * The Opie Test and how it sharpens performance reviews * Why every manager, including Eure herself, works the dish pit during busy shifts * Eure's advice on sustainable leadership  This is a conversation about people, the work of taking care of them and what it takes to do that well for a very long time. Trust Company Talks is a production of Trust Company of the South, one of the premier wealth management firms in the Southeast. Trust Company is a privately held firm based in Greensboro, NC, with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. You can find more episodes of Trust Company Talks on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trust-company-talks/id1651906832] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZKK4kQMeuHKKi7ITavilE?si=acafb47e8353489e]. Receive the episodes as soon as they premiere by subscribing today.

How to Think About Alternatives Today: A Conversation with Greg Brown

Every investor who considers alternatives is eventually faced with the same question: Is the added complexity worth it? The honest answer depends on what part of the category you're talking about, how you access it and what you're trying to accomplish with the allocation. The newest episode of Trust Company Talks takes that question on directly. Hosts Bill Noble [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/william-h-noble/] and Burke Koonce [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/m-burke-koonce-iii/] are joined by Dr. Greg Brown [https://uncipc.com/people/greg-brown/], Distinguished Professor of Finance at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School and founder and research director of the Institute for Private Capital, for a conversation covering the full breadth of the alternatives category. Greg has been researching hedge funds, private equity and private credit for more than two decades, and he brings academic rigor to a space often clouded by marketing language. He explains how each category actually behaves inside a portfolio and why the economic case looks quite different for each one. In this episode: * The two economic reasons alternatives belong in a portfolio * Why the median venture fund disappoints while the average fund looks strong * How hedge fund alpha has decayed as more capital has entered the space * The redemption pressures currently playing out inside evergreen private credit funds * What individual investors should weigh before committing capital: liquidity, taxes and due diligence * Greg's take on alternatives in DC plans and the broader retailization of private markets For investors, advisors and board members working to make sense of a category that has grown well beyond its original definition, this episode is an hour well spent with one of the foremost academic voices on private markets. Trust Company Talks is a production of Trust Company of the South, one of the premier wealth management firms in the Southeast. Trust Company is a privately held firm based in Greensboro, NC, with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. You can find more episodes of Trust Company Talks on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trust-company-talks/id1651906832] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZKK4kQMeuHKKi7ITavilE?si=acafb47e8353489e]. Receive the episodes as soon as they premiere by subscribing today.

Foundations, Endowments and How to Run Them: A Conversation with Walker Douglas

The assets inside a foundation or endowment were never meant to be spent all at once. They exist to support a mission today and keep supporting it decades from now, which means the way those assets are managed carries real stakes for real communities. In the newest episode of Trust Company Talks, hosts Bill Noble [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/william-h-noble/] and Burke Koonce [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/m-burke-koonce-iii/] sit down with Walker Douglas [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/g-walker-douglas/], a CFP and wealth advisor in Trust Company's Greensboro office, for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to manage these pools of capital well. Walker works closely with nonprofits, foundations and endowments across the state and brings both the technical depth and the boardroom perspective that comes from years of doing this work alongside some of the region's most well-run institutions. Walker covers the dual mandate at the heart of every endowment—meeting current spending needs while preserving purchasing power for the future—and what that requires from asset allocation, spending policy and governance. He also gets into the concentration risk hiding inside major indices today, and why chasing a benchmark that is effectively 40% in 10 stocks may be the wrong objective for an institution built to last a hundred years. Their conversation covers:  * Why 60/40 gave way to 70/30, and when to go more aggressive * How spending policy smoothing works and why it matters * What alternatives bring to an endowment portfolio and the complexity they introduce * How Trust Company approaches governance, performance reviews and donor gifting strategy * What foundation boards are focused on right now: fundraising, revenue diversification and AI * Walker's single piece of advice for any board managing assets for the long term Whether you manage one of these relationships or sit on the board overseeing it, this episode covers a lot of ground. Trust Company Talks is a production of Trust Company of the South, one of the premier wealth management firms in the Southeast. Trust Company is a privately held firm based in Greensboro, NC, with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. You can find more episodes of Trust Company Talks on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trust-company-talks/id1651906832] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZKK4kQMeuHKKi7ITavilE?si=acafb47e8353489e]. Receive the episodes as soon as they premiere by subscribing today.

What the Tax Law Changed and What It Didn't: A Conversation with Chris Sutherland

The estate tax exemption is now the highest it's ever been. For a lot of families, that's created a sense of breathing room. Chris Sutherland [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/christopher-n-sutherland/], senior wealth advisor and principal in Trust Company's Charlotte office, would push back on that. In the newest episode of Trust Company Talks, hosts Bill Noble [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/william-h-noble/] and Burke Koonce [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/m-burke-koonce-iii/] sit down with Chris for a conversation that covers what the recent legislation actually did, why Chris puts the word "permanent" in quotes and why some folks who were on the doorstep of major gifting decisions stopped moving once the urgency disappeared. Chris also introduces the idea of reverse estate planning, where those who did smart work moving assets out of their estate years ago, when exemptions were much lower, may now want to bring some of those assets back to capture a step-up in basis. And he lays out what everyone should be reviewing on a regular basis, whether or not they have a taxable estate. The conversation touches on: * Why the estate tax exemption being "permanent" still requires planning, and what post-2028 might look like * Reverse estate planning and when it makes sense to bring assets back into the estate * Asset titling, beneficiary designations and asset location as annual review items * Generation-skipping trusts, qualified charitable distributions and Roth conversions * Insurance reviews and the long-term care conversation * Working with younger generations on trust basics and personal finance If tax season has you wondering whether your own plan still fits, this episode is a good place to start. Trust Company Talks is a production of Trust Company of the South, one of the premier wealth management firms in the Southeast. Trust Company is a privately held firm based in Greensboro, NC, with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. You can find more episodes of Trust Company Talks on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trust-company-talks/id1651906832] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZKK4kQMeuHKKi7ITavilE?si=acafb47e8353489e]. Receive the episodes as soon as they premiere by subscribing today.

Volatility Travels in Packs: A Conversation with Dan Tolomay on the 2026 Outlook

2025 rewarded equity investors, but it was not a straight line. In this episode of Trust Company Talks, hosts Bill Noble [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/william-h-noble/] and Burke Koonce [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/m-burke-koonce-iii/] are joined by Trust Company of the South Chief Investment Officer Dan Tolomay [https://www.trustcompanyofthesouth.com/about-us/teams/daniel-l-tolomay/] to recap what drove markets last year and frame the investment outlook for 2026. Dan breaks down key themes that shaped markets in 2025, what may matter in 2026, and focuses on how Trust Company uses valuation discipline and diversification to manage risk. The group also reflects on the spring "Liberation Day" sell-off and the quick rebound that followed, reinforcing Dan's reminder that "volatility travels in packs" and that a durable allocation matters most when markets move quickly. The conversation touches on: * Why international led in 2025, and how currency moves mattered * What "Magnificent Seven" concentration means for index exposure * What past market leaders can teach investors now * What valuation discipline looks like when prices are stretched * Why big down days and big up days often cluster * Allocation considerations for retirees and long-term investors * Why planning beats forecasting Listen for a practical look at what worked in 2025, the questions investors are carrying into 2026 and how to think about diversification and valuation discipline when markets feel uncertain, especially for retirees and pre-retirees managing portfolio risk. Trust Company Talks is a production of Trust Company of the South, one of the premier wealth management firms in the Southeast. Trust Company is a privately held firm based in Greensboro, NC, with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. You can find more episodes of Trust Company Talks on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trust-company-talks/id1651906832] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZKK4kQMeuHKKi7ITavilE?si=acafb47e8353489e]. Receive the episodes as soon as they premiere by subscribing today.