Company comparison
Bridgeford Trust vs Sterling Trustees
Bridgeford Trust Company, LLC and Sterling Trustees LLC are both independent South Dakota public charters that refuse the investment book. They sit under the same directed-trust chapter — SDCL 55-1B — but they tell different public stories. This page places published charter and role fields side by side. It does not pick a winner.
Editorial only. Not legal, tax, or investment advice. Statutes and licensee lists change — read the primary source and the date on each citation.
South Dakota · Directed trustee
Bridgeford Trust Company, LLC
Independent Pierre / Sioux Falls public charter that markets itself as South Dakota’s oldest independently owned trust company and a pure directed administrative trustee.
Open the company file
South Dakota · Directed trustee
Sterling Trustees LLC
Sioux Falls public charter that markets pure independent trusteeship — no investment book of its own.
Open the company file
Side by side
Published fields only. Empty cells would mean we would not invent a figure — this table uses sourced rows from the two listings and the regulator lists cited below.
| Field | Bridgeford Trust Company, LLC | Sterling Trustees LLC |
|---|---|---|
| Legal name | Bridgeford Trust Company, LLC | Sterling Trustees LLC |
| Domicile | South Dakota | South Dakota |
| Charter | TC.2 Public; TC.074-2 (SD roster; listing cites July 2026; Sept 2026 PDF still lists TC.074-2) | TC.2 Public; TC.052-2; first issuance 2010-07-07 (Sept 2026 roster) |
| Regulator | South Dakota Division of Banking | South Dakota Division of Banking |
| Ownership | Independent — firm says fully independent; oldest and largest independently owned South Dakota-chartered trust company; does not manage assets or compete with advisors | Independent — privately held South Dakota trust administration company; never acts as investment advisor |
| Directed focus | Directed trustee — dedicated Directed Trusts page; administrative trustee with investment and distribution committees or advisors under South Dakota directed-trust statutes | Directed trustee — independent corporate trustee in a directed model; separates trusteeship from investment advice |
| HQ / offices | Pierre and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (firm about); roster street on the July 2026 listing file is 330 S. Poplar Avenue, Suite 103, Pierre | 101 S. Phillips Avenue, Suite 509, Sioux Falls, SD 57104 (roster + listing) |
| Website | bridgefordtrust.com | sterlingtrustees.com |
Same domicile statute, different public stories. Bridgeford markets itself as South Dakota’s oldest independently owned directed-admin shop. Sterling markets an independent corporate trustee in a directed model that never acts as investment advisor. Neither claim is a ranking.
Read directed trustee vs corporate trustee before you treat “independent” as excluded-fiduciary language. Confirm the legal name and credential on the South Dakota state file roster, then use how to read a listing on each file.
What stays unknown
- Fees — neither listing reprints a schedule. Ask each firm; this page does not invent dollars.
- AUM / AUA — not published on the pages reviewed for either file.
- Bonding, capital, or insurance figures for these two companies.
- Which committee or adviser seats each will accept on a given instrument.
- Which office will actually administer a given file.
Questions people actually ask
Which of these two is better?
This page does not pick a winner. It places published charter, ownership, and directed-trust role fields side by side so counsel can see what each firm has actually said. A ranking would invent a score we do not have.
Do both sit under SDCL 55-1B?
Both are South Dakota public (TC.2) charters. Directed-trust relief under SDCL chapter 55-1B applies only if the governing instrument creates the adviser roles that chapter recognizes — and if the chosen trustee accepts that seat in writing. A Pierre or Sioux Falls charter without 55-1B language is still just a trusteeship.
Where are the full sources?
Open the two company files. Each listing cites the Division of Banking roster and the firm pages used here. This comparison does not add facts that are not on those files or the sources listed below.