Looking ahead to the 21st century, we believe that Japan's greatest challenges are to appropriately deal with the unprecedented rapid aging of its society, to solve our unique land issues, and to promote transformation of our economic structure, while fulfilling our responsibilities with the trust of the international community.

Since its founding, The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd. has devoted itself to solving national issues in response to the needs of the times through development and proliferation of various trust systems. Recently, with maturation of Japan's economy and society, the trust system has found new opportunities for development, as seen in the cases of pension trusts and land trusts, and society’s expectations and interest in utilization of the system have been increasing.

The trust system started in ancient Rome and has grown and blossomed in Europe and the United States; however, when we look back on the history and current state of research on the trust system in Japan, we find it is still far from complete in terms of basic and academic research as well as in terms of applied and practical research. Therefore, we are constantly keenly aware of the urgent need to develop a structure that brings together a wider range of wisdom for the trust system to spread widely and take root on a full scale.

Under these circumstances, The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd. celebrated its 60th anniversary. In commemoration of this, we have decided to establish the "Trust 60 Foundation" as the most appropriate project to go back to the spirit of our founding and further enhance our management philosophy of serving society and the public through proliferation and development of the trust system. Through this foundation, we will conduct research and studies that will contribute to further development and proliferation of the trust system in Japan, provide grants for excellent research and activities, and carry out projects to improve the infrastructure for utilization of the trust system as well as for international exchange. Thereby, we humbly hope that our contributions will foster a balanced development of Japan's economy both domestically and internationally, while improving the quality of people’s lives.

March 27, 1987
The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd.
(Current:Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited）