Reliance Trust Company is a Georgia-chartered trust company headquartered in Atlanta that specializes in retirement plan services and collective investment funds. Founded in 1975 and formally chartered as a state bank and trust in 1981, it has been a subsidiary of FIS (Fidelity National Information Services) since 2014, making it part of one of the largest financial technology firms in the world.
How Reliance Trust Company Operates
Reliance Trust Company is classified as a domestic bank under Georgia state law and is registered with the Georgia Secretary of State. Its principal office is at 201 17th St NW, Suite 1000, in Atlanta. Unlike a traditional retail bank where you walk in and open a checking account, Reliance Trust functions primarily as a fiduciary, meaning it holds and manages assets on behalf of other people or organizations. Its clients are typically employers sponsoring retirement plans, financial advisors, and institutional investors rather than individual consumers.
Because it holds a state trust charter, Reliance Trust is subject to oversight by Georgia banking regulators and must meet ongoing compliance requirements. Its status with the Georgia Secretary of State is listed as Active/Compliance, with its most recent annual registration filed for 2026.
Core Services: Retirement Plans and Collective Investment Funds
Reliance Trust is best known for two things: acting as a trustee or custodian for employer-sponsored retirement plans (like 401(k) plans) and managing collective investment trusts, often called CITs.
A collective investment trust is a pooled investment vehicle available only to qualified retirement plans. Think of it as similar to a mutual fund, but with a different legal structure. CITs are created and maintained by a bank or trust company rather than a mutual fund company, and they tend to carry lower fees because they face fewer regulatory requirements than mutual funds registered with the SEC. For employers looking to keep costs down inside their 401(k) plans, CITs have become an increasingly popular option, and Reliance Trust is one of the larger providers in this space.
As a retirement plan trustee, Reliance Trust takes on the legal responsibility of holding plan assets and ensuring they are managed in the best interest of plan participants. If your employer’s 401(k) statement lists Reliance Trust Company, that typically means Reliance Trust is serving as the directed trustee or custodian for the plan’s assets. Your employer or a third-party administrator still makes the day-to-day decisions about plan design and investment options, but Reliance Trust provides the trust structure that holds everything together.
The FIS Acquisition
In 2014, FIS acquired Reliance Trust Company. FIS is a global fintech company that provides technology and services to banks, capital markets firms, and other financial institutions. The acquisition gave FIS a trust charter it could use to expand its retirement and institutional services, while Reliance Trust gained access to the technology infrastructure and distribution network of a much larger parent company.
Despite the acquisition, Reliance Trust continues to operate under its own name and its original Georgia charter. If you encounter Reliance Trust in your retirement plan documents, it is functioning as a regulated trust entity within the broader FIS corporate family.
Why You Might See Reliance Trust on Your Statements
Most people who search for Reliance Trust Company do so because the name appeared on a 401(k) statement, a benefits enrollment document, or a retirement account disclosure. This is normal. Employers rarely advertise who serves as the underlying trustee for their retirement plan, so it can be surprising to see an unfamiliar company’s name attached to your savings.
Reliance Trust’s role in that context is custodial. It does not decide how your money is invested or control your plan’s rules around loans, withdrawals, or vesting. Those decisions are made by your employer and the plan’s recordkeeper or administrator. Reliance Trust holds the assets in a legally protected trust structure so they remain separate from your employer’s own finances. If your employer were to go bankrupt, for example, your 401(k) assets held in trust by Reliance Trust would not be part of the employer’s estate.
If you need to take action on your retirement account, such as rolling over a balance, requesting a distribution, or changing your investments, you would typically contact your plan’s recordkeeper (the company whose website or app you log into to view your account) rather than Reliance Trust directly.