National Advisors Trust announced it named Ronald Ferguson as the organization's new chief executive officer. Based in Overland Park, Kan., National Advisors Trust provides trust and custodial services to its shareholder base of 130 financial advisor member firms that administer $5 billion in assets.

Ferguson has already started in the position, which had been vacant for about a year. Previously, he was executive vice president of Results Technology, an information technology company serving banks and other industries. Before that, he was executive V.P. of Euronet Worldwide and Euronet USA, which process secure electronic financial and payment transactions.

Neither Ferguson nor board chairman Joseph Kopczynski could be reached for comment, but in a statement Kopczynski said the board looked beyond candidates from the world of trusts and banking in favor of someone with financial services IT experience, as well as solid business development experience. "We were looking for someone who could be that bridge between fiduciary responsibilities, technology and marketing strategy," he said.

National Advisors Trust was organized in 2001 by 82 financial advisory firms as founding shareholders, and subsequently expanded its shareholder membership through various offerings. It serves as a backoffice trustee and custodian for its members for all types of assets ranging from equities and alternative investments to trusts and limited partnerships.

Within the past year it has increasingly opened up its trust capabilities to non-member registered investment advisors. "We've had a lot of inquiries to utilize our services on the trust side," said spokeswoman Rosemary Hueser.

National Advisors Trust is regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC.