Mother to put shares of small bank in trust, switch to safer investment?

[chaosensues]

My 70 y/o mother is creating a trust for her children and she wants to transfer some shares of First of Long Island Corp. to us that were gifted to her a long time ago. It seems like a sentimental stock (if there is such a thing) and I'm trying to decide if I should suggest that it be moved to a broad market index fund.

I'm newer to investing and find valuations to be interesting. The problem is that I'm new to it and hear that banks are notoriously difficult to evaluate. ROE is 8.3% and the net cash/debt varies widely. It's got a low P/E but I don't even know if that's relevant. Stock could do okay or could go bankrupt, we all know how that goes. Would it be better to just put it all in VOO or VT?

I appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

 

[jfhodge852]

@chaosensues How much are these sentimental shares worth?

 

[chaosensues]

@jfhodge852 About $10.80 each. About 2 K worth for each kid. I'm sort of wondering if small banks in general are beaten down. If so, could be worth holding. Been on decline since 2018.

 

[moonphantom]

@chaosensues unless you're the trustor or trustee, it's really none of your business how the trust is created or managed

make the suggestion if you prefer, but don't press the issue IMO. perhaps suggest the trust going forward is invested into more diversified options, but if she's got an emotional attachment to that bank just let it go. this is a very nice gesture, but $2k per kid is not life-changing money.