 The Act was considered a bad one , since it required a " very conservative investment policy for trustees " . The powers given to investment trustees were restrictive and narrow , and the trustees were expected to go through expensive and complicated procedures to exercise them . The Act was criticised almost immediately for its complexity and <unk> . A 1997 paper by the Law Commission called it " overly cautious and restrictive " , and suggested that some trusts were underperforming because of the difficulty of complying with the Act 's provisions . The Trustee Act 2000 repealed most of the 1961 Act and now serves as the principal piece of guidance on trustee investments . 
