Harvard College and Massachusetts General Hospital v. Francis Amory decision establishes the “prudent man”” rule.”

Supreme Judicial Court, in a decision, written by chief justice Samuel Putnam, finds the defendant innocent of charges that his investment of a bequest violated his fiduciary responsibility. Putnam declares, “All that can be required of a trustee to invest, is, that he shall conduct himself faithfully and exercise a sound discretion. He is to observe how men of prudence, discretion, and intelligence manage their own affairs, not in regard to speculation, but in regard to the permanent disposition of their funds, considering the probable income, as well as the probable safety of the capital to be invested.”