A "blind trust" is a trust in which the trustees have full discretion over the assets, and the beneficiaries of the trust have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust. A blind trust is often set up to avoid possible conflicts of interest that could occur if the beneficiary had knowledge of the specific investment. For example, individuals who have extensive stock investments often set up blind trusts before taking public office where their governmental actions might otherwise be seen as favoring a company or industry.