Areas of Practice
Employee Benefits
Getting the right Employee Benefit package in place is a significant challenge for Employers today. The complex world of benefit options needs to be navigated, to ensure you put the right benefits in place at the right price. This plays a key role in assisting organisations to recruit, reward and retain the best people.
Our Expertise can guide Employers through this complex world. An Employee Benefits partner can effectively assist in designing and managing the right package, to meet the needs of your organisation. Additionally from an employees perspective engagement, education and positive retirement outcomes are critically linked to a successful pension arrangement.
In order for employees to engage in retirement savings; not only do they need to understand the level of contributions being made, they need to be educated about the investment choices available to them within the scheme and the potential outcomes at retirement. Simplifying the complex pension literature in the market to focus on the important aspects of retirement planning and linking to broader financial plans is key to unlocking engagement levels.
At Provest Private Clients Limited, our solutions are not only aimed at simplifying pensions for employees, but also for our clients. We will work in partnership with you, aiming to achieve higher employee engagement and appreciation levels.
Corporate Pension Services
We specialise in designing and managing pension plans for companies and have a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise in this area to enable you to provide a comprehensive pension package that will assist your Company in attracting and retain employees.
As impartial advisors, Provest Private Clients peer-review the market and are free to advise on the most suitable structure and recommend the most suitable Provider for our clients Pension Schemes.
We recommend the most appropriate providers based on a number of criteria including:
Flexibility of the structure to meet the employer’s needs.
The investment offering, default investment strategy and fund performance.
Fund management fees and administration and policy fees to ensure our clients are getting best value for their money.
The accuracy and efficiency of their administration.
Online access for employer and employees.
Trustee Services.
We constantly survey the market to identify the best fund performance track records, the most competitively priced charging structures whilst continually keeping our client up to date with legislative developments in the Pensions industry. Following a review of your objectives and employee needs, we will recommend an appropriate employee benefits plan.
We provide a comprehensive service from the establishment & management of schemes through to independent reviews of existing schemes including:
Meetings with employers to agree on scheme design.
Recommending the most suitable administration structure, provider and investment manager.
Group presentation to introduce benefits to employees.
Advice to existing members on fund choice & retirement options.
Individual consultations to prospective joiners to discuss fund selection, retirement options and any previous pensions which they might hold.
Ensuring the accurate administration of the scheme.
Review of fund manager performance.
Monitor regularly and advise action where appropriate.
We can also offer your employees personalised advice on a one-to-one basis on any aspect of their personal finances. Additionally if any are approaching retirement, we can also advise on how best to achieve maximum value from their pension plan.
Provide the Employer with an Annual Renewal Meeting and ongoing monitoring.
Annually update members on their Benefits.
Corporate Group Risk Benefits
Good employers look after their employees and often provide a range of insurance benefits for employees including life cover, income protection cover and healthcare. We specialise in providing quality risk-benefit packages for companies.
Group risk benefits are designed to protect employees and their families in the event of long-term illness or death while working. The cost of these benefits is usually met by employers as an employee benefit in addition to their basic salary. This makes the benefit even more attractive and even more valuable to employees.
HOW WE ADD VALUE
Our position as a leading broker allows us secure generous free cover limits and competitive quotation for our clients and prospective clients.
We provide the services required to put in place all types of Group risk including:
Death In Service — Life Assurance lump sum in the event of death of an employee.
Spouses Death in Service — Income benefit for the spouse or dependant in the event of death of an employee.
Income Protection — Pays a proportion of the employee’s salary if they are unable to work for a prolonged period of time due to illness or injury.
We can advise you on the most suitable level of cover to ensure that you are competitive within your sector.
For employers who already have cover in place as impartial advisors we can carry out a market review to ensure that you are getting the best rates, terms and coverage available in this competitive market.
BUSINESS PROTECTION
Many business owners believe that it simply won’t happen to them. The chances of a partner or director, in a small business dying or becoming seriously ill before retirement, are probably a lot higher that you might think.
Many problems can arise for a business when a partner or key employee dies prematurely or becomes seriously ill. The lack of credit to small businesses could result in some surviving business owners having insufficient funds to purchase a deceased owner’s share of the business or in some incidences getting into financial difficulty because of a key employee’s death.
Shareholder Protection
The sudden death of a shareholder in a private limited company can cause problems for both the surviving shareholders and the family of the deceased shareholder. For example the surviving shareholders could lose control of the business as they may find themselves working with the deceased’s family. And as for the deceased’s family, they may be left with a share in a business, an illiquid asset but with little or no income.
Life assurance can provide a solution to these problems by providing liquid capital on the death of a shareholder to enable;
the surviving shareholders to retain control of the business as the deceased’s shares are bought back by the company, and
the family of the deceased shareholder to realise their shares for cash, shortly after death.
The solution outlined above can be achieved in one of two ways:
PERSONAL SHAREHOLDER PROTECTION
The shareholders enter into a personal legal agreement with each other to "buy out" a deceased shareholder's shares in the event of his death.
CORPORATE SHAREHOLDER PROTECTION
The company enters into a put / call legal agreement with each of its shareholders to buy back shares from their personal representatives in the event of death.
For more information please contact our main office.
Partnership Protection
The sudden death of a partner in a firm can cause problems for both the surviving partners and the deceased’s next of kin.
The partners may be legally bound, either under their own Partnership Agreement, or under the Partnership Act 1890, to pay an immediate capital sum to the deceased partner’s estate in respect of:
the deceased partners share of undrawn profits for the year in which he / she died.
the deceased partners share of any partnership fixed assets, such as the office - building.
the balance of his / her capital or loan account.
a payment in respect of the deceased partners share of partnership goodwill.
The partners could, therefore, be faced with the prospect of finding an immediate capital sum to meet their obligations to the deceased partner’s next of kin.
If they do not have sufficient liquid capital available, the surviving partners might have to borrow the necessary funds, but they would then be faced with the prospect of loan repayments for years to come. If borrowing is not a realistic option, the partners might be forced to pay a pension to the deceased partner’s dependants. This would also be a long-term financial drain on the partnership.
The surviving partners may not be able to find the necessary capital immediately. Some partnership agreements allow surviving partners to spread payments to a deceased partner’s estate over a number of years, up to 10 years in some cases.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the next of kin cannot sell their partnership share to any other third party. They must therefore wait for payment from the surviving partners.
Partnership insurance can provide a solution to the problems.
For more information please contact our main office.
Keyperson Cover
Keyperson insurance is life assurance effected by an employer on the life of a key employee, who may also be a shareholder or director, to protect the company against the financial consequences of that individual's sudden death or serious illness.
The sudden death or serious illness of a key person could give rise to a number of immediate financial pressures for the company:
the 'calling in' of company loans, in particular any to which the 'key person' had given a personal guarantee
a costly interruption in business
a loss of business contacts
extra resources may have to be committed to the recruitment and replacement of the key individual.
WHO IS A KEYPERSON?
A keyperson is any 'key' employee or director on whom the business depends for its continued success, or existence, and on whose death or serious illness the business could suffer a financial loss.
For more information please contact our main office.