Irish Examiner
John Daly
29th October 2021
Mark O’Sullivan, managing director, Provest encapsulates his four decades in business
The coming 24 months are shaping up as a period of significant expansion for Cork based financial services firm, Provest, with plans to add 15 staff members as it expands its business in Munster.
Offering personalised financial advice to private and corporate clients across pensions, investments, retirement planning and life cover, the company has in excess of 500 clients with €200m currently under management. With a client base spread across Cork, the wider Munster area and Dublin, Provest aims to double this figure over the next two years.
“We are currently spending a considerable amount of time concentrating on two areas,” explains MD Mark O’Sullivan. “The first relates to clients who are entering their retirement phase and are obliged to draw down income from their post-retirement pension funds. This entails tax and investment consideration along with the relevant paperwork.
“The second area involves preparing for our corporate pension clients pre renewal meetings, many of which take place in December and January each year.”
This year in particular there is an additional body of work to be addressed with the transposition of the IORP II regulations, he adds. With its primary focus is on expanding corporate pension and financial planning units, he anticipates that fee based, impartial financial planning will become increasingly relevant given the overall extended life expectancy.
“We are all, thankfully, living longer. However the government has been sidestepping the area of auto enrolment, and with the likelihood that the State pension will increase in the years ahead, there will be a greater onus on people and employers to plan early with professional input. For many years, and particularly since Covid, the service we as financial advisers have received from the vast majority of pension and fund providers has been a huge disappointment and challenging for us all in Provest.”
The full State pension is currently just less than €13,000 per year, with inflation picking up, and the inevitability that the pension age will increase at some stage in the future, a big concern for clients is whether they will have enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.
“Our retirement planning service addresses the most important financial needs for individuals such as: forecast income and expenditure as well as assets, taxes and liabilities throughout their lifetime. In addition, determining how to invest current assets and future savings based on financial goals, attitude towards risk and their current financial position.”
Tax and estate planning also figure amongst issues needing to be addressed. Having begun his career as a clerk in an insurance company, Mark subsequently moved into life and pensions planning in a variety of roles with a number of major international firms prior to establishing Provest in 2017.
Over 40 years in business, he lists the changes across compliance and regulation as the most significant: “The standards are continuously being raised which gives greater protection and peace of mind for both the client and adviser.”
Despite its growing roster of over 500 clients, Provest operates to an ethos based on “the personal touch” — a challenging proposition as the business continues to expand.
“It’s a challenge for sure, but thankfully we have a great team of people, with more on the way,” explains Mark.
“We commenced a process during the earlier part of the year to keep the same level of personal contact with clients, by better structuring our diaries, being more disciplined with the investment institutions and re-investing in people. Our existing clients have been very supportive and one of our greatest sources of referrals.”
Despite the current global turbulence related to the pandemic, Brexit and supply line complexities, Mark takes a cautiously optimistic view given relatively strong growth expected in Ireland and Europe over the coming years as the rebound from the pandemic continues.
“Pent up demand post lockdowns and strong consumer balance sheets with high savings rates should boost consumption. Disposable income has risen during the pandemic despite the hit to the labour market due to the various income support schemes while the recovery in jobs and rising wages should continue to support consumption over the medium term. Demand for labour remains strong with high job openings/vacancy levels evident suggesting labour markets will continue to improve.”
With Cork and its hinterland undergoing a major growth phase at present, Mark forecasts further expansion in the years ahead.
“Certainly Cork is growing, because of the investment by corporates and Government through education and infrastructure here. As the second city in the state, there was a lack of committed progress in these areas for many years, flagged by employer bodies and the Cork Chamber.”
He points to areas outside of Dublin having for many years been hampered by a lack of progress at Government level in supporting the development of projects such as the extensive land bank in the Cork docklands, coupled with the adjacent river facility and its inherent opportunities: “Perhaps in recent times as remote working became the norm it got many to rethink what is really important and what Cork and the greater county has on offer to them. We are also fortunate to have some high profile cabinet ministers presently, which should help to bring further investment to the county.”
For people with a nest egg, but who are unsure of what to do with it, Mark advises seeking out a fee based impartial adviser for an initial chat about financial affairs and goals.
“Any conversation should appraise your capacity, tolerance and need for investment risk,” he says. “I know this might sound biased given it is what we do, but an initial chat will not cost anything.”
Encapsulating his four decades in business, Mark is succinct on the most important wisdom learned through those years:
“Do the right thing for your clients. Respect is earned, honesty is appreciated, trust is gained, loyalty is returned.”