Consulting
Investment Consulting
We have considerable experience of monitoring and analysing funds and fund managers. This gives us an advantage in helping pension trustees keep up to date with regulatory and other issues that affect the way they run their schemes. Our investment team can advise you on the most appropriate strategy and assist in annual review meetings and investment fund 'beauty parades'. In addition we can help you ensure you meet those liabilities and objectives set out in your scheme, whether you are involved in segregated mandates or using insured funds.
Administration
Specialist third-party administrators are used by many employers to run their schemes, where the administration is separated from the investment function. On the other hand, a bundled arrangement may be more appropriate where an insurance company handles everything. We can advise you on this.
Employee communications and Advice
Effective communication of the pension scheme to employees is vital if they are to understand and appreciate the benefits. This is especially so where a Money Purchase scheme is concerned when employees need to make a decision on contribution levels and investment choice. We have a great deal of experience of this and can offer a wide range of services depending on your requirements. This usually includes developing a complete communications programme using a combination of methods - email, paper, intranet, employee meetings and one to-one advice. This would take place not just as a one-off exercise but on a regular basis. Employee seminars can be held wherever they are located, be it one site or multi-sites throughout the UK. In addition, we are finding an increased interest fromemployers in offering their employees wider-ranging independent financial advice for all or certain chosen categories. This would cover not only pensions but also other needs such as family protection, tax planning* and investment. Employee advice whether just pensions or more wide ranging, is a vital area of service often not available from some other employee benefits consultants.
*AWD Chase de Vere are not accountants or tax advisers.
Group risk consultancy
Most employers offer some risk-related benefits such as life insurance, income protection, private medical insurance or critical illness cover. The cost of these group risk products continually fluctuates as a result of new product launches, new providers entering the market and strategic decisions by existing providers on whether they are over or underexposed to a risk category.
Consultancy & design
We are very close to this market and our research,expertise and purchasing power can be harnessed to help you manage risk, whilst securing significant savings on annual costs or improvement in benefits.
Multinational risk pooling
Companies with operations in different countries may benefit from pooling their risk benefits rather than insuring them separately in each country. We can provide active management of Multinational Pooling arrangements through local and international reviews to ensure that your arrangements maximise any potential cost savings.
Business risk
Key person cover, together with shareholder and partner loan protection, are vitally important components of any good business risk management strategy. The loss of a key director or employee, as a result of death or serious injury, can have serious consequences for the bottom line. The loss of a major partner or shareholder in such circumstances can lead to problems with ongoing ownership and control, possibly threatening corporate collapse. Securing cover against these high-profile risks is surprisingly often overlooked, yet can easily be arranged for less than many people imagine. Even if you do have a cover in place, it's worth reviewing this regularly as premium rates are changing frequently and significant cost savings or benefit improvements can be achieved.
International
Perhaps one of the most time-consuming areas of benefits planning and administration is that concerned with international issues. Examples include overseas secondees, foreign nationals working in the UK, the coordination of international benefits programmes and the provision of advice on the complexities of UK benefits legislation. As a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe's premier Independent financial services provider, we have all the resources required to advise you on international issues. This can help you to decide the optimum level of benefits in each territory, or to develop programmes for businesses that are subsidiaries of a company based abroad.
Pension Services
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