Employee Benefits

We can offer employers access to a range of benefits from death in service schemes to private medical, however whats becoming more popular is providing staff access to financial advice at no initial cost.

Bridging the advice gap

We are well aware that in the UK we have a real issue when it comes to the advice gap. The commonly held definition of the advice gap is the number of people who are not taking financial advice, and based on the latest research by ‘Open Money’ that represents almost 90% of the population. Within the financial advice industry we know just how valuable and life changing regulated advice can be, for those who can afford to access it.

In 2015, the charity ‘Citizens Advice’ published a compelling study into the advice gap in the UK, ‘The Four Advice Gaps’. As the name suggests, the paper argues it is simplistic to refer to the advice gap in the singular. There are a variety of reasons why people do not access advice such as; trust, cost, not sure where to start and scammers.

We have the solution!

By working with smaller employers, typically 50 staff and less we’ve designed a bespoke solution to enable employees to access independent financial advice that won’t cost them an initial fee. This advice can include setting up a new Stocks & Shares ISA to helping in purchasing their first home, this is an average saving of £395 per member.

Prices start from £60 per month plus VAT and is dependent on business size.

The financial literacy gap among UK consumers is quite significant. According to PwC’s Strategy & UK Consumer Credit Confidence report, while a high percentage of consumers (88%) feel confident in making financial decisions, only a small fraction can accurately assess financial products. For instance, just 37% of these consumers were able to correctly estimate the value range for a mortgage, and only 31% for a personal loan. This substantial disparity underscores the urgent need for improved financial education and heightened awareness.

Areas of advice

Pensions
Investments
Protection
Lending

Everyone has their own unique circumstances making one area of financial planning more important than the other, this is where independent financial advice can help breakdown a clients objectives and prioritise whats important to them.

To make life even easier, our advice process starts online, employees can complete an online fact find and confirm whats important to them, we often facilitate meetings via video call so we can work around them and their lives.

Monthly Advice Retainer

Typically when it comes to financial planning and writing a recommendation report (where we confirm our advice) we charge a minimum report fee of £395,. However, where a company works with us, this is waived. Here are some examples of the benefits employees receive:

Regular Investment Plan – Searching the internet for the best way to setup a regular investment plan is often stressful and complicated. Here we can have an initial meeting, conduct an online fact find, establish goals and objectives, conduct a complete risk profiling exercise and create a recommendation report, we can then if the employee is happy setup the investment plan. Employee cost – Nil.

First Time Buyer – Our independent mortgage advisers can search the whole of the intermediary market to not only find the best product, but provide the best advice in regards to how to purchase a property. We can run affordability checks, check how much someone can borrow and ensure they meet the lenders criteria. Then if happy, we can guide them through the purchasing process all the way to key collection. Employee cost – Nil