How GÆIA can help

We can guide you through the maze of financial services, save you time and money and give you peace of mind. On top of that, we are experts in investments in ethical and environmental funds, an area that is increasingly in demand from businesses and their employees alike.

We can help you to give your employees the key benefits they need to motivate them and give them peace of mind. We can offer a personal service that you will not find with a larger provider, but we are competitive on costs, too.
We have a team of friendly advisers and administrators who will work with you to get the best package of benefits for your company.
We can ensure that you are provided with a cost effective package, as Independent advisers we have the whole market available to us. Other providers may be limited to one or a small range of companies and these may not provide you with the best price structure.

We offer a full range of financial services for businesses, including:

• Group personal pension schemes
• Death in service benefits
• Income protection schemes 
• Partnership and shareholder protection

Pensions

GAEIA can help you set up a new scheme or advise if an existing scheme meets the new legislation. We can also advise on pension transfers.

We can help you and your employees choose the best pension providers, based on their financial strength and choice of funds that offer good, long-term performance, including ethical options.

We are experts in ethical and environmental investments, which are becoming more and more popular with employers and employees alike.

From 2012, all companies will have to enrol employees in their pension scheme and provide a minimum employer contribution of 3% with the employee contributing at least 4%. While matching employees’ contributions is not compulsory at the moment, it is good practice and encourages workers to start a pension. The final details of the above could still be subject to change by the government) This level of payment is very low and is unlikely to provide sufficient income in retirement, we believe good employers should not wait until this date, it is important that you and your staff start to make adequate retirement provisions now. 

Group Personal Pensions

GPP schemes have a number of advantages for employer and employee. For employers, there is less paperwork than for occupational schemes and the pension provider deals with it rather than you, the employer.

For your staff, GPPs allow them “ownership” of their pension. If they move jobs they can take their pensions with them.

How much to save?

The National Association of Pension Funds says that, as a rule of thumb, workers should put 15% of their earnings over their working life into a pension, to receive a pension of two-thirds of final salary.

It pays to start saving as soon as possible. According to www.planyourretirement.co.uk , a 25-year-old man earning £25,000 a year who pays 5% of his salary into his pension with his employer making a 10% contribution, will have a pension pot of £360,145 by the time he is 65, which translates into a pension of £29,532, assuming a growth rate of 5% per year.

A 35-year-old man on the same salary would accrue only £213,216, or £17,484 per year, while a 45-year-old on the same salary and making the same payments would have a pension of just £9,309 a year.

Our methods

We will help you assess your needs and the most suitable plans and agree a fee for our services. This can be paid via either commission from the chosen providers, a fee paid by the business or a combination of the two. Many small businesses and especially voluntary organizations want to offer pensions and other employee benefits but do not budget or make provision ahead to cover sufficient benefits or fee to set up and review them , when making funding applications.

We follow a six stage process to put in place the appropriate financial arrangements for your business

1. Establish your current situation and plans for future development
2. Identify your needs
3. Research the market
4. Recommend appropriate solutions
5. Implement agreed arrangements
6. Provide ongoing support and advice

Meeting the needs of your business

GÆIA is experienced in advising employers and employees on their options and providing cost-effective solutions using investment and insurance companies, which offer ethical and environmental funds where possible.

Partnership and Shareholder protection

Partners and major shareholders are crucial to many businesses and their situation and their requirements are different to those of employees.

They have a major stake in the company and if something happens to them it can have a major impact on the business. There are two issues to consider in the event of unexpected death or illness to ensure that the business can continue to run smoothly – can the business afford to buy the partnership or shares and will the affected partner’s family be provided for?

Key Person Insurance

Some employees play a key role because of their skill or knowledge and the loss of their services due to unexpected death or critical illness can hit a business hard.

You can ease the painful transition with a key-person insurance policy, which can allow you to cover expenses such as the cost of a temporary stand-in or the recruitment costs involved in finding a permanent replacement.

Death in Service and Group Life Assurance

You can help to ease the pain by providing Death in Service cover of up to four times gross earnings, at a very reasonable cost. As an example, the family of an employee earning £20,000 would receive a £80,000 lump-sum payment tax free, giving them one less thing to worry about. It is also tax-efficient for the company as the cost will reduce your corporation tax bill.

Setting up a Death in Service policy will mark your company out as a quality employer offering quality benefits. Depending on the level of cover and number of people in the scheme, it may be possible to provide cover without having to provide any medical details.

Income Protection and Permanent Health Insurance

If an employee falls seriously ill or has an accident, it can be costly for a small business or voluntary organisation to continue paying their wages – for anything up to six months – unless you have made provision for such an eventuality.

Employers must pay statutory sick pay for a maximum of 28 weeks, but at £75.40 per week for the 2008/2009 tax year, it is not enough to survive on. However, with an income protection scheme in place you can cover up to 70% of net salary. The best schemes can cover for sickness until your employee returns to work or retirement age. You can also arrange schemes to make payment for a set times scale (i.e 2 years payment).

With the average person 8-9 times more likely to become seriously ill than to die before retirement – and 1 in 3 people likely to have a long-term illness or accident while of working age – this type of insurance could be a crucial business tool. It is also very cost-effective, particularly for younger staff. Employees can take the policy with them from job to job and can procure cover up until retirement age.