Clark Consulting Announces Financial Services and Insurance Sector Results

DALLAS, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Clark Consulting, LLC today released 2009 Financial Services and Insurance Results, the first of four companion pieces to the fourteenth edition of Executive Benefits - A Survey of Current Trends. Each piece in the series provides a more in-depth look at the survey results for specific industries, including manufacturing, retail and energy and utilities.

In general, findings for the financial services and insurance sectors are consistent with the overall survey results -- that, although extraordinary developments in the United States economy over the past two years have affected executive benefits, employers continue to recognize the value of well-designed, market-driven executive benefits plans that are adequately funded.

"The financial services and insurance sectors have been hit particularly hard by the ongoing economic challenges, as well as regulatory and public concerns about compensation practices," said Kurt Laning, President of Clark Consulting.   "In this environment it might be tempting to freeze or scale down executive benefits but generally that is seen as a shortsighted approach. We feel that the companies that will emerge the strongest from the current turbulence and in the best position to take advantage of the recovery are those with the strongest leadership and teams," Mr. Laning continued.  "So it's crucial for employers to constantly recruit, reward and retain talented executives."

The goal of the survey is to identify how corporate America is providing certain nonqualified benefits to its executives. It focuses on plan prevalence, design features, financing and administration within the two main types of nonqualified plans: nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs).  Below are the 2009 survey highlights for the financial services and insurance sectors.  

2009 SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: FINANCIAL SERVICES AND INSURANCE SECTORS

• The use of NQDC plans and SERPs is widespread. The majority of respondents report having NQDC plans (82%) and SERPs (80%).
• NQDC plans are more likely to be informally funded than SERPs. Almost three-quarters of respondents (71%) report informally funding their NQDC plans; about half (45%) report informally funding their SERPs.
• Corporate-owned or trust-owned life insurance (COLI/TOLI) is the most commonly used informal funding vehicle for both types of plans. 56% of respondents informally funding their NQDC plans and 100% of those informally funding their SERPs use COLI/TOLI.
• Respondents prefer third-party or combined (in-house and third-party) administration, especially for NQDC plans (only 18% are administered exclusively in-house). 60% of SERPs are administered by a third-party or through a combined arrangement. These preferences may reflect a need for more sophisticated administration in light of the requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 409A.

For more information about Clark Consulting's 2009 Financial Services and Insurance Results or Clark Consulting's 14th Edition of Executive Benefits – A Survey of Current Trends, visit our website at www.clarkconsulting.com/execbenefitssurvey or contact us at [email protected].  Our experienced consultants can help you dissect the information and put it into the context of your business.

Clark Consulting, LLC, headquartered in Dallas, is an AEGON company.  AEGON N.V. is an international life insurance, pension and investment group based in The Hague, The Netherlands, with businesses in over twenty markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Clark Consulting is a leading source of strategic financing solutions such as bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) and corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) for inefficiently funded and unfunded liabilities that result from executive and employee benefit programs.

Since 1967, Clark Consulting has helped place thousands of benefit plans and serves as the record keeper for billions in assets for leading American corporations and banks.

Contact: 214 661 9852

Securities products and services are offered through Clark Securities, Inc., DBA CCFS, Inc., in Texas: 2100 Ross Avenue, Suite 2200, Dallas, TX 75201-7906. Phone: 800.999.3125. Member FINRA and SIPC.

SOURCE Clark Consulting, LLC