Pooled benefits

Pooled benefits can seem a scary concept to the uninitiated. Those floating the idea can be put off by time constraints and breakdowns in communication. But for those ready to dive in there are treasures to be found.
HR Grapevine, in association with AXA PPP Healthcare, Canada Life Group Insurance and IGP, recently hosted a roundtable. With the help of senior compensation and benefit professionals from multinational corporations, advisors and providers, we discussed the advantages of pooling benefits.

In it for the dividends?
One common belief held by many around pooling benefits is that the only advantage to be gained is the international dividend, but this was widely dismissed by most delegates. They claimed that while pooling can return a dividend this was far from the only prize on offer and was not even necessarily desirable. One explained: “An efficient pool is not about maximising dividends. If you don’t make a dividend it simply means you’ve paid the right price.” They added that this could often be misunderstood by other members of the company working outside of compensation and benefits who may then expect dividends each year. They agreed that when dividends do come through they should be reinvested in benefits. This was echoed by advisors, one said: “I would never advise to do it for a dividend. Staff benefits should come to staff. Dividends can help pooling but it should never be driven by them.”

Read the full feature in February's HR Grapevine Magazine >