Services

Our Proven Process

The professional consultants of The Cochlan Group understand that resolving the issues and solving the problems you confront on a daily basis requires knowing where to turn for the answer and following through immediately. Listening carefully to what you have to say and to your concerns in order to recruit, retain, and reward key executives, outside directors, and highly compensated employees is one of our highest priorities.

The following will provide you with a brief overview of the structured process that reflects the TCG paradigm for assuring your complete satisfaction with our services.
 
Assessment-Preliminary When you initially meet with our consultants, they will not arrive with any preconceived ideas about you, your organization or your issues.  Their goal is always to listen and learn about you, your people, and your collective needs. That is what sets The Cochlan Group apart from its competition. Too often, we have seen "square peg" solutions applied to "round hole" problems. Our services are tailored to meet your specific needs and expectations.
 
Design The consultants of The Cochlan Group have extensive experience in plan design concepts. After our consultants have met with you for an in-depth assessment, they frequently meet with other TCG consultants to thoroughly consider the various issues that you have raised and to brainstorm state-of-the-art plan designs that add substantial value to your organization and to plan participants.

Implementation The process of implementing your executive benefit plan is a critical component. Implementation involves the development of plan-specific communication and enrollment documents. Communication material is especially critical to achieving success because, properly done, the materials will communicate the value you place on the talent your senior executives contribute to your organization in their continuing efforts to achieve and exceed your corporate goals.

Administration Administration of your executive benefit plan can involve complex, time-consuming tasks. If your company is like most, you do not have people with either the specialized training or the time available to properly administer your plan. The Cochlan Group has plan administrators on staff who can handle all aspects of the plan administration process. Each of our plan administrators is proficient in the use of our proprietary technology platform. This platform provides fully automated administrative services, including:

• Daily access to benefit information for participants
• Plan enrollment and annual re-enrollments
• Quarterly corporate reports
• Cash flow analysis
• Operating statement impact from the plan
• Balance sheet impact from the plan
• Quarterly participant information and
• Quarterly reports covering plan financing status
   
  
  

Financing Proper planning is imperative to providing competitive benefits without impairing the financial health of the company. Financing is an integral part of that planning. Properly financed benefit plans eliminate increasing annual expenses with no future relief or recovery.

At The Cochlan Group, we understand your need to approach the implementation of benefit plans in the same manner that you approach other business decisions. For every liability a company incurs, there should be an asset strategy in place that will not only offset the current obligation, but also grow in stride with the benefit liability. The Cochlan Group will analyze the economic impact of various financing vehicles and help you choose the financing program that best suits your company's needs and mitigates the cost of your benefit plan.

Securing If everything remained unchanged, there would be no need to consider securing your benefit plan liability. But conditions do change. To safeguard plan participants against the unlikelihood of a company's unwillingness or inability to keep it's long-term promises, "security devices" should seriously be considered that will protect you in the event of:

• A change in liquidity and financial capability
• A change of management
• A change of heart
• A change of control and
• Executive "life events"