An innovative tax-neutral savings plan product, suitable for international employers to help their employees save for retirement and/or other life events. Especially popular with employers in the Middle East who may be looking to establish a bespoke end of service gratuity scheme.
Fiduchi has experience of designing and implementing similar services as international savings schemes for clients globally. We can provide sophisticated structuring solutions, helping our clients put in place appropriate employee incentive schemes, whilst ensuring that each solution is bespoke, taking into account the client’s precise requirements and understanding the cultural nuances which surround them.
While international savings plan schemes are relatively new (launched in Jersey from January 2019) Fiduchi has designed and administered similar plans for over 10 years. We can assist in the establishing of a new savings plan or transfer a similar scheme into a new international savings plan.
An International Savings Plan (ISP) is an innovative savings plan product for international employers, which has been available in Jersey since January 2019. The ISP is designed to allow employers to create as flexible a plan as they need to meet the different requirements of their employees wherever they might be in the World.
This differs from the more rigid pension plans that employers have traditionally offered their employees. For example, ISPs can be set up to allow payouts to employees before the normal minimum retirement age. Under an ISP, a payout can be made at the end of an employment term or upon the occurrence of a significant life-changing event such as redundancy, divorce or ill health.
Being able to offer a well-regulated savings plan with flexible rules as to when benefits can be paid out is an attractive option for employers wishing to recruit and retain talent in a competitive marketplace. When employers put in place a traditional pension plan it usually means their employees are unable to access their savings until the point at which they retire, which means they are unable to fund life-changing “trigger events” such as the termination of employment, redundancy, divorce, children going to university or children getting on the property ladder.
This often leads to poor take up of the pension plan, with employees seeking to save elsewhere. The ISP approach is different – it allows employers to design a plan structured around their employee’s real-life requirements and the needs of the company. This becomes a real selling point for the employer-based savings plan, especially when coupled with any rewards-based element that the employer may wish to design into the ISP.
The key feature is flexibility! Each employer can tailor their own ISP to meet the needs of the company and its employees.
An employer can establish an ISP with different sections for its different types of employee. For example, EcoSun in the example above could set up an ISP with three sections; one to provide for the EoSB gratuity payments legally due to the Dubai-based employees at the end of their service; one to provide benefits to any staff that may be seconded to jurisdictions outside of their home territory; and one designed to allow all staff the ability to purchase shares in the company.
To qualify as an ISP, the plan must contain all of the following features:
ISPs are not suitable for Jersey residents and have been designed to fulfil the needs of non-resident employers and employees.
No, ISPs have not been introduced solely for Gulf region residents. However, it is envisaged that there will be much interest from the Gulf region as ISPs can easily be designed to incorporate mandatory end of service benefit payments.
There is no minimum requirement for the number of employees needed to set up an ISP.
Yes, it is possible to have both an ISP and a pension. Your employer decides whether to offer an ISP in addition to a pension.
Jersey ISPs are granted approval by the Jersey Tax Office and are tax-neutral vehicles. Income and gains can be accrued tax free in Jersey and distributions out of the ISP will not be taxable in Jersey. In addition, certain jurisdictions may offer tax relief to sponsoring employers in relation to any employer contributions made to an ISP.
See our leaflet below on the 10 frequently asked questions about ISPs.
Web enabled, 24/7 access to all plan information for company stakeholders
Information updated in real-time
Ability to view and filter all participants
Access to suite of pre arranged, Business Intelligence reporting
Complete management oversight and control for company
Ability to create and schedule your own reporting
"Fiduchi's Online Share Plan Administration portal, has saved time, money and paper, and [it] allows us to become more efficient in the managing of our employees share awards. It's really fantastic what an impact this platform has made."
Micheal S
Head of People - Tech startup company.
Onboarding of your data to our online platform is easy regardless if you choose a fully-managed or self-service in-house solution. By making the switch to our platform, you can upgrade from having to manage your share plan data on complicated spreadsheets. Plus, to make the process as simple as possible, our experts will assist you every step of the way and we also provide helpful guides.
For businesses who opt for our fully managed solution, our platform is able to deal with each business’s unique requirements. When it comes to dealing with exact legal and regulatory issues, our platform will be able to automatically determine the actions required for each award or vesting, specific to the country in which the company operates. Therefore minimising the risks and allowing full compliance from a legal and regulatory position.
Our platform uses the highest standards to protect the valuable data and assets we hold on behalf of our clients. Our platform provider has a team of in-house cyber security and IT professionals to protect our system and carry out security audits, due diligence, penetration testing and to oversee potential threats. They are fully regulated, accredited and certified by a range of statutory and non-statutory bodies including the US Department of Commerce’s Privacy Shield.
Our platform can be branded to match your company’s own brand, therefore becoming a professional extension of your employee benefits. You can set role-based access and let your employees and shareholders log into their own online branded share platform anytime, anywhere and see exactly what shares they have and how much they are worth. They can also easily accept grants, exercise options, calculate potential pay-outs and more.
Our experienced Private Client and Family Office teams are here to answer any questions you may have. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise, they will be able to advise you on right solutions to meet your needs. You can rest assured that core to the Fiduchi principles are how your interests should best be met.
Our experienced Corporate team are here to answer any questions you may have. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise, they will be able to advise you on right solutions to meet your needs. You can rest assured that core to the Fiduchi principles are how your interests should best be met.
Our experienced Funds team are here to answer any questions you may have. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise, they will be able to advise you on right solutions to meet your needs. You can rest assured that core to the Fiduchi principles are how your interests should best be met.
Our experienced team are here to answer any questions you may have. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise, they will be able to advise you on right solutions to meet your needs. You can rest assured that core to the Fiduchi principles are how your interests should best be met.
Our experienced employee services team are here to answer any questions you may have regarding all types of employee incentive requirements. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise, they will be able to assist in finding the best solution to achieve your business needs.
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