In its ongoing efforts to provide the businesses community and working class of Anguilla with the best possible benefits that employment can provide, the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACOCI) invited business personnel and employers to a special forum on February 13th, at La Vue Inn Boutique, to discuss the subject of pensions. The guest speaker at the gathering was visiting pensions expert, Mr. Clarence Faulkner Jr., of the firm Pension Management Interactive (PMI) out of Road Town, Tortola.
Mr. Faulkner is the Managing Director and Founder of PMI and holds an MBA (Hons) in Finance from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce with dual majors in Accounting and Finance from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. His company provides consultancy, management and administrative services for both private and public pension plans. It redefines the way pension systems are designed, managed and administered by government, companies and administrators.
Of particular interest at the forum were PMI’s plans and policies for pensions provided to employees over several years of service rendered to more than one employer. Mr. Faulkner presented a broad and comprehensive overview of how the ideal pension plan works under various conditions, whether the employee has been working for a single employer or multiple employers over a number of years. He sought to provide insight into how the principles of his company’s pension policies could benefit employees and companies under various scenarios, with the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry working as a fiduciary of multi-company pension plans in tandem with PMI.
In speaking directly with The Anguillian, Mr. Faulkner had this to say: “This Company was incorporated in 2009 with the intent to redefine the way we look at pensions across the region. We are a strong advocate that the issues have to be addressed in terms of protecting persons as they plan and prepare for their latter years.”
When asked to explain the concept of a multi-company pension plan and the number of companies PMI is affiliated with, Mr. Faulkner answered: “When we look at the entire region, we view them from different perspectives. Multi-employer programs involve several companies that are under one program. Therefore, it is viewed as one plan and one program that facilitate many companies. There could be 50 or 60 companies utilizing this one pensions program. We have one plan with 60 companies and another with about 45 companies. Then we have the stand-alone programs that are somewhere in the range of about 30 or 35 companies. Multi-employer pension programs can come from two different perspectives, though: one avenue is through the Chamber of Commerce, and the other avenue can be where companies are large enough with branches in different jurisdictions, and thus we are able to create one stand-alone plan that accomplishes the benefits of each branch within that program. Such programs can be tailored to a company’s various jurisdictions to meet the requirements of existing laws and regulations.”
Mr. Faulkner continued to explain that because the Chamber of Commerce has so many members, he and the Chamber thought it would be ideal to come up with a mechanism whereby their members could benefit from the one program instead of each individual company trying to do something on its own. “However,” he said, “this does not obstruct or negate the other companies from doing something on their own should they wish to do so. The key here for us is the ability to create a solution that would provide companies with some level of flexibility to adopt a multi-company pension program.”
Employers and employees having an interest in PMI’s pension schemes and retirement plan are invited to contact the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce at 497-2839.
