Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)
The Cutting-Edge Strategy to Cutting Risk
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are a great way to transition ownership, grant ownership to employees, and provide valuable tax benefits to companies and their shareholders. ESOPs provide value by aligning the interests of a company with its employees and improving company and employee performance. However, an ESOP’s organizational structure creates a new risk profile for companies.
The nature of a company’s ESOP structure creates an environment filled with unique regulations, inherent conflicts of interests, and difficult decisions for employee owners. When not properly addressed, these exposures open your organization and leadership to significant liabilities. Your organization’s risk management and insurance program are important safeguards to ensure your company is not left bare when protection is needed most.
How Does Understanding ART Help ESOP Risk Management Programs?
Our unique and proprietary Understanding ART approach aligns with ESOPs. Our approach focuses on understanding in an effort to provide tools and assessments to position your company in the insurance market. We ask questions that dig deep into your business and culture to learn what makes you tick and what your concerns are to create a custom risk management plan. Our dedicated team utilizes several dynamic strategies to leverage each ESOP’s strong culture and higher performance levels to achieve better results in a difficult marketplace. We work as an extension of your risk management team to keep losses low, foster working relationships between your business and claims adjusters, and better manage insurance to reduce costs.
Understanding ART extends beyond coverage gaps and price to Avoid, Reduce, and Transfer our clients’ losses by focusing on your business, your risk management, and your potential. The result is a comprehensive risk management program aimed at helping your business run better instead of simply buying ESOP property casualty insurance.
Loss Control
Our Loss Control team helps you avoid risk. We use tools such as mock OSHA audits and classes, industrial hygiene monitoring, and incident investigation training to control the potential losses you may face as an ESOP company.
Claims Management
Our experienced claims management team includes a complex claim attorney. Unique facts of loss claim severity, absent case law, coverage discrepancies, policy interpretation, or coverage discrepancy can all escalate a claim from routine to complex, and we’ll be by your side from beginning to resolution.
Insurance Services
At Holmes Murphy, we understand how vital insurance coverage is, which is why our risk management techniques are thoughtfully crafted to maximize coverage for your leaders, employee owners, and the organization itself to transfer your risk. Coordinating and reconciling the following insurance policies is critically important to avoid gaps and properly protect all stakeholders involved:
- Directors & Officers
- Fiduciary Liability
- Errors & Omissions
- Employment Practices Liability
- Cyber
- Crime
- Property & Casualty
- Workers Compensation
- Employee Benefits
- Organizational Wellbeing
We’re Proactive So You Can Be Productive
After completing the ART assessments, we develop and deliver a customized Impact Plan that identifies your Opportunities for Greatest Impact and a meaningful ROI. The Impact Plan identifies the framework for building a case for positive change in support of your program’s overall strategy.
Not only do we have the tools for your success, we are also active ESOP experts. Holmes Murphy is proud to be an active member of the ESOP Association and National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) — two leaders in ESOP advocacy and education. We’re deeply entrenched in the ESOP community as a connected advisor with trustees, attorneys, ESOP advisors, valuation advisors, lenders, and TPAs.
Ready to take ownership of your ESOP coverage? To learn more about how Holmes Murphy can give you peace of mind, contact us for a personal consultation.
Learn more about property casualty insurance and Holmes Murphy on our blog.