PCWM Services

The Private Client Wealth Management business line includes three wholly owned subsidiaries of BDO Seidman: SPA, a registered investment advisor, SPS, a broker-dealer, and SIC, an insurance agency. Through these three wholly owned subsidiaries, the PCWM business line is able to service a wide range of clients, including high net worth individuals and families, small and mid-size corporations, charitable and individual trusts, qualified retirement and profit sharing plans, and various other institutional organizations.

PCWM and these three wholly owned subsidiaries each employ a disciplined, structured approach to planning aimed at both developing and implementing a comprehensive plan customized for each client. Our services are designed to stand alone, but are also easily adapted to complement those services provided by our clients' existing legal and financial advisors. Our philosophy is that this customized "Total Wealth Management" system will form the foundation necessary to assist our clients in making effective financial decisions in the future.

Individuals & Families

Our high net worth individual clients and their families enjoy PCWM's "high-touch," concierge-style service designed to help them make the financially related decisions in their lives. Through PCWM and these three wholly owned subsidiaries it operates, services for high net worth individuals and family clients include, but are not limited to:

  • Financial Planning
  • Retirement Planning
  • Investment Planning
  • Investment Management
  • Equity Based Compensation Planning
  • Insurance Planning
  • Insurance Product Placement
  • Education Planning
  • Estate Planning
  • Charitable Giving
  • Family Office Services

Corporate & Institutional Clients

Through SPA's division of Corporate Programs, employers are now able to offer their corporate executives and non-executive employees access to comprehensive financial and investment planning services. Our corporate services typically include a combination of the following:

  • Executive Planning Services: Individual financial and investment services customized for corporate executive clients
  • Non-Executive Planning Services
    • Seminars: Providing in-person education to large employee groups on a variety of financial and investment planning topics
    • AdviceLine: Providing financial and investment planning services via telephone planning sessions and interactive web-based programs
  • Exit Strategies: Exiting executives and non-executive employees have unique concerns that we can address through individual planning sessions

Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans
(401(k), 403(b), Profit Sharing, etc.)

Through SPA's Retirement Plan Services, we can assist employers as they evaluate their employer-sponsored retirement and savings plans, by helping to:

  • Determine whether the investment funds in the plan are performing within the standards of the market
  • Replace underperforming funds
  • Increase plan participation through employee education
  • Provide employees with risk tolerance questionnaires & asset allocation models

When appropriate, we are also able to place the assets in these plans onto our investment platform. This platform provides employees with professionally managed fund selections and employers with access to our investment platform, which assumes fiduciary responsibility for the investment offerings.

Because SPA has no proprietary fund agenda, we strictly adhere to the plan's investment policy statement. All plans with assets on the SPA investment platform will be reviewed by the SPA Investment Review Committee at least annually to help ensure that the plan is performing within the standards of the market.

Captives

The PCWM business line also offers a Captive Insurance Program, which is designed to help client companies create a "Captive" insurance company to help manage the liabilities (or business risk) of the owner. Many business owners may not realize that they already self-insure a large amount of business risk, typically with no benefit. By forming a properly structured Captive, however, business owners can self insure while taking advantage of new tax incentives that may create substantial state and/or federal tax deductions.

A properly designed Captive can create a significant reserve of pre-tax funds that can be used for the risks of the business, its owners, family members and/or key executives. Captives also can be used to accumulate pre-tax wealth for estate planning or wealth transfer purposes, to reduce the cost of existing insurance, or to help retain key employees.

While forming a Captive is not a solution for every client, some general guidelines for an appropriate company to establish a Captive include companies with one or more of the following:

  • Taxable income of $500,000 or more
  • Substantial self-insured risks
  • Employee base with potential disability or worker's compensation claims
  • Large third-party insurance premiums

Family Office Services

The PCWM business line also offers comprehensive Family Office services. Families often seek assistance in managing the family wealth in order to effectively balance current and future needs. Our Family Office services are designed to help high net worth families manage their wealth and the issues that spring from that wealth, for generations to come.

Through PCWM and the three wholly owned subsidiaries it consists of, our Family Office services include, but are not limited to:

  • Managing wealth among family members
  • Educating younger generations about new wealth and accompanying responsibilities
  • Assisting in the transfer of wealth and control of family assets
  • Designing succession plans
  • Monitoring expenses
  • Managing assets
  • Providing bill-paying services