The Ross Companies: Full Service Means a Comprehensive Approach to Client Needs
Providing Insurance, Compensation, Assessment and More
The Ross Companies offers a comprehensive approach to client needs well beyond insurance.
In describing our business, we often minimize the life insurance brokerage aspect. The reason is that our approach and ultimately our business extends far beyond what is generally understood in terms of a broker-client relationship. This is why The Ross Companies emphasizes its comprehensive approach and many services we offer beyond insurance.
To begin with, our approach to interacting with clients begins with building trust. Most people are very guarded about their assets and net worth, and this is a smart idea. With all of the scams and theft occurring today, being cautious about who you share this kind of privileged information with is very wise.
If you’re wealthy or affluent, the people who should know would include your accountant, financial manager, estate lawyer, and your insurance broker. It’s pretty obvious why the first three would need to understand your financial profile, but why your insurance broker?
For one thing, your insurance broker needs to be sure that your coverage is correct for your estate and is arranged in such a way that it covers the kind of expenses you and your family are planning for down the line. This is where we start: assessment.
The Ross Companies are uncommon experts when it comes to assessing your current insurance coverage and your projected need. Our long history gives us tremendous experience and insight into how client lives evolve, the kind of unforeseen circumstances that can arise, and how creative use of insurance can help to manage a lot of issues that can occur.
We serve a special clientele. Any company will tell you that all their clients are special, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We specialize in working with wealthy and affluent clients. What is the difference between wealthy and affluent? Wealthy Americans are in the Top One percent in terms of household net worth, which begins at $4.5-to-5 million. Affluent Americans are in the Top Two percent, which begins at about $2.5 million. These are figures that are subject to change and debate, but these are our markers.
The lower end of the wealthy scale doesn’t have to worry about the federal estate tax, which only applies to individuals worth more than $13.61 million and couples worth more than $27.22 million. However, The Ross Companies works with clients whose net worth is well above the estate tax exemption to structure insurance and trusts that help to mitigate any tax bite that could affect their heirs.
So, if we see that you are an affluent couple and your trajectory is pointing toward becoming wealthy, we will right-size your insurance. In many cases, insurance becomes a “set it and forget it” proposition: Someone bought a policy when they were 30 and didn’t really think much more about it. Ten years have passed, and that policy is insufficient when measured against their increased income or growth in their business. In fact, there could be a variety of factors – children, debt, long-term planning – that would call for a completely different insurance prescription. This is why an expert assessment is so important. This may not mean dumping that old policy, although some brokers may do that to harvest additional commission. The Ross Companies operates in a fiduciary manner, so that old policy may be maintained because it satisfies a need in an overall picture.
Many years ago, our late president Arnold Ross began providing executive compensation consulting as part of the services we offered. This isn’t that hard to understand: Many C-suite executives (CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs, and corporate counsels) were at a disadvantage in negotiations. Inherently, these are leaders, but they have an understanding that they want to please people. Coming into a position, negotiations can be tricky, and they can face a board or compensation committee solo. Decades ago, Arnold was working with an executive in such a situation and became his advisor in negotiations. Arnold saw flaws in the compensation package the executive would have overlooked and negotiated some exceptionally favorable terms. Over time, Arnold’s name was quietly referred to others in executive circles, and the company has provided this service for quite a few executives. It’s been something of a secret, until now.
There are a variety of other services The Ross Companies has stepped in and provided service. Some of these are in the capacity of a trusted advisor, including being the trustee for a client trust. We work with the client to create the terms because once an irrevocable trust is in place, we would be legally and honor bound to abide by those terms. Again, this is where years of practical experience come into play, and where seeing how trust terms that can seem good at the time can create a disadvantage for a family.
We can go on, but the best advice we can give someone who is in need of our services is to call us and explore what we have to offer. We believe we can fill the gaps and provide tremendous value for any client.
For more than 90 years, The Ross Companies has been advising clients on how to resolve complex financial problems using insurance and other tools. These problems can include estate taxes, succession, buy outs, preservation of assets, or executive compensation. Our long history informs our thinking, and while many situations may be similar, we have learned well that each solution must be unique to the circumstances and individuals being served.