Who we are

Silverthorn Employee Benefits Specialists has one clear objective: to deliver bespoke, best of breed investment and retirement solutions for companies and their employees tailored to meet their specific requirements.

Silverthorn provides comprehensive solutions to meet the real needs of your employees including: income and retirement investments, tax efficient wealth planning, estate planning and fiduciary services.

Why Employee Benefits?

Employee benefits schemes are programmes and services, in addition to salary, that employers provide to their workers to offer financial security, well-being and other incentives, which can be either mandatory (like unemployment insurance) or discretionary (like additional health coverage or retirement plans).

These schemes help attract and retain talent by offering perks such as retirement, medical aid, paid leave, life insurance and employee assistance programmes (EAPs), improving employee engagement and motivation. 

 What's included in an employee benefits scheme?

Retirement Savings:

Employers often contribute to pension or provident funds to help employees save for their retirement.

Insurance:

This can include life insurance, disability cover, income replacement plans and critical illness cover (dread disease cover).

Employer Reputation:

Offering a robust benefits package enhances an employer's image as a caring and valuable organisation.

Financial Wellness:

Services like financial literacy education, coaching and tools to help employees manage their finances are increasingly offered.

Additional Perks:

Benefits can also include professional development, educational reimbursements and even unique perks specific to an industry.

Time Off:

Mandatory paid leave and maternity/paternity leave are common benefits.

Attraction and Retention:

A comprehensive benefits package is a strong tool for attracting top talent and encouraging current employees to stay with the company.

Employee Well-being:

Benefits support employees' overall health and financial security, fostering a positive and productive work environment.

Healthcare:

Employers often contribute to employees healthcare costs by subsidising the cost of medical aid or insurance for their employees. The specific contribution level varies, with employers often covering a portion (e.g., 30-50%) of the premium and the rest is paid by the employee. These employer contributions are considered a taxable benefit and the employer can choose different group risk products like life, disability and severe illness cover to supplement medical cover. 

THE SILVERTHORN BENEFITS

Silverthorn provides specialist EB benefits by tailoring financial strategies to meet the evolving needs of your employees through their employment cycle to and beyond retirement.

This is typically segmented into wealth accumulation, wealth preservation, retirement and wealth distribution phases. At each stage, we help employees with their financial planning, including investment, retirement funds, estate planning and tax strategies, to achieve their long-term goals and protect their legacy.

Get Started

How does Silverthorn
achieve this for its clients?

Silverthorn’s primary objectives for your employees is Investment Growth and Wealth Preservation. We create investment funds to secure your employees savings, grow their investments, prepare for retirement and manage their savings throughout retirement.

Modern life is challenging for companies and employees. Our professional EB specialists focus on anticipating and planning for the evolving needs of your company and your employees circumstances and needs change.  

Silverthorn EB specialists provide proactive guidance through all stages of the employees’ savings and investment life cycle, offering relevant and proactive financial guidance throughout the employment journey.

This means regularly assessing the company’s investment portfolios for the appropriate mix, implementing tax-efficient strategies and adjusting for issues such as employee estate planning requirements.

A key requirement of Silverthorn’s EB services is ensuring that your employees’ accumulated wealth is passed on to future generations effectively and tax-efficiently. To achieve this, our EB specialists conduct effective inheritance tax planning and family succession planning with your employees and staff. 

Employee Estate Planning

All Silverthorn EB specialists are qualified to provide company employees with a comprehensive estate plan. Estate planning is not simply drafting of a Will or the structuring of an estate plan to limit estate duty. Estate planning involves far more, such as consulting with employees on their future needs, risks and goals to ensure their requirements are met and legacy is preserved. As Silverthorn EB client your Company employees’ wealth plan, estate plan and portfolio of investments are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that as their needs and goals change, so does their estate plan.

Investment Management

Silverthorn has appointed Accorn Investment Management (Pty) Ltd as the Category II Discretionary FSP and manager of the Silverthorn Model Portfolios. Through this partnership, we take an active, accountable, and disciplined approach to the management of retirement fund assets.  This enables us to construct, implement and continuously optimise investment strategies in line with each client’s unique objectives and member profile. Our investment philosophy is centred on continuous review, prudent governance and delivering sustainable long-term outcomes for members. With nearly 25 years of experience in asset management and retirement fund portfolio construction, we deliver:

  • Actively managed, Regulation 28-compliant portfolios
  • Tailored asset allocation and model portfolio implementation
  • Access to local and offshore investment opportunities
  • Life-stage aligned strategies designed to enhance member outcomes

Through our partnership with Orion Investment Managers, we provide a level of investment governance, oversight and agility that extends well beyond traditional employee benefits consulting. Stronger long-term performance, improved retirement readiness and reduced governance risk, achieved through a bespoke investment approach aligned to your business and your people.

Bespoke Wills and Executorships

Silverthorn EB specialists provide qualifying clients a personalised and professionally drafted Will at no charge, with excellent discounted executorship fees as part of their financial planning requirements. Silverthorn has appointed Appleton Fiduciary Services as our preferred Wills and Executorship partner. Established in 1992, Appleton Fiduciary Services is focused exclusively on the drafting of personalised Wills and efficiently administering clients’ estates.