Why Cowden | Cowden Associates
Cowden is a Pittsburgh-based total compensation consulting and actuarial firm whose dedicated team has extensive experience in employee benefits, retirement programs, compensation, employee communications, benefits enrollment, technology, and actuarial services. Using a total compensation approach, Cowden provides a full range of consulting services to help clients from various industries establish and maintain high quality compensation and benefits programs that are aligned with each organization’s business strategy and objectives.
Cowden is partnered with Acrisure, a fast-growing fintech leader that is already a top-10 global insurance broker. As an Acrisure Partner, Cowden builds upon its track record for customer service and success, augmented by Acrisure’s capabilities in broader financial services, technology, and artificial intelligence.
Experience
Regardless of the client, industry or size, Cowden is dedicated to its clients. Our client retention rate is 97%. Approximately 80% of our new business has come from current clients. Over the last five years, clients who follow our recommended process and implement our suggested changes have achieved at least 95% of targeted improvements.
A communications company with over 1,000 employees implemented our design, funding, and administrative recommendations. Their target was to reduce costs by 15%, which has been achieved and sustained.
A manufacturing company with over 500 employees needed to significantly reduce pension and OPEB cash expenses. We identified various options to accomplish these goals without altering benefits and attained the targeted reduction.
A financial institution required refinements to incentive plans to reflect decreased operating margins. Implemented changes in targets, objectives, and payout streams were introduced to attain a level of required restructuring and were successfully communicated.
Our Clients
Our consultants effectively meet the needs of our clients who have employees in multiple locations and/or consist of various classes – non-bargaining, bargaining, salaried, hourly, and executives. The majority of our clients range from 200 – 2,000 employees comprised of various types:
- Banking and Financial Services
- Government Entities
- Health Care
- Manufacturing and Distribution
- Educational Institutions
- Not-for-Profit
- Energy
- Taft-Hartley Plans
We create a clear vision for clients, ensuring that their compensation, benefits, and retirement plans are competitive, cost-effective, and compliant. To accomplish these goals, we build upon our expertise and experience, delivering a full spectrum of creative plan designs and innovative risk management solutions.
3 C’s of Cowden
Caring
Clients and employees believe we have their best interest.
• Empowering employees to serve clients in distinct ways by understanding their needs and company strategy.
• Supporting our employees in achievement of their career, family, and community goals.
Craft
Creative with Purpose: Using ingenuity and innovation to solve clients’ challenges and needs.
• Our clients appreciate us as a valued partner and are in better places after using us as we address and cure problems.
• We facilitate tailored training to empower our employees to serve the best interests of clients while enhancing individual employee growth.
Cause
We share our clients’ values and vision and represent them accordingly.
• Create a compassionate atmosphere for our employees without sacrificing client focus and business goals.
Our Clients Say:
- “Provided clarity where before it was fuzzy”
- “Placed us in a better position to achieve profitability”
- “Explained the unexplainable”
- “Enhanced our benefit plans to make them more efficient, while keeping them competitive and compliant”
The Proof:
- 95% Success rate by our clients who implemented our recommendations
- 97% Client retention rate
- 80% New business coming from current clients or their advisors