Citizenship by investment (CBI) has historically been a venture pursued by the wealthy to elevate their living standards, mitigate uncertainty, or provide a better future for their children. St. Lucia’s new government bond option, however, has opened the door for corporations to join the fray.
St. Lucia’s citizenship by investment unit (CBIU) recently introduced the option to invest in government bonds to become a St. Lucian and a passport holder, and while the stream offers a multitude of options depending on family composition and holding periods, corporations should be only considered with one: investing 250,000 USD in bonds for a single applicant.
This option states that the investment should be held for 5 years in order to maintain citizenship, a period that serves businesses well in the context of this piece, as we are going to delve into how employers can retain and reward their valued employees through St. Lucia’s citizenship by investment program.
Why Should Businesses Be Interested In The St. Lucia CBI?
Many corporations reward their long-serving, high-ranking, employees with a variety of bonuses, incentives, and gifts. Why shouldn’t a second citizenship not rank among them?
The duality of the benefit this option introduces is quite astonishing, as employees are rewarded with something that can enhance their lives in a multitude of ways, while corporations get to award their employees with a passport that eases travel and mobility, something that the business itself may require from the employee.
By rewarding the employee with citizenship they get their loyalty, and since the holding period of 5 years is in play, they ensure that particular employee is set to stay for that period; as if the company withdraws the investment the employee loses the citizenship. The ultimate gentlemen’s agreement.
The company will also save money on issuing visas for that particular employee to high-functioning markets such as the EU and the United Kingdom, as the St. Lucia passport holder can travel visa-free to those destinations, as well as many others.
Since the corporation would get its money back as soon as the holding period is over, this is a profitable venture, the only true monetary loss being the future value of money differential.
Learn All You Need To Know About St. Lucia CBI Program By Watching This Video
The future value of an asset is how much it will be worth X number of years from now. The same concept applies to money, something defined in the principle of time value of money which explains that the value of money at any specific period is calculated by how much you can buy with it. One dollar now may buy you more than one dollar five years from now once you calculate global inflation. So unless the interest on any locked-up funds exceeds inflation rates then the future value of the money you locked up may be less than what it is today. Something which a top-performing employee can easily cover and go beyond in terms of profit in 5 years.
People Who Read This Article Also Read: 5 Reasons to Invest in European Residency
There is also the cost of having to set up travelling employee visas, as the Schengen visa requires an 80 Euro fee every time, factoring in it might get rejected and that’s just delayed business and lost sales. Consider the time taken by the HR department as well as the employee in preparing for the visa, and this venture will be making the business money.
How Can Corporations Invest On Behalf Of The Employees?
A question with a quite simple answer; the St. Lucia Citizenship by Investment program allows for people, businesses, or family members to directly sponsor someone. If the company sponsors said employee, they will invest the amount on their behalf, and the employee would get citizenship.
A business can sponsor as many employees as it wants, meaning it could create a fleet of highly-mobile teams ready to travel the world conducting business on the business’s behalf, for at least 5 years.
For businesses that want to ensure the employee stays for a longer time, they can include the employee’s family members, in which case the investment would increase 50,000 USD, but so would the holding period for another one or two years depending on the family composition. A low price to pay to keep your best money-makers on board.
The Safest Option Along With The Highest Return
Government bonds are not known for being big money makers, but they are a risk-free investment. The St. Lucia government bonds are safe and can help businesses save money while simultaneously rewarding their employees. For a business, it is like putting a fixed-term deposit in a bank, something that allows them to regulate cash flow while maintaining their best employees and raising their morale significantly.
Don’t Miss: How Residency by Investment Broadens Your Children’s Education
While government bonds may not yield return themselves, the retention of top-performing employees, return of the full investment amount in 5 years, saving costs in applying for visas all year round, and the ability of a company to be anywhere in the globe at any moment is what we are considering as the highest possible return possible.
While other countries may yet follow suit, St. Lucia has paved the way for companies to vary their big bonuses to employees, in a matter that greatly benefits both.
If you are a progressive company looking for a way to reward your employees and maintain your best performers for years to come at very little cost contact Savory & Partners today. Our family ethos and focus on a tight connection within our team has helped us better understand the value of great employees, and how motivating them with life-changing rewards can lead to prosperity for all parties involved. We at Savory & Partners understand the business mindset and we are seasoned experts in the citizenship by investment part of the equation; we can show you the best options for both your company and your employees. We will also handle all matters pertaining to the application and investment, taking away any complexity and replacing it with simplicity.
If you would like to know more about St. Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment program, and how you can get your best employees to stick around indefinitely, contact us today.
Our Availability
We are available on every channel convenient for you.
- Landline: +971 (0) 4 430 1717
- Mobile Phone: +971 54 440 2955
- WhatsApp: +971 54 440 2955
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Signal: +971 54 440 2955
- Telegram: +971 54 440 2955
