An athlete should definitely make use of tax benefits by funding

To be honest, it is unwise not to utilise the professional athlete fund’s tax benefits.

COVID-19 has shown us how an unexpected outer crisis can suddenly stop whole industries. Practically the whole event planning industry with its subcontractors has been unemployed. Travelling will never be the same. Sports? Cancelled, at least that is how it felt during late spring. In Europe, sports leagues were postponed and cancelled, and in America, huge amounts of cash was used to continue games in sports bubbles. There is no professional athlete in the world who was not or will not be affected by the pandemic during the next few years. What should we think about all this? At least it is obvious that we are all in charge of ourselves and that taking care of one’s personal economy is the best way to tackle the crisis.

Panu Satama

An athlete’s career is significantly shorter than an average working career. A professional athletic career might last for 8-12 years, so the picture can be drawn how much one needs to earn in order to create a foundation for an economically safe post-athletic life. Working in the financial sector, I obviously encourage people to invest their money wisely. However, for athletes it is even more important to learn the importance of personal finances already at a young age, as especially the pros with more valuable contracts have a real possibility to secure their future financially even in a substantially short period of time.

Luckily, the special nature of professional sports does not go unnoticed in Finland, as our system allows athletes to fund a part of their income. Every athlete who earns more than €9,600 p.a. in Finland may fund tax-free up to 50% or €100,000 of their annual income from sports. This way, the taxable income decreases, reducing the athlete’s tax percentage – in some cases even significantly. To add, after retiring from professional sports, the athlete has an opportunity to collect one’s investments in the Athlete Fund within 2–10 years and pay taxes according to the post-career tax percentage.

We wish to be the athlete’s trusted financial partner and provide help in professional athlete’s investment decisions, real estate-related matters or with banking connections.

We wish to be the athlete’s trusted financial partner and provide help in professional athlete’s investment decisions, real estate-related matters or with banking connections. At HCP, we create a tailor-made investment plan for the athlete, including consultation with taxation and daily finances if necessary.

Timo Vertala and Panu Satama from HCP Sports encourage athletes to get acquainted with sensible spending and investing since the beginning of one’s career.

After retiring from hockey, I started studying economics. My studies in finance have led me from working at a major bank into asset management and now back to my biggest ambition, sports. Being a new shareholder and working with athletes’ asset management, it is easy to say that I have found my place inside the industry. In my opinion, openness and responsibility are key factors in financial services. When it comes to client relations, I want to focus on clear and transparent communication.

Timo Vertala

Vertala joined HCP in 2010 after quitting his career as a professional hockey player. In addition to Finland, Vertala played in Sweden and North America. He got acquainted with athletes’ financial needs already during his own career, and due to his extensive experience at HCP Sports, he is now a respected expert on professional athletes’ asset management.

HCP Sports aims to grow its business by concentrating on personalizing and expanding its services and by building a stronger brand image – also internationally. One of our major goals is to be able to provide our fund investment services even for those clients who are residing in North America. In Finland, we believe that there still is a significant marketplace for us to take over. Working with player associations and sports agencies more regularly is one of our objects, and hopefully that way we can build on those relationships even stronger in the future. I believe that a more versatile set of representatives from asset management within player associations would encourage athletes to analyze and compare different investment possibilities more comprehensively and thus make them more interested in their personal finances. In the long run this would be a massive step not only for athletes but also for the player associations.

Let’s hope that the current situation does not completely stop professional sports. We hope to see you around!