Large Case Management

Super-affluent families, business owners, and institutions often face unique challenges that cannot be solved with off-the-shelf insurance solutions. Large, complex cases require coordination across multiple advisors, careful underwriting, and a deep understanding of estate, business, and tax strategies.

We have the resources and relationships necessary to design and build portfolios of life insurance products that can aggregate to face amounts in excess of $300 million on a single life. Achieving this level of coverage requires coordination between multiple insurance carriers, along with a detailed understanding of their relationships with reinsurers.

This build-out process is highly technical. Missteps—whether in structuring application sequencing, coordinating carrier participation, or navigating reinsurance capacity—can result in significant delays, sometimes stalling coverage placement for years. Our experience allows us to anticipate these challenges, monitor carrier and reinsurance negotiations, and structure cases so that clients receive the coverage they need without unnecessary obstacles.

We specialize in designing and implementing customized solutions for estate planning, business succession, executive benefits, and charitable strategies. Our role extends beyond sourcing products—we coordinate with attorneys, accountants, trustees, and family office staff to ensure the insurance strategy integrates seamlessly into the clients' broader financial plan, and engage in ongoing oversight of insurance portfolios to ensure expected outcomes.

➡️ Let’s visit about your needs..

Premium Financing

For some clients, particularly those with substantial net worth who prefer to keep their capital deployed, the cost of funding large life insurance premiums can appear inefficient. Premium financing can provide a solution by using third-party lending to fund policy premiums, allowing clients to preserve capital and allocate it elsewhere.

That said, premium financing should be approached with great care. It is not a tool for making premiums “affordable.” Instead, it is a planning strategy suited for clients who could easily pay premiums out of pocket. The ability to comfortably afford premiums without financing should be a prerequisite to pursuing this strategy. 

When a policy is financed, any borrowed funds must be fully collateralized, typically with a combination of policy cash value and a pledge of other assets such as securities, cash, or a letter of credit.  Collateral requirements are reviewed annually, and any shortfall must be made up immediately. If it is not, the lender has the right to call the loan—potentially creating significant financial consequences.

This requirement underscores why premium financing is appropriate only for clients with substantial resources and the ability to manage collateral commitments over time.

The choice of lender is a very important element of implementing this strategy.  Lenders will be continually involved when premiums are financed.  We strongly recommend using lenders that have long track histories of making loans specifically to finance life insurance premiums.

Plan an exit strategy when entering into a financing arrangement.  Loan repayment should be always addressed as part of the planning process when considering financing.  Over time the chosen repayment strategy may change, but it should always be reviewed and updated during regular policy reviews. Common triggers for and methods of repayment include: a perceived reduction in the value of the loan arbitrage, financial windfalls, loans or withdrawals taken from the underlying life insurance policy, and paying the loan off with a portion of death benefit at the passing of the insured.

Our team brings experience in structuring and managing premium financing arrangements, working alongside lenders and advisors to ensure the strategy is sound, sustainable, and aligned with the client’s long-term objectives. We focus on transparency, ongoing monitoring, and risk management to protect clients and keep financing strategies on track.

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Life Settlements

Life insurance needs change over time. Policies that once made sense may no longer serve their original purpose—or may become unaffordable. In such cases, many policyholders choose to lapse or surrender valuable policies without knowing that there may be another option: a life settlement.

A life settlement is nothing more than a structured process to sell an existing policy to a third party.  In the right circumstances, the value of a policy in the secondary market can be a multiple of its cash surrender value. A life settlement can unlock significant liquidity,

Not every policy qualifies. Policies that are attractive to buyers must meet very specific criteria, including factors like the age and health of the insured, the size and type of the policy, and its ongoing premium requirements. When a policy does qualify, it is put out to bid in an auction process by an intermediary. Direct buyers bid on and purchase policies, subject to the acceptance of the high bid by the seller. 

When a transaction is successful, the third party will take ownership of the policy and assume all the obligations of maintaining it.  The selling policyowner will be paid in cash at the closing of the sale transaction.  The return for the investor is realized when the insured party ultimately passes.

All personal information about the insured is removed from the outset in this process; bidders and buyers do not and will not know who a particular policy insures.  If a policy is successfully sold, it will be subsequently be held in a blind trust.  This ensures that the insured's confidentiality and privacy are maintained throughout the auction and sale process, and the remainder of the insured's life.

Direct buyers hedge their risk by buying large numbers of policies.  As the number of policies grows in their portfolio, the predictability of their investment return improves.  While they don't know which of their owned policies will pay at any given time, their predictions of how many will pay becomes surprisingly accurate.  They are expert at understanding the law of large numbers, which is the basis of actuarial science (i.e., the math behind life insurance company risk management).

Direct buyers will often securitize and resell tranches of their portfolio to secondary buyers—including institutional investors and  state pension funds.

There may be some tax consequences to the seller.   That will depend on the particulars of the policy being sold; it will be different in every case.

Upon request, we will engage our dedicated resources and guide clients and advisors through the evaluation process, helping them determine whether a policy may qualify and if so, advise how to maximize value in a potential sale.

➡️ Let's visit about a life settlement assessment.

Wealthy Global Citizens

Life insurance planning is not limited by borders. We work with wealthy global citizens, including foreign nationals seeking coverage in the U.S. and U.S. expatriates living abroad. Accessing high-quality coverage in these situations requires an in-depth understanding of carrier guidelines, tax considerations, and international compliance requirements.

Our resources allows us to navigate the complexities of underwriting for non-U.S. residents and citizens, including issues of residency, travel, and asset documentation. We also coordinate with legal and tax advisors to ensure that policies are structured appropriately for cross-border estate, gift, and income tax considerations.

Whether the goal is protecting family wealth, funding global business interests, or creating liquidity for international estate planning, we provide solutions tailored to the unique needs of clients whose lives and assets span multiple jurisdictions.

➡️ Let's visit about solutions for global citizens and expatriates.

Charitable Uses of Insurance

Life insurance can be a powerful tool for philanthropy,

Donors may wish to make charitable gifts of existing life insurance if it has outlived it's usefulness to the donor.  They may consider several potential options:

• Naming a charity as a policy beneficiary:  A donor may simply instruct the life insurance carrier to name a charity as beneficiary of some or all of their policy's death benefit

• Outright Surrender and Gift of Cash Value – A donor may choose to surrender an existing policy and gift the resulting cash proceeds directly to a charity.

• Life Settlement with Proceeds Directed to Charity – In certain cases, a donor may elect to sell a policy in the secondary market and gift the proceeds to a charitable organization. This approach can generate greater value than a simple surrender, depending on the policy and the insured’s circumstances.  See our section on life settlements for more details.

• Gift of an Existing Policy – Donors can transfer ownership of a policy they already own to a charity, potentially creating an immediate charitable deduction while providing the charity with a valuable asset. This transaction should always be preceded by a careful analysis of the policy’s current performance and its long-term viability.  And a formal valuation by a certified valuation analyst (CVA) should always be completed for accurate tax deduction reporting.

We can directly assist charities with the administrative oversight of policies, ensuring that premium payments, ownership details, and beneficiary designations remain properly managed over time.  We also assist charities who prefer to outsource the evaluation of policies that donors may wish to gift..

Life insurance can enhance other charitable giving.

Donors often create life insurance portfolios to replace the value of gifted assets.  If a donor has concern about "disinheriting" heirs, life insurance can create a very efficient means to replace the value of gifted assets to those heirs.  We often remind clients that a life insurance policy is a contract to buy money; often at a significant discount.  We've seen many successful outcomes where the strategic use of life insurance significantly increased a donor's willingness to gift to charity, substantially reduced their estate and transfer tax liabilities, and provided beneficiaries with cash to replace the value of gifted assets, with that cash being received both estate and income tax free.  A win for all (except the tax man!!).

Donors may choose to leverage their cash gifts to charity by having some of that gifted cash pay for a life insurance policy owned by the charity.  If a donor is not in a position to make a significant lump sum gift, but wishes to support a charity in a very meaningful way, this can be an option to satisfy their charitable intent.

Some charities may bestow recognition to a donor based on the face amount of the policy even before the policy pays out. We have seen situations where a charity has provided named giving recognition tied directly to the policy’s face value, allowing donors to experience the satisfaction of the acknowledgment of a significant gift during their lifetime..

➡️ Let's visit about your charitable desires.

Third Party Policy Reviews

Life insurance is not a “set it and forget it” asset. Over time, policy performance will change, funding assumptions may change, and even carriers themselves can experience financial or ratings shifts. Without regular oversight, a policy that once seemed secure may no longer meet its original objectives.

We provide objective, fee-based third-party reviews of in-force policies. When there is a desire or need to have a policy reviewed by a disinterested outside professional, we are here to assist.

We hold the specific licenses needed to legally provide this service, providing fiduciaries and others with oversight obligations with hard evidence to demonstrate that they are taking reasonable and prudent steps to fulfill those obligations.

Our reviews are designed to evaluate:

• The viability of the policy itself, including performance compared to original projections.

• All facets of the policy’s design structure, including premium and cost histories, and any prior review history.

• The financial strength and stability of the issuing carrier, with attention to long-term reliability.

• Ongoing funding requirements, and determine whether current premiums are adequate to sustain coverage.

• Other factors necessary to determine the overall viability and effectiveness of the policy.

This service is offered to policyowners, trustees, charities, and family offices who require an independent, professional evaluation of existing coverage.  Pricing is dependent on the complexity of the situation, but will normally range in price from $2000 to about $7500 for the review of an entire insurance portfolio.  Note: this is not an appraisal process.  If a formal appraisal of a policy is required, that should be completed by a certified valuation analyst (CVA).  We work with several CVAs that we are happy to refer.

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