Swiss Guard International

Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI)

It’s safe to say that every affluent client is likely to have financial concerns that require personalized solutions for risk management, tax management, asset protection, estate planning, and trust management.

Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) can play a role in all those areas. And for corporate executives, an extremely valuable PPLI application has emerged in executive benefits.

PPLI is the most recent innovation within the life insurance industry for super-affluent investors (individuals with $10 million or more in liquid net worth). The tax benefits it offers to investors are available from few, if any, other investment vehicles, particularly since they accrue without the need for complex trust structures.

PPLI accounts are customized to fit the needs of the ultra high-net worth investor. The cash value in the policy can be invested in a multitude of strategies, such as hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, or real estate funds, and the appreciation of that cash value is tax-free. The policy may offer other benefits such as asset protection, estate tax minimization, and lower cost of structure.

Below you will find the major advantages of PPLI:

Ultimate Asset Protection Separate, segregated accounts established for each individual policy are solely for the policyholder’s benefit and are not subject to the claims of creditors or claims against any other policyholder.
Wealth Preservation Through a combination of advanced insurance law, segregated accounts, access to worldwide investment markets, and lower cost structures, offshore private placement life insurance provides the optimum totally compliant wealth preservation facility.
Access to Funds Policies that are set up in a non MEC structure allow for policy loans on a tax neutral basis.
Estate Planning Through proper structuring, offshore private placement life insurance can be used as part of a family’s estate planning combining estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax benefits.
Privacy & Confidentiality Many foreign jurisdictions stipulate that insurance policies must be held in strict confidence. Offshore private placement life insurance provides a high degree of privacy and confidentiality. Offshore trusts and bank accounts are excellent ways for U.S. citizens to legally and securely protect their assets and themselves.
Individually Customized Investment Facilities Each policy is an individually customized investment vehicle, available only to higher net worth persons that provide U.S. income and estate tax efficiencies completely within U.S. Tax laws.
Access to Worldwide Markets and the World’s Leading Investment Managers Foreign insurance carriers provide flexibility with the location and type of investments available as well as attracting high performance recognized international investment managers.
Flexible Investment Opportunities Subject to each policy meeting specific diversification rules, the type of investments that can be held in the segregated account for each policy is unlimited. While a policy owner is prohibited from exercising control over the selection of securities selected, a specialized manager working with the foreign insurance carrier, may assist the policy owner in making investment decisions.
Multiple Currencies Foreign insurance carriers normally offer premium payments, investments, withdrawals, borrowings, and death benefits in a variety of currencies.
Low Cost Life Insurance Offshore insurance companies have lower overhead costs and generally lower insurance costs.