The reverse side of the flexibility coin is the extraordinary degree of abuse possible by all parties concerned.

If cost was an indication of quality, some of these policies should come written on gold leaf.

It’s time to look at the impact on the bottom line. Extending the time period to 20 years, we compare the three insurance cases against the 6% p.a. raw return baseline control

In substance it is usually a segregated managed account "wrapped" in an insurance policy, with the insurance structure conferring certain benefits to the investor.

It's time to look at the impact on the bottom line. Extending the time period to 20 years, we compare the three insurance cases against the 6% p.a. raw return baseline control.

For the first time, we see the fund producer as a participant. The fund producer is generally intransparent to the Client.

Much has been written on insurance wrappers, to our knowledge however no-one has attempted to analyse the cost drivers and variability in pricing of the actual wealth planning service offered by insurance.

The parties to a PPLI contract is well understood and the same as traditional life insurance. The figure below illustrates the parties involved to the policy.

Life insurance has become virtually ubiquitous in wealth planning. It is flexible, can be adapted to a wide range of purposes, enjoys very favourable tax treatment in most if not all jurisdictions and is virtually universally recognised.

Swiss defered annuities and life insurance are often arranged through an insurance broker who advises the policyholder, insured person and beneficiaries.

The broker is paid by the insurance company, note that the Client does pay the brokers commission, indirectly.

The broker may receive an up-front commission of between 1% and 5% of premium for his services plus a 0.3% annual trailer fee on the NAV of the assets underlying the policy for the term of that policy.