Introduction
Variable life insurance is a form of life insurance that has cash value linked to the performance of one or more investment accounts within the policy. Because of its investment features, insurance carriers in the United States typically register offerings of variable life insurance with federal and state securities regulators. To register the offering, carriers typically need to provide some level of detail of the investment selections within the policy. Without knowing the specifics of each potential client's investment profile, carriers often settle for registering a uniform offering that includes a selection of mutual funds or hedge funds as investment options within the policy. Not all investments are suitable for placement within these policies. They are better suited to absolute return and hedged strategies rather than equity based investments. Because of the volatility of the stock market the drawdowns within the investment portfolio tend to be larger and the owner may end up having to put more money into the policy to keep it in force if the account value drops considerably.
This can become a very powerful tool for purposes of estate planning. In essence you can buy a hedge fund inside an insurance policy and the value will grow tax free and upon death the cash value of the policy passes to heirs tax free. See also Private Placement Variable Annuities.
By comparison, private placement life insurance is offered without a formal securities registration. The advantage with this approach is that the carrier customizes the investment options within the policy to meet the needs of the prospective investor. The key disadvantage with this approach is that it is typically more expensive for a carrier to offer a customized policy to a client. For this reason, private placement life insurance is typically only offered to qualified purchasers seeking to invest large sums of money (often more than US $1 million) in the policy. In addition, an attorney will be needed to help draw up the documents, adding to the cost of the purchase.
Read more about this topic: Private Placement Life Insurance
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