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Thinking

This month, Jay sits down with Grayson Dufresne, Managing Director of Vie International in London. Grayson shares his two-decade perspective working with globally mobile clients.

Foreign investors love U.S. real estate for the same reasons domestic investors do: depth of market, rule of law, institutional managers, and an almost endless supply of projects and strategies. The friction point is rarely the investment thesis. It is almost always the tax plumbing, particularly FIRPTA (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act) and ECI (effectively connected income) taxation. If a foreign investor invests in a structure that is treated as owning a U.S. r

This month, Jay sits down with Jamie Rowley, President and CEO of Alaska Private Placement Solutions . Jamie shares her unconventional path to becoming a leader in sophisticated wealth planning, explains why Alaska has emerged as a premier planning jurisdiction, discusses her firm's expanding fiduciary consulting practice, and shares memorable client stories, from pet trusts with yachts and vacation homes to family treasure maps preserved for future generations. Read on to l

For families with very large estates, life insurance plays a fundamentally different role than it does for most households. It’s not about income replacement, mortgage protection, or meeting basic financial needs. Instead, life insurance becomes a structural element of generational planning, including providing liquidity, managing tax exposure, supporting legacy objectives, and protecting illiquid assets from being dismantled under pressure.

This month, Jay sits down with Jagruti Panwala, President & CEO of Wealth Protection Strategies and the first woman to serve as Chair of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA).

This month, Jay sits down with Ani Hovanessian, Partner in the Private Client Group at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLC, for an inspiring conversation about the intersection of technical mastery and human connection in estate planning.

For high-income individuals who have already maxed out traditional tax-advantaged retirement accounts, VUL offers a potential next step. It combines permanent life insurance coverage with the opportunity for tax-deferred investment growth. More than just a death benefit, VUL provides a flexible, dynamic tool for wealth accumulation, risk management, and long-term financial planning.

When affluent families think about financial planning, they often focus on preserving wealth, minimizing taxes, and ensuring smooth multigenerational transfers. Yet, one area that continues to rise in importance and cost is long-term care.

This month, Jay sits down with Donna Williams, CLU®, ChFC®, ChSNC®, Regional Director, Member Firm Development, M Financial Group.  The pair discuss Donna's truly unique road to her current position, finding opportunity in non-traditional markets, the importance of strong support systems, and pizza!

This month, Jay sits down with life insurance industry icon Steve Kroeger, Senior Vice President, Advanced Sales for Crump Life Insurance...

One strategy gaining traction is the intergenerational split-dollar (IGSD) arrangement, a sophisticated life insurance funding mechanism that leverages valuation discounts and estate inclusion rules to transfer wealth with minimal tax friction.

In this month’s interview, Jay catches up with top tier producer Michael DeFillipo, CLU®, ChFC®.  The pair discuss how to best position life insurance with clients, Michael’s short-lived collegiate athletic career and where to find the best rabbit pie in the Philadelphia area.

Tools like IRC Section 1035 exchanges and term life insurance conversions can help policyholders modernize their coverage without incurring tax consequences or undergoing medical exams. These strategies allow individuals to enhance their protection, reduce costs, and better align their policies with current objectives.

This month, our CEO, Jay Judas, sits down with Nikki Pethtel, President and CFO of Investors Preferred Life Insurance Company. They talk about Nikki’s unexpected path from small-town Illinois to the helm of one of the fastest-growing PPLI carriers in the country, how separately managed accounts have helped drive adoption, and why education is at the heart of IPL’s success. Plus, you’ll learn why South Dakota is a power player in life insurance…and where to find a Mediterranea

This month’s blog answers a question we remain surprised that very few of our consulting clients ever ask:  How do life insurance policy beneficiaries receive the death benefit?   We find we need to proactively answer this question as part of any client engagement since, functionally, it is the final step when it comes to owning a life insurance policy.

This month, our CEO, Jay Judas, speaks with Melissa Lopez, Managing Partner at Insurance Advisors Global Partners. They dive into Melissa’s unique journey from international healthcare to high-net-worth insurance, the critical role of international private medical insurance, building a business with her husband, and why global families need more than just life insurance to protect their futures.

GRATs and CLATs offer exceptional opportunities for tax-efficient wealth transfer. But when paired with life insurance, their potential for impact, both financial and philanthropic, grows exponentially.

In the rapidly evolving world of life insurance, accelerated medical underwriting (AUW) has emerged as a groundbreaking process, significantly simplifying and speeding up policy issuance.

This month, our CEO, Jay Judas, talks to Jeri Turley, Principal, Winged Keel Group. The pair discuss Jeri’s journey to the top of the life insurance industry, engaging with both the industry and community organizations, the need for more women in client facing roles in life insurance, and Jeri’s favorite spot to eat in Richmond!

This month, our CEO, Jay Judas, talks to Chris Burch, CLU®, FLMI, Senior Vice President, National Atlantic Brokerage.