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Author: Nikita Gibson, Managing Director, Geneva Intl. Insurance and Vice-President Director, Life Clarity
Private investment life insurance (PPLI) is a variable universal life insurance form offered to qualified investors. Unlike traditional life insurance products, PPLI can be fully adapted to meet global or specific planning needs in the country. Whether the objective is the protection of wealth or strategic access to investments and currencies otherwise restricted or expensive, PPLI offers a versatile and legally recognized framework for individuals with high birth content (HNWIS) and families.
In a time marked by growing regulations, political instability and capital constraints, the PPLI has become particularly relevant. Countries with exchange controls, outgoing investment limits or underdeveloped capital markets have real challenges for worldwide mobile families in search of long-term diversification and preservation. Offshore PPLI, when structured properly, can offer a compliant and effective bridge between onshore limitations and global opportunities.
In this context, Geneva entities – including International Insurance in Geneva, a 953 (D) of the carrier’s election barbados, and a clarity life insurance, a PPLI non 953 (D) supplier – offer customers a double -path approach to cross -border planning. While Geneva International focuses on customers connected to the United States in search of compliant offshore structures, Clarity specializes in carrying out the needs of non-American customers, including families of regions such as Africa and Latin America. The two carriers provide solutions based on regulatory integrity and built to resolve real world financial challenges such as capital mobility, access to investments and long -term succession planning.
Customers no longer ask only how to protect wealth – they ask how to develop, use it and transmit it
Traditionally, the PPLI has been associated with a tax postponement, inheritance planning and asset protection – in particular in jurisdictions such as the United States (under IRC 7702) and Canada (under exempt tests). These functions remain vital. However, today’s market has evolved. Families are now looking more than protection; They want participation-access and protection of investment capital, venture capital, real estate, intellectual property, investments aligned by ESG and even alternative assets such as art.
Imagine a prosperous family business in a country with outgoing investment restrictions – seeking to diversify not only its business assets but also its generational wealth. Thanks to the PPLI offer of the Geneva entities, the family can pay bonuses in a policy domiciled in Barbados, appoint an investment advisor and a global -recognized goalkeeper, and structure the policy to reflect their risk appetites. The result is a global diversified investment portfolio which complies with international standards while preserving capital, ensuring continuity and allowing intergenerational transfer. This is the heart of what we call participatory planning of wealth – a philosophy where protection and access do not exclude each other but work together to serve larger family and financial objectives.
Capital constraints and access barriers
Access to global assets is not guaranteed for many investors. Families of countries which are often faced with challenges with access to hard currency, repatriation of funds and institutional obstacles to international investment. The Geneva entities supported customers of these jurisdictions by creating compliant and robust political structures which offer both protection and participation. These policies become a gateway to managed investment portfolio denominated in USD or EUR, administered by managers of professional assets outside the constraints of the customer’s local financial system. This capacity transforms PPLI of a passive detention structure into a dynamic financial tool – which allows liquidity, flexibility and global scope while retaining the traditional advantages of insurance and the transfer of wealth.
Why barbados?
Barbados has regularly built a reputation as a cooperative jurisdiction, in accordance and competent for the structuring of wealth. It maintains the requirements in terms of economic substances, has a solid network of bilateral treaties and offers regulatory transparency aligned with OECD and GRAF standards. The country also provides an environment of mature legal and financial services supported by experienced professionals. For Geneva entities, Barbados is more than a base – it is a strategic platform. The jurisdiction allows us to meet the complex needs of mobile global customers while joining international regulatory expectations. In a world where conformity and substance are as critical as innovation, barbados offers the good mix of the two.
Technology and personalization
The Geneva entities actively advance its digital transformation to offer a more transparent and more transparent PPLI experience. From rationalized integration to improving workflows access to policies and compliance, our objective is a reactive platform compatible with technology. Within the framework of this evolution, the profiling of investments – including the ESG alignment and the rating of risks – will guarantee that each policy reflects the unique objectives and values of the customer.
The future of wealth planning
While the planning of wealth moves from secrecy to strategy, customers no longer only ask for how to protect wealth – they ask how to develop, use and transmit it. Ppli, in particular when it is structured from a prospective jurisdiction like Barbados, offers a clear path to this vision.
Geneva entities are proud to be held at the intersection of access and protection, helping customers from around the world to release new possibilities thanks to a redesigned approach to private wealth.