OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The July issue of Best’s Review ranks the Top 20 Global Insurance Brokers by 2025 total revenue. It also includes rankings of the largest:
Best’s Review is AM Best’s monthly insurance magazine, covering emerging issues and trends and evaluating their impact on the marketplace. Access it here.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
Advisors with good intentions often make this mistake when discussing premium-financed indexed universal life, similar to the mistake critics make when they oppose it.
Michael Rothman
They both start in the middle of the story.
They start with the loan rate. They start with the illustration. They start with the interest cost, the projected cash value and the collateral agreement. And from that starting point, they try to answer a question that the numbers alone can never answer: Is this the right strategy for this client?
What the numbers cannot tell you is that the right strategy depends on context.
Here is a simple test. Suppose someone calls you and says, “I found a house. The price is $4.8 million. The mortgage rate is 6.75%. Should I buy it?”
If you recommended buying the house based on that limited information, your opinion would be inappropriately uninformed. You have no idea of any of the relevant context behind the purchase. You do not know why they are buying the house, where it is located, whether it is a primary residence or a vacation property, how long they plan to stay, what their income looks like, whether they have other properties, whether there are tax reasons for the purchase, what the maintenance costs are, what the property taxes are, or what the alternative looks like if they do not buy. All you have is a price and a rate. Without the context, the numbers mean nothing.
In the same way, evaluating a premium-financed life insurance transaction without understanding the client’s estate-planning situation, their asset structure, liquidity, health, lifestyle and what will happen to their family if they die without coverage is not a meaningful analysis.
Start with what the client actually needs
Premium financing is never the beginning of the conversation. The beginning is always the client.
You have a high net worth individual, typically someone with significant estate tax exposure, a large, illiquid asset base or a business succession need that requires substantial life insurance to protect the assets they have worked so hard to build. Permanent life insurance coverage has real value to the family’s estate and business planning. That is established. The question is how to structure the acquisition of that coverage as efficiently as possible, given the client’s unique situation.
In many of these situations, writing a check for the premiums is not the most intelligent use of the client’s capital. These clients can afford the premium. I want to be clear about that because the critics love to imply that premium financing is a tool for people who do not need, want or have the ability to pay for permanent life insurance. That implication is not grounded in reality.
These are clients who have the net worth to justify permanent coverage. In many cases, that net worth is invested elsewhere. Clients typically build large net worths by investing in illiquid assets that earn above-average returns. The legitimate question for any advisor serving this client is: Given that this person has the capital, does it make sense to liquidate that capital to pay insurance premiums? Or is it more efficient to borrow money at a competitive rate to fund the premiums and keep the capital invested?
Those are contextual, planning questions, and every client will have a different answer. It is an individual decision about the most efficient use of capital in service of a larger planning goal.
Some observers have raised concerns about borrowing costs relative to policy crediting rates in the current interest-rate environment. That is a fair topic for any specific case review. But it is also exactly why context matters so much.
For a client whose liquidity needs run into the tens of millions, the financing conversation is not about arbitrage on the policy crediting rate versus the loan rate. It is about whether the family keeps their assets or loses them, whether the children face the pain of massive tax bills or the family legacy is kept intact.
Life insurance is first and foremost a death benefit product. Focusing only on the cash value to assess the strategy is an incomplete analysis. There is a cost associated with the death benefit, and financing the premiums can help cover it. It is not the solution in and of itself.
3 reasons advisors use premium financing
After the estate-planning need is established and the decision to acquire coverage is made, financing can add value in three distinct ways. Understanding each one is essential for any advisor who wants to serve high-net-worth clients.
Reason 1: Policy over-funding and accumulation efficiency
Life insurance policies perform better when they are fully funded, not minimally funded. A policy structured around the minimum premium generally produces a level death benefit. However, the client’s need for insurance coverage usually increases over time. A policy that is funded at or near the maximum accumulates more cash value and typically supports an increasing death benefit, which is particularly valuable for clients with growing estates.
The challenge is that maximum funding requires a maximum premium outlay, which, for large policies, can represent a significant annual capital commitment. Premium financing allows a client to fund the policy at a higher level than they might otherwise be willing to fund out of pocket. This captures the full accumulation benefit of the structure without requiring a proportionately larger liquidation of their capital.
Split-dollar and private financing are strategies that have been used to fund life insurance for more than 50 years. The grantor or insured is the lender, but this is still a form of premium financing. In our practice, advisors regularly seek our help in addressing the negative effects of using a level death benefit on their clients’ existing planning.
When projecting out to the insured’s life expectancy, the net amount of insurance in the trust often approaches zero. These problematic situations are not the fault of split-dollar or private financing. They result from a level death benefit design that cannot support a growing repayment obligation. Again, context matters, and understanding matters.
Reason 2: Retained capital
This is the concept that most people – including a surprising number of advisors – will miss. When a client borrows premiums rather than paying them directly, the capital that would otherwise go to the insurance company remains invested. If that capital earns a return that exceeds the loan interest rate, the client is ahead with more control and flexibility as well.
But beyond pure arithmetic, there is a qualitative dimension to retained capital that matters enormously for certain clients: Their wealth is concentrated on assets they have spent decades building. They are reluctant to liquidate those assets, even if they can be liquidated. Keeping that capital in place while still acquiring the coverage they need is a meaningful outcome. The context in which the insurance is acquired is more important than simply financial optimization.
The easiest way to understand this is to stop thinking of it as a zero-sum equation. The client is not choosing between having insurance and having capital. With financing, they can have both. The lender bridges the gap. The client keeps the asset base intact and growing. The loan is serviced with interest paid out of pocket each year. In the right structure, with the right client, that is an intelligent deployment of the tools available to them.
Reason 3: Gifting efficiency
This one requires a bit more background, but it is one of the most compelling and least discussed aspects of premium-financed insurance.
In most sophisticated estate plans, the mechanism for funding life insurance within a trust involves gifting cash to the trust so the trustee can pay the premiums. Clients have a finite gifting capacity under the federal gift and estate tax exemption, and how they use that capacity matters.
Cash is the worst possible gift in this context. A dollar of cash gifted into the trust counts as exactly a dollar. It receives no discount, attracts no leveraging strategy and grows only as well as whatever the trustee invests in.
Contrast that with a fractional interest in an illiquid asset. If a client owns a building worth $100 million but holds only a 30% interest, that 30% is not worth $30 million for gift tax purposes. Because a fractional interest carries neither control nor a ready market for sale, it is typically subject to a 30% to 40% valuation discount.
Through this discount, the client can gift an interest with a nominal value of $30 million and have it valued at $18 million to $20 million for gift tax purposes. The same gifting capacity covers a greater amount of asset value, and the gifted asset typically appreciates faster than cash would.
When a client uses a fractional interest in illiquid real estate or a business to collateralize or partially fund a financed life insurance arrangement, they use their gifting capacity far more efficiently than if they were making cash premium gifts. That efficiency compounds over time and over generations. This is sophisticated planning.
The framework that matters
Do not get caught up in a checklist or a disclosure script. Think carefully about your role in these engagements and the best ways to meet your clients’ needs. Financial optimization across generational planning is the ultimate goal.
Your job is to understand the client’s planning situation before you ever open a conversation about how the coverage will be funded. Start with the need: What are the liquidity exposures, what are the illiquid assets, what happens to the family or the business if the client dies tomorrow without this coverage in place?
Answer those questions, and the financing conversation becomes a natural next step. It becomes a question of how you acquire what is already established as necessary, not whether the strategy itself makes sense.
Advisors who start there, who put context at the center of every premium financing engagement, are the ones who build lasting high net worth practices. They are also the ones who are best positioned to defend their decisions if they are ever questioned, not because they followed a script, but because the planning foundation was solid from the start.
The most powerful argument for this strategy is not a rate comparison. It is the math of how insurance protects a family’s wealth across multiple generations.
Transaction reinsures $3.8 billion of long-term care (LTC) statutory reserves, representing 26% of total LTC reserves and 52% of individual LTC reserves, each as of March 31, 2026
Combined with the LTC reinsurance transaction announced in 2025, cumulative reduction in Unum’s total LTC statutory reserves is approximately 40%
Covers 100% of remaining individual LTC policies reinsured to Fairwind
Capital strength and capital deployment priorities remain unchanged
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Unum Group (NYSE: UNM) announced today that its Unum Life Insurance Company of America subsidiary (“Unum America”) has entered into an agreement to cede to Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd. (“Fortitude Re”), on a coinsurance basis, certain individual long-term care (“LTC”) insurance policies representing $3.8 billion of statutory reserves in Fairwind Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Unum (“Fairwind”).
At closing, Unum America will recapture the reinsured individual LTC block from Fairwind and cede the block to Fortitude Re. Fortitude Re will retrocede biometric risk on the reinsured block to a highly rated global reinsurer. Unum will retain administration of the reinsured business, including claims handling and premium rate increase program management.
The reinsured block consists of approximately 50,000 individual LTC policies with $3.8 billion of statutory reserves and approximately $4.5 billion of best estimate reserves. Following the transaction, Unum’s remaining LTC statutory reserves are expected to be approximately $11.0 billion, with approximately 70% of remaining reserves backing group LTC policies, which generally have more basic benefit structures than individual LTC policies.
“This marks another important step in advancing our Closed Block strategy to further reduce our exposure to our legacy long-term care business and maintain our focus on Unum’s leading employee benefits franchise,” said Richard P. McKenney, president and chief executive officer. “Building on the actions we have taken over the last several years, including our prior external reinsurance transactions, this agreement significantly reduces the size and risk profile of the Closed Block. With a strong capital position and a clear strategic focus, we remain committed to disciplined execution, prudent capital management, and delivering long-term value for shareholders.”
The transaction represents the next step in Unum’s execution of its closed block strategy and follows the company’s previously announced LTC reinsurance transaction in 2025. Together, the two external transactions will have decreased the company’s closed block footprint through reinsurance of more than $7 billion of LTC statutory reserves.
The transaction is expected to be funded through a combination of Fairwind excess capital, holding company liquidity and financing related to future tax benefits. Following the closing of the transaction, Unum expects to maintain a robust capital position, with year-end 2026 holding company liquidity of $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion, leverage of approximately 25%, and RBC of 400% to 425%. The transaction’s impact on operating earnings is expected to be limited to foregone investment income and incremental interest expense associated with transaction financing. The transaction is expected to close during 2026, subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals and satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.
Members of Unum Group senior management will host a conference call on Monday, July 6, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss the reinsurance transaction.
To access the conference call, you must register in advance using the following URL: https://registrations.events/direct/Q4I3307946. Upon registration, you will receive a dial-in number to use to access the event. It is recommended that you register at least 10 minutes before the start of the event. In addition, a live webcast of the call will be available in a listen-only mode on the company’s investors website at https://investors.unum.com. It is recommended that webcast viewers access the website and opt in to the webcast approximately 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the call. Following the conference call, a replay of the webcast will be available on the company’s investors website, and a recording of the call will also be available using the registration URL noted above through Monday, July 13, 2026.
In conjunction with today’s announcement, a presentation with details of the transaction and additional information is available on the company’s investors website.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP served as legal counsel to Unum in connection with this transaction.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Unum Group and its subsidiaries. Unum Group’s actual results may differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates reflected in such forward-looking statements. Certain important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates reflected in such forward-looking statements can be found in Part 1, Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Unum Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and Unum Group does not undertake to update any particular forward-looking statement included in this release.
ABOUT UNUM GROUP
Unum Group (NYSE: UNM), a leading international provider of workplace benefits and services, has been helping workers and their families thrive for more than 175 years. Through its Unum and Colonial Life brands, the company offers disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, and vision insurance; leave and absence management support; and behavioral health services. In 2025, Unum Group reported revenues of $13.1 billion and paid $8.3 billion in benefits. The Fortune 500 company is recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere®.
HAMILTON, Bermuda–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Fortitude Re announced today the signing of a $3.8 billion reinsurance transaction between its subsidiary, Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd. (“FRL”) and Unum Life Insurance Company of America (“Unum”), a subsidiary of Unum Group (NYSE: UNM).
Upon receipt of regulatory approvals and subject to satisfaction or waiver of certain other customary closing conditions, Unum will recapture from Fairwind Insurance Company (“Fairwind”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unum, an individual long-term care (“LTC”) block representing approximately $3.8 billion of statutory reserves in Fairwind (or approximately $4.5 billion of Unum best estimate reserves) and cede the block to FRL, further building on the successful transaction between Fortitude Re and Unum announced last year.
Unum will continue to service and administer the reinsured policies. Simultaneously with the closing of the reinsurance transaction with Unum, FRL will enter into an agreement to retrocede 100% of the LTC insurance risks to a highly rated global reinsurance partner. FRL will thereby retain only the underlying spread-based risks associated with this block of business.
“We are pleased to again partner with Unum and value the trust they have placed in our team,” said Kai Talarek, Chief Growth & Optimization Officer, Fortitude Re. “We also appreciate the support of our strategic partner Carlyle, whose investment expertise helps ensure we optimize the risk-adjusted return of the investments that back the promises we are making to our clients and their policyholders.”
“This reinsurance agreement demonstrates how our client-centric approach drives highly customized solutions tailored to meet client needs,” said Russell Gao, Head of U.S. Origination & Strategy, Fortitude Re. “We thank Unum for its trust, collaboration and continued partnership.”
Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to Fortitude Re.
About Fortitude Re
Fortitude Re refers to FGH Parent, L.P. and its subsidiaries. Fortitude Re is a leading global reinsurer with more than $100 billion in reserves. Backed by world-class investors, including Carlyle and T&D Insurance Group, Fortitude Re combines deep expertise, disciplined execution, and a strong capital base to help clients navigate significant risk and capital challenges. Powered by a people-first culture that attracts, develops, and retains top industry talent, the company delivers innovative, tailored solutions that create lasting value for clients, partners, and policyholders. For more information, visit fortitude-re.com and follow Fortitude Re on LinkedIn.
The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors applauds the unanimous approval of H.R. 7187, the Clarity for Compensation Act, by the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Reps. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) and Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), passed the committee by a vote of 51-0 on June 30 and now advances to the full House of Representatives.
The bill, a top legislative priority for NAIFA that members advocated for during the association’s Congressional Conference in May, would remove outdated regulatory barriers that prevent many registered financial advisors from receiving compensation through their own business entities. While lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents have long been permitted to operate under this model, many financial advisors remain subject to unnecessary restrictions that make it more difficult to build and sustain independent practices.
By modernizing these rules, the legislation will help independent advisors compete on a level playing field, strengthen small businesses, and expand access to financial guidance for consumers, particularly in underserved and minority communities.
“NAIFA applauds the Financial Services Committee for unanimously advancing this important bipartisan legislation,” said NAIFA President Christopher L. Gandy, LACP. “Independent financial advisors are small business owners who deserve the same flexibility afforded to other professionals. Removing these outdated barriers will help advisors spend less time navigating unnecessary regulations and more time serving the individuals, families, and businesses that rely on their guidance. We appreciate Representatives Nunn and Meeks for their leadership and look forward to working with Congress to see this bill become law.”
The Clarity for Compensation Act would:
Remove outdated regulatory restrictions that prevent many independent financial advisors from receiving compensation through their own business entities.
Align compensation rules for financial advisors with those already applicable to lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents.
Support the growth of independent advisory firms and expand access to financial advice in underserved communities.
The liquidation of PHL Variable Insurance Co. will not happen until next year at the earliest, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Josh Hershman said in a status update filed Tuesday.
State insurance guaranty associations are preparing to seek bids from insurers willing to assume portions of the troubled company’s business, Hershman explained, a process that will take months. The court-appointed rehabilitator for PHL, Hershman had maintained that a liquidation order would be entered by the end of 2026.
The National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations is handling the request for proposals to take PHL business, the report said.
The organization “anticipates that its RFP process will commence in the third quarter of 2026,” he wrote. “After the RFP process commences, the timing of critical next steps will vary depending on the proposals that are received.”
Connecticut regulators placed PHL Variable into rehabilitation in May 2024 due to hazardous financial conditions, attaching a moratorium on benefits and premiums. In December, a judge approved changes to the moratorium that could reduce universal life death benefits owed by up to $4.1 billion.
Bumpy road to liquidation
Regulators tried for months to rehabilitate PHL, before abruptly pivoting to a liquidation plan announced in the rehabilitator’s year-end 2025 filing.
Hershman remains confident that insurers are interested in assuming some of PHL’s guaranteed insurance and annuity obligations.
The rehabilitator said the bidding process also could include proposals that provide policyholders with benefits above state guaranty association coverage limits, funded by assets remaining in the receivership estate. Any enhanced benefits would depend on factors including the proposals received, available estate assets, applicable guaranty association coverage and court approval.
“The shared goal is to protect policyholders as provided for under receivership and guaranty association statutes while maximizing the value of the estate assets,” the report said.
According to the filing, nearly all eligible policyholders and annuity contract holders have received election packages outlining available modification options. About 350 customized election packages remain outstanding for certain universal life policyholders who own multiple policies or annuity contracts covering the same insured. Those mailings are expected to be completed in July, Hershman reported.
As of June 23, about 40% of eligible policyholders and annuity holders had submitted elections selecting one of the available modification options.
PHL’s administrative service provider has processed approximately 80% of the fixed indexed annuity election forms received and about 60% of universal life election forms, the report said, with processing continuing within the timeframes outlined in the election materials.
Top-100 placement reflects strong 2025 results as leading mutual life insurance company and financial services leader celebrates its 175th anniversary
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
MassMutual today announced that it rose to No. 100 on the 2026 Fortune 500®1 list, placing the company among the top 100 largest U.S. companies by revenue, continuing its streak of more than 30 consecutive years on the list, and reflecting its strong 2025 performance as the company marks its 175th year in business.
MassMutual achieved excellent financial results in 2025, fueled by strong sales, record operating earnings, and continued expansion in its wealth management business. The company also maintained its leadership as a top provider of whole life insurance, delivered exceptional policyowner value by approving its highest-ever dividend, and continued to make meaningful progress against its long-term strategy.
“Our placement on this list reflects the soundness of our strategy, our excellent financial position, and the talent and dedication of our employees and affiliated financial professionals,” said Roger Crandall, Chairman, President and CEO, MassMutual. “Yet what drives us every day isn’t a ranking. It’s delivering on our timeless purpose to help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. With our mutual structure, depth and breadth of holistic solutions, and long-term investment approach, we look forward to serving the individuals and families who rely on us for generations to come.”
The Fortune 500, now in its 72nd year, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue. Together, the companies included on the list combined for $21.0 trillion in revenue and $2.1 trillion in profits last year, while employing over 30 million people worldwide. For more information, visit https://fortune.com/ranking/fortune500/.
About MassMutual (Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company)
For 175 years, MassMutual has stood beside generations through life’s defining moments, guided by a clear, enduring purpose: We help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. What began in 1851 as a bold idea rooted in neighbors helping neighbors has grown into one of America’s largest mutual life insurance companies, serving more than four million customers2 with over $1 trillion in life insurance in force2 and $584 billion in assets under management, 3all built on a foundation of more than $34 billion in capital strength. 4
MassMutual offers a broad range of products and services across protection, accumulation, wealth management, and retirement income, including annuities through our leading annuity provider, MassMutual Ascend. These solutions reach people through our expansive distribution, which is anchored by our dedicated network of affiliated financial professionals. For nearly two centuries, our offerings have helped people build, protect, and pass on what means the most to them. Through eras of extraordinary change, we have honored our commitments, paying upwards of $70 billion in insurance and annuity benefits over the past decade.5
MassMutual is strengthened by a diversified portfolio of strategic businesses and investments – including Barings, our global alternative asset management subsidiary – which enables us to deliver greater long-term value to our policyowners. MassMutual has a longstanding, successful approach to bringing together deep life insurance expertise and advanced asset management capabilities, which put us at the forefront of this trend and helped pioneer growth beyond traditional industry boundaries. Through Barings, we have robust asset origination capabilities that have helped us achieve exceptional long-term performance for our policyowners.
Through it all, our scale provides strength; our mutuality provides alignment; and our purpose ensures we do not lose sight of who we serve. To learn more, visit massmutual.com.
2 As of December 31, 2025
3Assets Under Management (AUM) include assets and certain external investment funds managed by MassMutual subsidiaries, including Barings and MassMutual Ascend, as of December 31, 2025
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Winged Keel Group (“Winged Keel”) today announced it has acquired SBSI, Inc. (dba NFP Insurance Solutions), a Chicago-based independent insurance advisory firm serving ultra high net worth and family office clients nationwide. SBSI, Inc. (dba NFP Insurance Solutions), which has an established Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) practice, is led by Howard Sharfman and Warren McGuire, two highly respected industry leaders. The entire team has joined Winged Keel, further strengthening the firm’s presence across the country and establishing a new Winged Keel office in Chicago. This integration extends Winged Keel’s position as the leading national platform for the structuring, implementation, and administration of high-end life insurance solutions.
“We’re thrilled to welcome the SBSI, Inc. team to Winged Keel,” said Eric Naison-Phillips, CEO of Winged Keel. “Howard, Warren, and their talented team have built an outstanding organization with a strong track record of client-centric success in the ultra high net worth life insurance market, including in PPLI. Their team brings deep relationships with centers of influence, financial institutions, and family offices, along with a culture aligned with Winged Keel’s focus on growth, innovation, and integrity, all of which will help us advance our evolution and deliver even more value to clients.”
SBSI, Inc. has been advising clients on life insurance solutions for more than 100 years. They are among the nation’s largest firms specializing in life insurance and wealth transfer solutions for ultra high net worth individuals and families with multi-generational wealth. Over the past decade, the firm has placed over $18 billion of life insurance coverage.
“This is a fantastic combination of two leading firms in the high-end life insurance space,” said Sharfman. “I have admired Winged Keel for years, especially their leadership in PPLI. From a position of strength and through the integration of our people, relationships, and capabilities, we will create new opportunities and a clear long-term succession plan to deliver more value to our clients well into the future. Through this integration with Winged Keel, we are also expanding our geographic reach, gaining access to new resources and infrastructure, collaborating with some of the industry’s top talent, and elevating our culture with a firm that shares our values. We’re excited to partner with Eric and the team, learn from each other, and continue building something special.”
Sharfman and McGuire are now Principals of Winged Keel. In addition, Sharfman has joined the firm’s Executive Management Committee.
Winged Keel, which entered into a strategic partnership with GTCR, LLC, in February 2025, continues its significant activity in acquiring and integrating leading firms in the ultra high net worth life insurance market. This transaction marks Winged Keel’s fourth acquisition since the GTCR investment, joining strategic acquisitions that established offices in St. Louis and Minneapolis, and expanded the firm’s presence in Denver. Winged Keel will continue exploring opportunities that enhance the team’s ability to serve the dynamic needs of clients and advisors nationally and advance its position as the insurance brokerage platform of choice.
About Winged Keel Group
Winged Keel Group is the premier national platform for the structuring, implementation, and administration of high-end life insurance solutions. With coverage teams across 19 markets nationally, the firm specializes in Traditional Life Insurance, Business Continuation Insurance, Private Placement Life Insurance and Annuities, and Corporate-Owned Life Insurance portfolios. For more information on Winged Keel Group, please visit www.wingedkeel.com.
Securities offered through M Holdings Securities, Inc., a Registered Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Winged Keel Group is independently owned and operated. #06302026-5701084
The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.Imagine an all-in-one financial product that lets you save for retirement tax-free while protecting your loved ones. It’s pitched as life insurance you can use while you’re still alive, and even better, you can earn stock market-like returns without any of the losses.This is how indexed universal life insurance (IUL) is often promoted on social media. Influencers promise a “recession-proof retirement,” a message that resonates given that nearly two-thirds of Americans (62%) believe the U.S. economy will enter a recession in the next 12 months, according to a June NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll.Americans are buying in. New IUL policies brought in a record $4.5 billion in premiums in 2025, according to LIMRA, an insurance and financial services trade group. But behind the social chatter is a wave of consumer confusion. A gap in marketing regulations makes IULs susceptible to misleading sales pitches, and some consumers are paying the price with their retirement savings.Here’s what you need to know before you buy.The social media glossOnline videos tout IULs as completely safe, tax-free retirement funds that can outperform a 401(k) or IRA. “Zero is your hero” is a common catchphrase, referring to the fact that IULs come with a floor that’s typically set to 0%. Even if the market crashes, the interest rate credited to your IUL will never dip below 0%.But these sales pitches rely on incomplete sound bites, says Dick Weber, co-founder of the Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. While IULs are legitimate permanent life insurance products that build cash value, the viral clips only tell half the story.When you buy a traditional investment like a mutual fund, the person selling it has to hold federal securities licenses and clearly disclose risks. But with IULs, your money never enters the stock market. Insurers keep your cash in a general account and use market indexes, like the S&P 500, as a benchmark to calculate your interest. So legally, an IUL is an insurance product, not a security — and the various costs associated with holding life insurance coverage can affect your policy’s performance.Because IULs toe the line between insurance and investment without crossing it, the people who sell them don’t have to follow the same federal regulations that stockbrokers and investment advisors do. They don’t need securities licenses, and they often don’t carry the fiduciary duty to act in your best interest. Without these regulations, agents can get away with quoting low premiums while burying the true costs of an IUL policy.”What those promoters are claiming would be illegal and sanctionable by anybody in any other segment of the financial service business,” says Barry Flagg, a certified financial planner and founder of life insurance analytics firm Veralytic.”The people who are saying IUL is better than a 401(k), they better be disclosing the costs, just like you have to in a 401(k),” he says. “And more often than not, the promoters that I’ve seen on LinkedIn and on YouTube never talk about costs.”What the sales pitches don’t tell youIf you flip past the first few pages of an IUL policy illustration — the document showing how your policy should perform over time — you’ll eventually get to three levers that reveal how a “risk-free” policy can still lose money.1. Front-loaded feesAn IUL contains a layer-cake of internal expenses, including administration and asset management fees, and the cost of insurance needed to cover your death benefit — or the payout your family receives when you die.Weber warns these expenses are heavily front-loaded in the first 10 to 15 years of the policy. If the market is down, the insurer still withdraws these fees every month, quietly draining your principal. And it can take 20 or more years to build up enough cash value to total the premiums you’ve paid into the policy.2. Inaccurate earnings illustrationsSales pitches can also misrepresent how much you’ll earn with an IUL.In recent years, regulators capped the maximum crediting rate a policy illustration could project. But the fix created a new issue. If a policy illustration is forced to use a flat 5.5% cap, the insurer’s software prints out a timeline assuming the policy will credit exactly 5.5% every single year for up to a century.This smooth line completely erases the ups and downs of the market. In the real world, a string of 0% years early on, combined with high fees, can permanently starve the account before interest ever compounds.3. Earnings caps and shifting participation ratesIf you’re wondering how an insurer can afford to promise a 0% floor, it’s by installing a ceiling as well. Even if the market booms, your wins are limited by an earnings cap (usually 8% to 12%) and a participation rate (the percentage of that cap you’re actually credited).For example, if the market surges 20%, but your policy has a 10% cap and an 80% participation rate, you walk away with an 8% return. And what many consumers don’t realize is their insurer can change these rates at any time.Flagg learned this firsthand when he bought an indexed product for his children’s future college fund.”I put the money into an indexed annuity with a 70% participation rate, and I figured … that’s perfect for my kids’ college education,” Flagg says. “The very next year, they changed the participation rate from 70% to 30%. And there was a surrender charge, so I couldn’t get out.”How to read past the sales pitchJust because there are a few bad actors doesn’t mean all IULs are a scam. When designed correctly, IULs can be a good option for moderate-risk individuals who want permanent life insurance and can keep up with high premiums during down markets. Just make sure you max out your 401(k) and other traditional tax-advantaged accounts first.If you’re considering an IUL, protect yourself from misleading pitches by following these steps.1. Vet the agent. While standard insurance agents aren’t legally bound to act in the client’s best interest, many do so on principle. Weber recommends interviewing a few agents to see if they focus on your needs and risk profile over a quick commission. To verify their record, run a search on their state’s Department of Insurance website, which tracks disciplinary actions and consumer complaints.2. Demand the numbers. Don’t trust the glossy growth projections on the first page of a policy illustration. Ask for two pieces of information:Year-by-year cost disclosures. This details the internal policy fees, showing how much of your premium goes toward wealth building versus company expenses.Year-by-year performance requirements. This tells you the minimum return a policy must maintain each year to hit the growth targets you’ve been shown. If a policy requires an uninterrupted market return of 8% for 40 years to stay afloat, skip it.It’s not uncommon for agents to omit this information from their sales pitches. And without it, Flagg says, you’re essentially taking your money to Vegas. “The house always wins. And if you don’t know the odds, if you don’t know your costs … you are going to lose.”Most consumers don’t need to step into the insurance casino at all. Term life insurance is usually sufficient. It’s straightforward, transparent and cheap.Unless you have specific needs an IUL can fill, the smartest financial play is a simple one: Keep your investing and your insurance separate.
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New York Life was founded more than 180 years ago but its asset management business has launched one of the first onchain high yield bond offerings according to the mutual life insurer.
The asset management business, New York Life Investment Management, has launched the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio in partnership with tokenization platform Centrifuge. This is NYLIM’s first tokenized offering and aims to expand investor access to the firm’s fixed income capabilities through digital infrastructure.
Thomas Sy, head of multi-asset solutions at New York Life Investment Management, told Markets Media that the asset management business has been looking at tokenization for the better part of a year and exploring how it could learn about this new infrastructure. NYLIM actively manages approximately $807bn, according to a statement, with Sy’s team managing approximately $11bn for institutional clients.
“We believe that most, if not all, finance will be onchain at some point,” Sy added. “The best way to understand, learn and develop an institutional quality platform is to start pilots.”
Other traditional asset managers including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Fidelity International have already launched tokenized funds. However, Sy argued that crypto-native investors and firms such as digital asset treasuries will want to diversify beyond tokenized money market funds, commodities and private credit. As a result, NYLIM believes there is space for more institutional quality products onchain and that true diversification will be one of unblocks of tokenization.
“At NYLIM we want to put assets onchain that are truly differentiated from what is already in place,” added Sy. “This is not a one-product test.”
On 30 June 2026 Theo, an institutional platform that builds financial products enabling onchain capital to access global markets, said in a statement that it had become the first crypto-native platform to invest in Fidelity International’s tokenized USD Digital Liquidity Fund (FILQ).
Theo’s institutional tokenized Treasury product, thBILL, allocated $20m into FILQ through digital asset bank Sygnum. thBILL has over $200m in total value locked, according to Theo. TVL measures the U.S. dollar value of digital assets deposited or staked into a decentralized finance (DeFI) protocol or blockchain.
thBILL is one of the only onchain Treasury products backed by paper from two of the world’s largest asset managers, Fidelity International and Wellington Management, according to Theo. Inside thBILL, FILQ sits alongside ULTRA, the Wellington Management-issued Treasury fund custodied at Standard Chartered. Iggy Ioppe, chief investment officer at Theo described the structure of thBILL to Markets Media as an iPhone which can be traded, with a screen from Fidelity International and a chip from Wellington.
Emma Pecenicic, head of digital assets distribution at Fidelity International, said in a statement that tokenization is a foundational shift in how global financial markets will function.
“By combining long-standing investment expertise with digital-native infrastructure, we are helping to enable regulated, institutional-grade liquidity onchain for markets that operate around the clock, bringing new utility to onchain investors like Theo,” she added.
Ioppe said that unlike most tokenized funds, thBILL was designed to specifically for institutions to use tokens onchain, to attract liquidity onchain and to be composable, which enables permissionless innovation and fluid coordination across DeFI protocols. He said: “The company revolves around knowing where liquidity lives onchain, knowing how DeFi works and having deep ties to crypto market makers.”
Theo’s team worked for a year to convince Fidelity International to launch a tokenized fund, according to Ioppe. The fund will sit inside thBILL tokens which can be pledged as collateral, lent out and used in DeFi to enhance yield 24/7.
“I think they chose us because we have specific expertise in terms of making our tokens work onchain,” Ioppe added. “This is one of the first true onchain tokenizations from one of the biggest asset management names.”
Stablecoins
Centrifuge will tokenize NYLIM’s fund with subscriptions and redemptions settled in Circle’s USDC stablecoin . The underlying portfolio, investment process, and risk management through NYLIM remain unchanged.
The asset manager met a number of potential tokenization partners. The first thing that stood out about Centrifuge is that they took time to understand NYLIM’s goals, stage of development and risk appetite, according to Sy.
“As a 180-year old institution, one of our principles is permanence and Centrifuge proposed potential projects that were in line with that,” Sy said.
Another factor is that Centrifuge has been around since 2017 and has been through a full crypto winter, regulatory uncertainty and multiple market cycles.
“That level of experience and commitment to a regulatory mindset was a match with our core principles,” Sy added.
Sy highlighted that in March this year New York Life reported a surplus of $34.7bn for 2025, up from $33.3bn in the previous year. As a result, he argued that the firm has the ability to invest in new technology and take time to be thoughtful around how it builds an onchain business.
Anil Sood, chief strategy officer and co-founder of Centrifuge Labs, said in a statement: “This is bigger than a single product: It is about moving funds onto infrastructure that is more transparent, more efficient, and more composable.”
The U.S. administration passed the Genius Act in 2025 to provide the first federal framework for stablecoins which Sy described as a “real unlock” for his largest institutional clients who include insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, pensions and endowments.
“Stablecoins is the first step for them to get into blockchain and has allowed us to initiate conversations on what else is possible,” he added. “That conversation has changed in the past year.”
Sy predicted that 2026 or 2027 will be the year that other traditional institutions like NYLIM will be testing or launching blockchain projects of their own.
Impact on asset management
The first impact of tokenization on the wider asset management industry will be better outcomes for investors, which Sy described as NYLIM’s “North Star” due to the ability to hyper-customize solutions for individuals and institutions at scale, in addition to increasing operational efficiencies and reducing costs.
He compared the advent of tokenization to the introduction of exchange-traded funds. Sy added: “The real unlock for ETFs was when investors could hold and settle them just like any other stock.”
Tokenization also represents an opportunity to give more investors access to a combination of both public and private markets, including private credit, private equity, infrastructure and asset-backed finance. Sy explained that using a blockchain allows customization to be embedded within the token.
For example, an individual typically has 9 to 10 financial accounts ranging from a mortgage to a trading account. It is impossible to provide good financial advice holistically across all these accounts, according to Sy. However, once all that data is on a blockchain, an asset manager can give precise investment guidance based on a full financial picture and the client’s goals.
“I would like a world where I can create a token based on an individual’s goals,” Sy added. “That is what is exciting about the blockchain.”
A survey from Citi Investor Services and CREATE-Research, Upping the Innovation Game in the Asset Management Industry, found that firms cannot compete on performance alone and want to create a competitive edge through their infrastructure to improve investor outcomes.
The majority, 59%, of survey respondents said process improvements will continue to drive the main thrust of innovation. The report said that on the process side, key innovations will likely center on tokenization via rising fractional ownership of funds, the retailization of private markets, digital-enabled distribution platforms and the adoption of AI and GenAI to beef up the enabling infrastructure.
One asset manager said in the report: “Tokenization holds big promise. It will revolutionize private and public markets alike.”
