Would you be interested in this type of investment? Too good to be true? Well, at BFI we have worked intensively over the past years to develop the kinds of services, infrastructure and network to make precisely that kind of solution available to our clients. The Swiss Portfolio Shield strategy affords all the elements that are required for a cutting edge wealth preservation and asset protection solution, tailored to your specific needs and objectives.
It should be obvious to all that a well-crafted long-term wealth preservation strategy must provide the highest levels of safety, legal asset protection, and confidentiality. On top of that, it should provide for sustainable long-term tax benefits. And finally, in view of the volatility and uncertainty we face in markets, possibly the most important feature of a cutting edge wealth preservation plan is a structure that allows for total investment flexibility, one that ensures easily and rapidly adjustable asset allocation of global scope.
No matter how bullish or bearish you are about current markets, no matter how strong your convictions are one way or the other, you must ensure that your portfolio adjusts promptly to the changes in markets and your personal needs, without having to alter its legal structure and protective shield.That is what the Swiss Portfolio Shield is all about. To summarize, the core elements of a solid wealth preservation plan are the following:
Legal Tax Benefits take advantage of the benefits your country tax code affords to life insurance policies and annuities, namely deferral or complete elimination of taxes
Solid Asset Protection protect your wealth from creditors, frivolous lawsuits and government confiscation
Privacy the first critical step toward asset protection is to keep your financial affairs private and conduct them confidentially
Global Investment Flexibility obtain and maintain ready access to all asset classes on a global scale - true international diversification capability is critical
Safety choose institutions, advisors, jurisdictions and legal systems of only the highest quality
No Income Taxes For The Rest of Your Life!
All of us have studied calculations of total compounded returns with and without taxation. The difference is stunning and should be considered in any investment plan. In fact, by reducing the taxation on an investment, a targeted return can be achieved at a lower risk level. In brief, tax planning is not just an accountant pastime! was visiting with a gentleman at his home in the Piccadilly district of London. It was explained to me that his net worth exceeded US$100 million by a substantial margin. I noticed the presence of a computer terminal on a large desk in his den. It was surrounded by reams of paper dealing with offshore investing. It soon became apparent that his affluence was due to his own efforts when he said to me: ou e a bright young man who obviously knows his craft. But what can you tell me that I don already know about finances? I leaned forward and made this simple statement: hrough the creative use of international life insurance, your financial affairs can be arranged so that you will never have to pay income taxes for the rest of your life! The gentleman took serious notice, and thus was born The Hampton Freeze.
This was the opening paragraph of an article titled he Hampton Freeze in the well-known publication Offshore Investment. Prof. Craig D. Hampton, an internationally acclaimed expert, wrote it in October of 1994 on international taxation and life insurance planning. Prof. Hampton is a distinguished Professor of Law and in the fortunate situation to be semiretired comfortably at the age of 45. He is the academic advisor to BFI Consulting and a good personal friend. With his support, we have now been able to complete our efforts of creating an array of cutting edge strategies that provide the advantages discussed above. In his article, Prof. Hampton states the following: nformed international observers know that sophisticated offshore investors have not typically found the avoidance of taxation by their domiciliary (or other) jurisdiction to be a particularly difficult task. However true that conclusion may have been in the past, these same individuals are now finding that their respective jurisdictions are now better equipped to deal with this matter as the 21st century approaches. If this statement was true in 1994, it is a certainty that it is even more accurate today. The strategies that allow investors to legally and confidentially minimize or completely eliminate taxes on their investments have become a rarity. In fact, most former strategies employing various forms of trusts, IBC and other multiple layer structures are no longer effective in terms of taxation. At best, they might be applied as ideouts Generally, any such ideout strategy should be avoided. There are better alternatives that let you sleep at night!
Introducing The Swiss Portfolio Shield™
The Swiss Portfolio Shield™ is a bouquet of exclusive services geared toward the tailoring of wealth preservation strategies to the precise needs of our clients and with the objective of combining the benefits of global investment access, asset protection, privacy and tax savings. In general, these strategies are based on or involve a variety of sophisticated, privately tailored private banking insurance policies, sometimes also referred to as “insurance wrappers”. In the past, such life insurance products were generally employed for the insurance of risks related to death or physical impairment. Today, affluent investors have discovered that a life insurance policy can serve other purposes as well. The multitude of advantages afforded to life insurance products in most jurisdictions around the world creates an incredible variety of financial planning opportunities.
Tax savings – or elimination
Most jurisdictions afford a tax-preferred status to contracts that qualify as life insurance policies. The different kinds of life insurance policies available are manifold, as are the ways in which different jurisdictions treat such policies. In general, one will find that annuity policies will enjoy income tax deferability. In other words, withdrawals, surrenders or annuity payments will be taxed in some way or another. Life insurance policies, such as term policies, whole life policies or so-called universal life policies, can eliminate taxation altogether, during the lifetime of the insured as well as after death. This is the case, for example, in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom.
Protection from confiscation, frivolous lawsuits and creditors
Some jurisdictions, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, have laws that ensure the highest level of legal protection of the assets underlying the insurance policies issued by the local insurance carriers. For instance, Swiss law ensures that creditors cannot seize insurance policies, including annuities. Moreover, such policies cannot be included in a Swiss bankruptcy procedure. The investor enjoys protection from foreign governments in the matter of bankruptcy as well. An English court, for instance, may expressly order the seizure or the inclusion of a Swiss annuity account in a bankruptcy proceeding. However, provided that the account has been structured in the proper way, Swiss authorities will not seize it. That explains why many of our clients are doctors who want to shelter their “nest egg” from the dangers of a potential malpractice suit.
Privacy and Confidentiality
What ensures the confidentiality and privacy of such policies is, on the one hand, such secrecy laws as employed in the two aforementioned countries. On the other hand, life insurance contracts are private contracts that do not need to be registered with any government agencies. Being private contracts, they are portable without any restrictions. Moreover, since in many cases life insurance policies are exempt from income taxes, they are not reportable on an annual basis.
Global investment flexibility
As you will easily conceive, the features listed above create a powerful wealth preservation and asset protection device. However, the icing on the cake is added by the fact that a small selection of state-of-the-art solutions allows for an incredible level of investment flexibility. You may select a professional asset manager to invest the funds for you. Or, if so preferred, you make your investment decisions yourself. The stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate and precious metals investments available around the world are at your disposal! Similar to the structural capabilities known from foundations and trusts, the top of the line Swiss Portfolio Shield™ policies allow for inclusion of legal entities, even operational companies. They also allow for premiums in kind, which means that existing assets and property can be brought into the policies without prior liquidation. Therefore, as an example, a client may choose to bring his private equity or real estate under the protection of a Swiss Portfolio Shield™ strategy in order to shield its appreciation from tax consequences. One of our clients was able to “wrap” his private equity shares into a Swiss Portfolio Shield™ structure BEFORE the shares multiplied in value after a successful IPO, thus sheltering the capital gains from all and any taxation.
Safety
Last but not least, the safety of any such investment strategy is paramount. Particularly in view of today’s economic and systematic risks, you do not want to depend on the soundness of the institutions you work with. We do recommend employing only the soundest companies in the most economically and politically stable jurisdictions. However, the structure of the Swiss Portfolio Shield™ solutions is such that even in a case of a custodian’s insolvency, your assets are segregated from the assets of the institution and therefore are not subject to any bankruptcy proceedings. In other words, even if the insurance company and banks you work with go belly up, your assets will not be affected.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Swiss Portfolio Shield™ solutions make for first-class and individually tailored strategies, used by wealth families and ultrahigh net-worth investors in Europe and America increasingly over the past decade. Without any doubt in my mind, the Swiss Portfolio Shield™ is among the best wealth preservation planning vehicles you will find today. If you think it could add to your wealth protection and estate planning, then I suggest you get in touch with us.
