Our Approach
BUI's dedicated team of Advanced Planning Specialists includes highly credentialed individuals with decades of experience working with many of the country's largest and most sophisticated estate and business planning cases. By engaging with BUI's team, you add tremendous depth to your planning and can rest assured that you have a team squarely focused on identifying the market's best combination of product and underwriting.
Chris Hooper, FALU, FLMI
As a classically-trained, former carrier underwriter, Chris uses his 18+ years of experience in life insurance underwriting to analyze, frame and position medical and financial underwriting considerations. His deep knowledge of carrier underwriting manuals and his experience in stacking cases to maintain negotiating power and avoid facultative reinsurance has him as one of the most sought-after resources in the country for large-face placement.
Brian Seigel, JD
As a former private-practice estate and business planning attorney, Brian works with advisors, their clients and professional advisors to bridge the gap between insurance planning and estate planning. Through BUI's proprietary Estate Evaluation process, Brian analyzes every provision of every estate planning document, notes and confirms all fiduciary appointments, provides a comprehensive estate tax calculation (current and future) and provides creative, coordinated solutions.
Michael Tessler
As a past chairman of NAILBA and the 2018 recipient of the Mooers Award (among the most highly regarded achievements in the industry), Michael is a sought after resource by insurance and financial advisors all over the country to assist in the implementation of wealth transfer and wealth protection strategies. With experience in the home office and the field, Michael brings unprecedented experience in product design, advanced planning concepts and underwriting negotiation. Michael is commonly involved in joint meetings with advisors and their affluent clients.
Brant Steck, CFP®
Brant is commonly the lead point person in initial case development, product design and overall plan coordination. By providing his experience as a Certified Financial Planning Practitioner, along with 18 years of insurance industry experience, advisors working with the Advanced Planning Specialists can find comfort in knowing they have a liaison who can implement strategies that coincide with the overall financial plan.
Case Studies
Private Split Dollar
An advisor contacted BUI about her married couple clients with a net worth of approximately $75 million, including significant investment real estate holdings. The clients had already used their lifetime gifting exemptions, and still had a significant need for liquidity to meet federal and state estate tax obligations. BUI’s advanced planning team proposed a private finance strategy, allowing the clients to personally loan $10 million to an irrevocable grantor trust in exchange for a promissory note. The $10 million was invested within the irrevocable trust, with trust income used to purchase a $40 million survivorship universal life insurance policy with a secondary guarantee. With the proposed strategy from BUI’s advanced planning team, the high net worth clients were able to secure needed trust owned life insurance without the need to use any gifting exemptions.
Keeping the Farm in the Family
An advisor contacted BUI about his farmer clients with a net worth of approximately $30 million, comprised primarily of highly appreciated farmland. Upon further fact finding, it was determined that the farmer had two children involved in the farming operations, and one who was not. The farmers wanted to leave the farmland to their children involved in the farm operations, and were not certain how to equalize an inheritance for their third child. BUI’s advanced planning team proposed a strategy re-directing a portion of the farming net income to an irrevocable trust via a gifting program. The trustee then leveraged the gifted funds into a $20 million survivorship universal life insurance policy with a secondary guarantee. With the proposed strategy from BUI’s advanced planning team, the farmer clients were able to secure needed trust owned life insurance to meet estate liquidity needs, while also providing enough cash to provide an equal distribution to their non-farming child.
Fortune 500 Co. $300M in Face
When approached by our largest partner about obtaining $300+ million of key person coverage on a single life, BUI’s advanced planning team secured all the necessary medical data, in-force coverage data, financial data, corporate data, etc. Securing that level of coverage (which we were told by industry sources was the largest amount placed on a single life in that calendar year) required exceptionally well constructed underwriting data and careful negotiation with carriers and reinsurers. Coordination and expert handling delivered the results on all fronts and required participation from over a dozen carriers and reinsurers.
Complex Medical History
An advisor introduced his client, a 65 year-old-male, seeking $10M of individual, permanent coverage. His medical profile showed suggested potential coronary artery disease and pulmonary hypertension, drawing the attention of the carrier underwriter. BUI’s in-house underwriters convened a meeting with the proposed insured and his cardiologist, identified the areas of confusion, then negotiated with the carrier underwriter to secure a Standard Non-nicotine approval (improved all the way from a preliminary declination).