TO OUR REFERRING PROFESSIONALS & PARTNERS
Life Insurance Guidance You Can Trust With Your Client Relationship
Lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors are often the first to recognize when a client needs careful life insurance advice. Referring a client in these circumstances can be difficult. The challenge goes beyond referral risk. It is about responsibility.
Professionals want to be sure that if they refer a client for specialized insurance guidance, that client will be well advised, thoughtfully treated, and ethically guided toward a solution that truly serves the client’s "best interest."
That concern is well placed. We can help.
Will My Client Be Well Served?
The most important question to ask when referring a client is whether the client will be well served. This reflects the professional’s earnest concern for the client’s well being. And the real issue at play here is trust.
Will the client receive serious, informed guidance?
Will the problem be understood before a solution is recommended?
Will the advice reflect the client’s actual needs rather than a sales agenda?
Will the recommendation align with the work product of counsel, accountants and financial advisors?
Those are the right questions to ask. And referring professionals should feel confident in recommending us.
Insurance Expertise. We have designed and sold policies, have years of insurance industry experience, as well as high-level certifications, such as CLU® (Chartered Life Underwriter) and CLTC® (Certified in Long Term Care) designations. We understand not only how insurance is sold, but how it is structured, where it can go wrong, and how poor design can create serious problems. We also understand the legal and financial context in which insurance is often considered. We begin, not with a product, but with the client’s circumstances and planning objective. Sometimes the right answer is a new policy. Sometimes it is to adjust the funding of an existing policy. Sometimes it is confirming that no change is warranted.
Our aim is not simply to place insurance. It is to help the client make a sound decision.
Beyond Insurance Expertise. In addition to our insurance expertise, our professional background allows us to engage thoughtfully on sophisticated matters with an ability to communicate effectively with the legal and financial professionals already involved.
Because we are lawyers, we are comfortable working with counsel and can fluently discuss legal matters.
Because of our immigration related experience, we understand cross-border complications, the tax treaties that are implicated, and the financial issues that arise outside of simpler single-country planning.
Because of our prior experience as a licensed securities broker, as FINRA-approved arbitrators and as counsel to institutions and investment funds in complex commercial class actions and shareholder derivative litigation, we understand the financial industry, the securities markets and their inherent risks.
We focus on insurance related issues that are often complex and handled as part of a team. But we respect our limited role in that team. We are not acting as counsel in these engagements and we are not financial advisors. Our role is to provide insurance guidance that works in harmony with the broader advisory team, not to step into someone else’s lane.
A Legitimate Referral Concern
A second, equally important concern, is whether the referral creates a risk to the referring professional’s relationship with the client.
We take that concern very seriously.
We do not want to recast ourselves or replace the lawyer, accountant, or financial advisor already involved on a matter. That would not serve the client well. Nor would it serve our long-term interests. Our role is very narrow: to contribute insurance specific guidance where it is needed and to do so in a way that supports, rather than disturbs, the broader advisory relationship.
We believe the best outcomes are achieved when each professional remains engaged, everyone's individual role is respected, and the client receives coordinated rather than competing advice. In our experience, strong professional relationships are built by doing good work, being clear about professional boundaries, and helping the client reach the best result. Progress is not achieved by appropriating relationships that others have built.
Let’s Work Together In The Client’s “Best Interest”
If you represent a client facing a significant insurance, liquidity, estate, succession, or cross-border planning issue, we welcome the opportunity to help. We will clearly define our role, coordinate with the broader advisory team, and provide insurance guidance in a manner that is careful, collaborative, and focused on doing right by the client.
We believe in always acting in the client’s “best interest.” So long as the client’s best interest remains the sole guiding principle for everyone, then everyone wins.
We are always eager to expand our professional network and build relationships with exceptional professionals we can confidently refer clients and colleagues to. Please feel free to reach out to connect.