How PPLI.com works
PPLI.com explains private placement life insurance to the families, family offices and advisers who are considering it. You can read the research, run the numbers with our calculators and send us a question. This page shows what each part does, how we keep the research current, who is behind it and what happens after you get in touch.
Three ways to use the site
Most readers start with one of these and come back to the others as their questions get more specific.
Read
Plain-language guides to how a policy works, what it costs and where it is issued, and a library of articles on tax, estate planning, asset protection, investments and jurisdictions. Every piece names the sources it relies on.
Calculate
The Wealth Intelligence tools let you test the economics with your own assumptions: how much tax drags on a portfolio, where a policy's charges start to pay for themselves, and how a liquidity event plays out. The results are illustrations, not quotes.
Ask
If something is unclear, or your situation does not fit the examples, send us a question. The PPLI.com team reads every one, and professional readers will find tools and case material in the advisor resources.
How we keep up with the law
Tax rules change in many countries at once, and research about a policy is only as good as the rules it describes. PPLI.com is connected to the official channels where governments publish those changes: tax authorities, finance ministries, official gazettes, tax courts and financial regulators. Our monitoring system reads them every day.
Where a country offers no official feed we can read, the system follows news coverage of its tax authority instead.
- Collect
- New laws, rulings, circulars and draft bills are gathered from each source every day.
- Screen
- Each item is checked for what matters to a policyholder: life insurance and unit-linked policies, how they are taxed and reported under CRS and FATCA, succession, and the investor-control and diversification rules. Routine notices are set aside.
- Explain
- What remains is translated into English with a short note on what changed and who it affects, then matched to the PPLI.com articles it could put out of date.
- Decide
- Each alert goes to an editor. Nothing on the site changes until an editor approves the correction, and every change is kept as a dated revision.
For advisers: the PPLI.com Advisor Center
Built for the people who carry a PPLI case: wealth advisers, RIAs, family offices, private bankers, trust and tax counsel, and asset managers.
Open to everyone
Run the numbers before the case
The Tax-Alpha Simulator compares a taxable account with a policy year by year: account values, proceeds after exit tax and an illustrative death benefit. Change the return, tax and cost assumptions, hold a second scenario and export the result as a PDF. No account is needed.
Professional Access
A workspace for the whole book
Client files and policies in force, a compliance calendar dated for each policy, saved calculations, a register of the entities that issue policies and a brief for every meeting. The 14-day trial opens with example records, so you can see how it works before you enter a real case. No card is needed.
PPLI Advisor Academy
Professional education in three levels: fundamentals, advanced practice and a masterclass on cross-border and contested structures. The levels are being built now.
About the AcademyRegulatory Briefing
An email when a law, regulation or ruling that bears on PPLI changes, with the source linked and a proposal kept apart from the rule in force.
Subscribe to the briefingProgrammes for firms
Training and platform seats for whole teams, shaped around the work each person does on a case. Scope and fees are agreed in writing first.
Discuss a firm programmeWhat happens when you send a question
Four steps, from the first message to any work that follows.
- 01
You write to us
Use the question form or email info@ppli.com. Describe the topic and the countries involved in general terms. There is no need to send account numbers, identity documents or a policy file at this stage.
- 02
We read it
The team looks at what you asked and the context you gave. If we need more detail to understand the question, we ask by email.
- 03
We reply
With the research that bears on your question, or with a plain answer about what kind of professional help it needs. A research question and a request for advice are different things, and we tell you which one you have.
- 04
If you take it further
When a question needs professional work, we can put you in touch with a professional or provider who can take it on. Anything you do with them is agreed directly, on their own terms: who provides the service, in what role, with what qualifications and for what fee.
Who writes the research and how it is checked
Five people write for PPLI.com: Eldar Edmond Grady, our chief executive; Gordon Platt, a New York attorney; Michael Malloy of EWP Financial; Doron Cohen of Tangram Strategic; and Zury Ilan of Allamanda. Each article says who wrote it and who reviewed it.
- Sources
- Legal and tax statements name the rule, the country and the date they rely on.
- Assumptions
- Calculations and worked examples show what they assume and say what they leave out.
- Corrections
- When something is wrong, we fix it. Send us the page, the sentence and the source that shows the correction.
- Advisory board
- The board has six members, listed with their backgrounds. A seat on the board does not mean that person reviewed a given article.
What PPLI.com is, and what it is not
What it is
A research and education site about private placement life insurance, with its own writers, an advisory board and published editorial standards. It explains how policies work, what they cost and where they fit, so you can read a proposal critically and take sharper questions to your advisers.
What it is not
PPLI.com is not an insurer and does not issue policies. Its articles, calculators and replies are general information, not advice on your own situation. No article or calculator can tell you whether a policy suits you, whether an insurer will accept you or what the tax result of your own transaction will be.
Questions people ask us
Is PPLI.com an insurance company?
No. PPLI.com does not issue policies. Policies are issued by licensed insurers, and the terms of any policy come from the insurer that issues it.
Who writes the articles?
Five writers: Eldar Edmond Grady, Gordon Platt, Michael Malloy, Doron Cohen and Zury Ilan. Each article says who wrote it and who reviewed it, and their backgrounds are on the advisory board page.
How does PPLI.com keep up with changes in tax law?
A monitoring system reads the official channels of tax authorities, finance ministries, official gazettes, tax courts and regulators every day, across nineteen countries and territories. Changes that touch life insurance policies are translated, explained and matched to the articles they affect, and an editor decides what to correct.
Can PPLI.com tell me whether PPLI is right for me?
Not on its own. The research and calculators help you understand the structure and test your assumptions. Whether a policy suits you depends on your tax position, your assets and the contract itself, and that is work for qualified advisers.
Is there a version of PPLI.com for financial advisers?
Yes. The Advisor Center has a public Tax-Alpha Simulator and a case library. Professional Access adds a workspace with client files, a compliance calendar and saved calculations, and a 14-day trial needs no card.
What should I include when I send a question?
The topic, the countries involved and, if it helps, a rough sense of the amounts. Leave out account numbers, identity documents and medical records.
What happens to the details I send?
We use them to deal with your question and anything that follows from it, which can include passing them to a professional or provider we put you in touch with. The Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information.
Is the site available in other languages?
Yes. PPLI.com is published in eleven editions: English for readers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore, and editions in Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Hindi and Arabic.
Have a question about PPLI?
Tell us what you are trying to understand. The team reads every question.
Ask a question