As fewer children opt to take over their families’ businesses, wealthy households in Singapore are increasingly adopting flexible, interest-earning life insurance plans to manage intergenerational wealth transfer, a shift driven by evolving family structures and complex inheritance needs.
Katherine Ho, Managing Director at Lioner International Group Ltd., emphasized that estate planning priorities for these families have shifted—moving away from the traditional model of passing down business ownership to a greater focus on managing inheritances and family financial portfolios. This change is particularly pronounced for families with members residing overseas, who face additional layers of complexity in cross-border asset management.
Among the solutions gaining traction is the Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy, which has emerged as a preferred tool for wealth transfer due to its unique combination of benefits：It ties growth to stock market performance while shielding policyholders from potential losses, balancing upside potential with downside protection.It provides capital stability, supporting long-term asset allocation strategies critical for preserving family wealth.It enables beneficiaries to access funds far more quickly than traditional estate settlements, which can often take up to two years to finalize.
Leonard Chu, CEO of Lioner International Group Ltd., noted that modern insurance products like IUL are specifically designed to cater to the needs of globally dispersed families. Beyond wealth transfer, these policies offer practical advantages including liquidity support during the estate settlement process, cross-jurisdictional coverage to align with international family structures, tax optimization, asset preservation, and enhanced privacy protection—all key concerns for high-net-worth households.
For Singapore’s wealthy families navigating an increasingly intricate landscape of inheritance planning, these flexible insurance solutions have become a stable alternative to traditional estate planning methods, addressing both shifting family dynamics and the challenges of managing wealth across borders.
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