High-net-worth families need tailored insurance strategies to protect multigenerational wealth. Darlene A. White explores how affluent households can optimize coverage for blended families, estate planning and global mobility.
Securing the right insurance isn’t just a checkbox — it’s a key to long-term financial security. Life insurance plays a crucial role in equalizing inheritances, especially in family businesses, while comprehensive health, disability and international coverage ensures financial stability. Families with complex structures, including those with mixed immigration statuses, require customized solutions to navigate legal and financial challenges. s
Additionally, Marcus Baram reports on the trend of family offices launching private equity funds, bypassing traditional PE firms for greater control over their investments. As family offices take a more active role in private equity, they are reshaping the investment landscape and leveraging their unique expertise to drive long-term success.
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HANDPICKED: Securing comprehensive insurance coverage for wealthy, multigenerational families
By DARLENE A. WHITE
For high-net-worth families and family office professionals, securing the right insurance coverage requires careful planning. Nontraditional households — such as blended families, multigenerational homes and those with varying immigration statuses — face additional complexities. Traditional policies may not provide adequate protection, necessitating a strategic approach to risk management.
Ryan Gassaway, a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual in suburban Detroit, said affluent families must tailor their insurance to their financial structures. “It’s not just about checking a box — it’s about ensuring multigenerational wealth protection,” he said.
Insurance considerations for blended families
Blended families, which make up about 16% of households with children, must take special care when structuring beneficiary designations. Without proper planning, children from previous relationships could be unintentionally excluded from life insurance benefits. Establishing a trust can help ensure that assets are distributed according to a parent’s wishes, mitigating potential legal disputes.
Multigenerational wealth protection
Many high-net-worth families operate within multigenerational structures, where wealth preservation is a priority. Unlike traditional nuclear families, these households require customized policies. Intergenerational life insurance, where grandparents take out policies benefiting grandchildren, can be a key wealth transfer tool. Adjustable coverage allows families to modify plans as their financial situations evolve and estate planning needs shift.
“Affluent families require flexibility in structuring policies,” Gassaway said. “One year, they might optimize for estate tax strategies; another year, they may need to adjust coverage to align with evolving financial goals.”
Addressing the needs of nontraditional wealthy households
Single parents, LGBTQ+ couples and unmarried partners often face hurdles in obtaining insurance. Many traditional policies are structured around legally married couples, which may limit options for wealth protection and legacy planning.
Unmarried partners may need additional legal documentation to secure benefits, while single parents must establish legal-guardianship structures to ensure wealth transfer in case of an emergency. Family office professionals and estate planners play a crucial role in guiding these households through complex policy selection and trust structuring.
“We have been providing wealthy families guidance in life insurance, estate planning and business succession for years, and the No. 1 cause for family infighting is over lack of money and unequal inheritances,” said John Resnick, founder of The Resnick Group LLC in Naples, Florida, and a leading expert in life insurance for estate planning. “Life insurance is the best solution to provide the extra financial cushion to balance everything out.
“In the case of family businesses, the owners often have kids who work in the business and some who don’t. Since the business is often the largest asset in the estate, trying to equalize the estate to all the kids when the parents die can cause challenges, because parents usually want the business to go to the ones who are active in the business.”
Health insurance for affluent families
Comprehensive health insurance is essential for high-net-worth families, as medical costs can significantly affect wealth preservation. Households balancing different medical needs — such as pediatric care for young children and specialized treatment for older family members — should consider private health plans with tailored benefits.
International health coverage is often necessary for globally mobile families, ensuring access to premium health care across multiple jurisdictions. Concierge medical services and executive health plans can also provide an added layer of security for affluent households.
Insurance strategies for families with mixed immigration status
Families with mixed immigration statuses face additional legal and financial barriers when securing insurance. Residency restrictions may impact eligibility for certain health or life insurance plans, creating potential coverage gaps.
State and federal regulations vary widely, and family office professionals should explore alternative solutions such as private international insurance plans, offshore life insurance policies or community health programs tailored to high-net-worth immigrant families.
Role of disability insurance in wealth protection
Many wealthy families overlook disability insurance, yet it can be just as critical as life insurance in safeguarding financial stability. A sudden illness or injury that prevents a key income earner from working can have long-term financial implications, particularly for families with significant assets and obligations.
Disability insurance provides income replacement and ensures that a family’s financial portfolio remains intact. For high-net-worth individuals, policies with high coverage limits and custom structuring are recommended to align with their financial needs.
Optimizing insurance for affluent households
For high-net-worth families — especially those with mixed employment structures, including business owners and investors — affordability is not always the primary concern. Instead, the focus is on long-term wealth preservation and risk mitigation.
Northwestern Mutual’s Gassaway advises families to explore different policy structures — such as term life insurance, which offers coverage for a specific period at a lower cost. He also encourages families to work with advisers who understand their budget and long-term financial goals.
“Good insurance planning isn’t just about getting coverage today,” he said. “It’s about making sure families are protected for generations to come.”
More family offices launching their own private equity funds
By MARCUS BARAM
Family offices are increasingly attracted to private equity to achieve greater returns to meet long-term investment goals — leading many to launch their own funds.
Just last week, Madison River Capital, the New York-based family office of former Blackstone COO Tony James, launched a private equity fund, raising about $370 million from individual and institutional investors to target companies in the health care, business services and industrial sectors. In January, Sallyport Investments, the Houston-based family office of former energy executive Doug Foshee, launched its first PE fund, raising $160 million.
Overall, 40% of family offices see private equity as a “core component” of their strategies over the next two years, according to a new study from the investment bank Bastiat Partners and the PE firm Kharis Capital. Their appetite for the asset class has risen sharply in recent years — 30% of family offices surveyed by Deloitte in 2023 had investments in private equity, up from 22% in 2021. At the same time, their exposure to public equities fell to 25% in 2023 from 34% in 2021.
The growing interest is driven by private equity’s potential for strong returns, diversification benefits and long-term investment horizons. Madison River’s decision to launch its own fund comes as wealthy families take on greater risks in areas where other investors are pulling back, such as buyout deals and oil markets.
“We’re seeing a real shift in how family offices approach both direct investments and private equity,” said Francois Botha, a strategy consultant for family offices. “As families build up unique capabilities, whether in a specific industry or with deep operational expertise, they realize they can open those deals to others who want exposure to that niche. This collaboration can be informal, semistructured in a network or investment group, or it can take the form of a structured fund that mirrors a PE model.”
Family office investors have increasingly questioned the traditional “2 and 20” fee structure of many private equity firms, Botha said. Private equity exits rose in 2024 to $902 billion from $754 billion in 2023.
“They have the appetite for deeper engagement, more flexible terms — especially as investment and growth periods accelerate — and true alignment of interests, which is driving more direct deals and custom structures,” he said.
Madison River, which manages more than $1 billion in assets, has invested in the health care services firm Senior Care Therapy and made a $70 million equity investment in JDC Power Systems, which provides technical services to data centers.
LOOSE CHANGE
Hermes family gets payout: The French family behind Hermes International SCA — whose wealth is estimated at $213.8 billion — is on track to pocket more than $5 billion in dividends for a series of four record-breaking years, when the maker of pricey handbags and scarves rode a boom and is now defying a slump.
Paul Allen’s family office spinout boosts Microsoft stock sales: The sales by Cercano Management, which was spun out of the family office of the late Microsoft co-founder, indicate how it is positioning itself as a standalone multifamily office catering to the world’s superrich.
Bill would limit private equity, hedge funds in health care decisions: A California state senator wants to bar private equity and hedge funds invested in a physician or dental practice from interfering with the professional judgment of physicians or dentists in making health care decisions.