Coordinated Risk Management and Insurance Planning Services

Protecting the life you and your family have worked so hard to build

What Type of Protection Do I Need? How Much is Enough?

An unfortunate truth about life is that it can change in a moment. Having the right insurance coverage and asset protection strategy helps mitigate the financial impact of unforeseen events such as premature death, accidents, lawsuits, and natural disasters. That’s why we incorporate insurance planning and risk management into your overall financial plan.

Our advisors help you understand your current level of risk exposure and offer personalized solutions to protect the vulnerable areas of your financial life.

  • Comprehensive insurance reviews for you, your family, and your business
  • Advanced asset protection strategies and structures
  • Policy selection, coordination, and execution

Insurance is an invaluable tool for protecting your family’s wealth from life’s “what ifs,” now and in the future.

The two worst decisions you can make with insurance are to overbuy or underbuy. That is why we are here.

Jeff Paladini, Partner

Acting in Your Best Interest—Today and Always

Conversations about insurance often involve sensitive topics such as death, disability, accidents, and lawsuits. You need an advisor who understands your unique financial challenges and will provide objective advice. That’s Cerity Partners.

Insurance brokers and agents are subject to the suitability standard. We are held to a higher standard of care. We are fiduciaries, which means our advice is driven solely by your goals and not by commissions.

Simplify the Process and Ease Your Concerns with Our Risk Management and Insurance Planning Services

Affluent individuals and families have unique insurance needs: estate, business, personal watercraft and aviation, fine art and jewelry, household employees, and threat of extortion, to name a few. Managing and coordinating these policies with multiple agents to ensure you have the proper safeguards can be an overwhelming, time-consuming, and potentially costly process.

Our advisors have a vast and deep understanding of the insurance industry, which enables them to identify strong financially-rated providers for your personal and business circumstances, and secure some of the most competitive terms and pricing. Beyond insurance, they work with you to put the structures in place to help shield your assets from the risks that come with wealth.

  • Coordinate your business and personal insurance with your employer-provided benefits to avoid any gaps or overlaps in coverage
  • Integrate your insurance policies with your estate plan to make sure they’re in alignment
  • Evaluate how your assets are titled to maximize the protection they’re afforded in the event of a lawsuit or other claim
  • Educate your loved ones, so everyone understands the purpose of the safeguards and the motivation behind them

We don’t just review and give advice; we help you execute, too.

Review. Assess. Protect.

1

Insurance Coverage Reviews

Will your life insurance provide adequate income replacement in the event of a tragedy? What about your homeowner’s policy? Is your business adequately insured? Your estate? We examine your existing personal, business, and estate policies, as well as your work-provided insurance, to make sure you have the right type and level of coverage.

2

Feel More Confident About Your Financial Security

If your business was sued, would its legal structure shield your personal assets? If you were personally sued, would your business be at risk? Our goal is to make sure your entire financial life, personal and professional, is properly protected to weather life’s curveballs. Insurance often doesn’t cover as much as you might think. Our advisors will conduct a thorough review of how your assets are currently titled and recommend ways to better safeguard your property.

3

Policy Selection and Execution

If you go to a captive insurance carrier directly or work with a broker affiliated with a specific provider, you typically get their rates and coverage. We have the flexibility–along with the expertise–to find and recommend carriers that align with your needs and goals. And our support doesn’t end once you select your policy. We facilitate the underwriting process and review your coverage to help ensure it stays in sync with your life.

Explore Our Offerings for Individuals and Families

Ben Pace and Joseph Matus

Economic and Market Outlooks

Weekly Investment Perspectives

Inflation has settled back near longer-term averages, with high shelter and services inflation being offset by falling prices for energy and goods.

Paul Chmielewski

Partner

Estate Planning

Estate Planning Documents Everyone Should Have

The basic message is that most people think estate planning is important but are often confused about how to get it done. So, what are the basic estate planning documents every adult should have?

Matt Olver

Partner

Financial Planning

Sudden Wealth Planning

Partner Matt Olver shares practical tips for people who experience a sudden financial windfall.

Paul Chmielewski

Partner

Corporations

When It Comes to LLCs, Pay Attention to Liability Direction

When properly structured, the use of SMLLCs in conjunction with an MMLLC provides important upward and downward liability protection benefits while reducing the number of tax returns that need to be prepared.

Daniel Park

Partner

Employee Stock Purchase Plans

Should You Consider Exercising ISOs Now?

While tech stocks have had a challenging start to 2022, this environment could present an opportunity for you to take advantage of their incentive equity.

Susan Hartley-Moss

Partner

Estate Planning

Trustees: Risk Mitigation and Best Practices (Part 1)

Whether you are acting as an individual trustee or a trustee under a private trust company, understanding the risks and responsibilities is critical to serving as a trustee.

Brett Dearing

Partner

Corporations

Is Your Business Sellable?

Many owners run their businesses without an exit plan in mind. Then when the time comes to sell, they find out that the way they’ve been running their company isn’t attractive to prospective buyers or that they will only buy the business at a meaningful discount.

Judith Gordon

Principal

Estate

Expanding Your Estate Planning Toolbox With SLATs

Some married couples are concerned about gifting strategies that involve the loss of control of assets during their lifetime.

Andrew Fisher

Partner

Cross-Border Planning

Why Major U.S. Brokerage Firms Are Closing Accounts Owned by Foreign Residents

Many expats and multi-national residents are working with investment firms that are increasingly abandoning this service. We explore why firms are discarding these complex clients, and what people should do next.

Select your specialty

Investing is a commitment to your future. It's a way to grow and preserve what you've earned. Our disciplined and goal-centric investment approach helps ensure your portfolio is positioned to withstand changing market and economic conditions.

Our advanced estate planning and wealth preservation solutions help you achieve your goals while mitigating tax liabilities. Recommendations are tailored to your unique situation and reflect our expansive knowledge of estate, trust, gift, and tax laws.

Successfully navigating the financial challenges that come with wealth involves planning, relevant advice, and an advisor who’s not afraid to say "no" when you ask, “can I afford this?” Cerity Partners does all three.

Protect the life you and your family have worked so hard to build. We help you understand your current level of risk exposure and offer personalized solutions that seek to protect the vulnerable areas of your financial life.

We design and implement tax optimization strategies including the creation of detailed tax projections and the preparation of personal, trust, and business tax returns.

Our family office services span the spectrum from full financial management to helping you establish and coordinate your own family office. Whatever level of support you need, we can help.

We work with owners of privately-held businesses to help them create and execute transition plans that provide a seamless and successful exit for themselves, their families and other stakeholders.

We’re here to help you create a comprehensive financial plan that reflects your shared vision. In the unfortunate event your marriage dissolves, we also provide divorce financial consulting.

Just because your professional life is spread across different regions of the world doesn’t mean your financial life has to be complicated. Cerity Partners has extensive knowledge of U.S. and global tax laws and regulations, and we will work with you to preserve and grow your wealth here and abroad.