Investors care about what they keep, not what they earn. That’s why many hedge funds that post big returns can look quite ordinary after taxes are figured. With many hedge funds generating ordinary income and short-term capital gain, federal income tax rates of 39.6% will be the norm for most hedge fund investors in 2013. The Obama health care tax will impose an additional 3.8% tax burden on returns. Income taxes in high-tax states such as New York and California could impose at least an additional 12%, meaning the combination of state and federal taxes for hedge fund investors could easily exceed 50%.
There is, however, at least one way for investors to dampen the tax hit.
For over two decades, one of the best-kept secrets in tax planning has been private placement life insurance (PPLI), which makes it possible for a hedge fund investor to capture return tax-free. PPLI is a variable universal life insurance policy that provides cash value appreciation based on a segregated investment account and a life insurance benefit.
PPLI is designed to maximize savings and minimize the death benefit. The investment account can be invested in tax-inefficient hedge fund strategies via an insurance dedicated account. The death benefit is typically the minimum amount allowed to qualify as insurance under the Internal Revenue Code.
The cost of PPLI averages 1% to 1.5% of the amount invested annually. Assuming the PPLI policy is purchased over three or four years, the policy owner has tax-free access to the PPLI policy’s value through loans. If held to the insured person’s death, the investment account and the insurance coverage are paid out as a death benefit, free of income tax. Depending on local law and the entity that owns the policy, PPLI policies allow significant creditor protection from tort, contract and marital creditors.
PPLI policies typically require a $3 million to $5 million investment spread out over three to four years. Gradual funding of the policy avoids modified endowment contract (MEC) status and enables non-taxable loans to be taken from the policy. Although it is possible to put money into a PPLI policy as a single premium, this would result in the PPLI policy being treated as an MEC, which limits tax-free access to the policy cash values during the insured person’s life.
Ideally, the PPLI would be held until the insured person’s death, but investment options can be changed along the way. PPLI policies are not liquid capital that the owner may redeploy in a few years. It is shelf money that may be available to the owner if necessary, but is really intended to grow tax-free for the benefit of future generations. PPLI is a terrific option for pre-existing multigenerational trusts. Mass market customers buy life policies in part for their income tax benefits, which can also be achieved with off-the-shelf variable products, but PPLI investment options can be tailored to a high-end client’s needs and the cost of insurance per dollar of coverage is much reduced.
The simplest and most common way to invest in a PPLI policy is through “insurance dedicated funds,” or IDFs. An IDF is a hedge fund that is open only to investors who are buying the investment through insurance or annuity products. To qualify as insurance under the Internal Revenue Code, a policy must be diversified, with at least five separate investments that do not exceed certain concentrations. It is not a difficult hurdle, and it is usually easily achieved in a fund of funds, which is the most common class of IDF. An IDF is a “look-through” entity, so a single IDF with several underlying investments can satisfy diversification by itself. Non-IDFs do not receive look-through treatment and count as a single investment, so multiple non-IDF funds must be purchased to satisfy diversification.
One other investment restriction is that the owner of a PPLI policy cannot control the purchase and sale of underlying investments in the segregated account. For example, a hedge fund manager cannot form an IDF and purchase a policy that holds his or her own IDF. This should not be confused with the ability of a PPLI owner to switch the funds invested in the PPLI contract’s investment account. If performance of one IDF disappoints, it is easy to request that the insurance company switch to a different and better-performing IDF, so long as the owner does not control the underlying investments in the new IDF.
Let’s look at an example. John Jones is a successful businessman with $50 million of investable assets. John loves his hedge fund investments but realizes more than half of his 2013 profits will benefit federal and state government. To compare the benefits of PPLI, he asks his agent to illustrate a $10 million single premium PPLI policy and compare it to a $10 million taxable hedge fund investment (see Figure 1).
Keeping What You Make
March 2013
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Can you share the details of the calculations in figure 1? Or perhaps give me a suggestion for what I may have done wrong in trying to replicate them?