STAVIS Wealth Transfer Solutions

The firm specializes in the design, placement, and ongoing administration of private-placement variable universal life insurance (PPVUL) and private-placement annuity contracts. These instruments are used by accredited investors and qualified purchasers to hold investment portfolios—including hedge funds, private equity, and direct indexing strategies—inside a tax-deferred insurance wrapper. STAVIS does not manage assets or provide general financial planning; its work is typically engaged by a family's existing trust-and-estate counsel or family-office CIO.

Client flow is almost entirely referral-based, arriving through trust-and-estate law firms, multi-family office CFOs, private banks coordinating large estate-planning events, and accounting firms managing multi-generational transfer strategies. The private-placement life insurance market relies on a small, known network of specialist attorneys and advisors; STAVIS's engagements come through those long-term professional relationships rather than retail marketing or advisor-platform distribution.

The firm works with a family's existing CIO, OCIO, or roster of external managers to ensure that selected investments satisfy the diversification and investor-control requirements under IRC Sections 7702 and 72(q). Typical holdings include multi-strategy hedge funds, private credit interval funds, direct-indexed equity sleeves, and private equity co-investment vehicles. The investment manager must offer an insurance-dedicated fund share class that meets the tax-code diversification tests, and STAVIS coordinates across the carrier, the investment manager, and the family's legal team to document compliance.

The firm sources institutional policy chassis from major US life insurers that maintain dedicated private-placement divisions. Public record placements and industry commentary routinely name Prudential, Nationwide, Zurich, and similar highly rated carriers as active in this space. The specific carrier for any given engagement depends on the asset mix, policy size, and the family's state of domicile and trust situs.

Based on the firm's narrow stated mission, STAVIS operates as an insurance advisory and placement firm rather than a registered investment adviser. It does not exercise discretionary authority over client assets, does not provide general portfolio-management advice, and does not custody funds. The firm's compensation is expected to derive from insurance commissions and consulting fees on policy implementation, though its precise regulatory registrations are not publicly verified.

A properly structured PPVUL policy allows investment gains to accumulate free of current income tax, and death-benefit proceeds generally pass to beneficiaries free of income tax. When the policy is owned inside an irrevocable life insurance trust, the death benefit can also be excluded from the insured's gross estate. For families with large, illiquid balance sheets—particularly those holding concentrated public or private positions—this can function as a liquidity and estate-tax management tool, though the structure must be carefully maintained to avoid triggering the transfer-for-value or investor-control rules.