Business Planning
From founder-led businesses to public companies and private-equity portfolios, the value you’ve created depends on the people who run it and the structures that protect them. We work with business owners, partners, and their advisors to address the risks that most companies overlook — from succession and key person exposure to buy-sell funding, partnership obligations, and the tax and legal issues that can surface without warning.
What happens to the business if something happens to you?
Many businesses have limited strategies for addressing what happens if they lose a key person, owner, or partner — and the tax, legal, and financial consequences that follow. Ensuring these strategies are in place, professionally structured, and within regulation is not optional. It’s foundational.
Succession & Ownership Transfer
Every business transition — whether planned or forced — creates financial exposure. Buy-sell agreements need to be funded at current valuation, ownership transfers need to be tax-efficient, and the transition itself needs to be structured so the business survives it. We design and fund buy-sell agreements, dynasty buy-sell structures, and succession strategies that hold up when they’re needed most.
Key Person & Leadership Risk
The loss of a key person can disrupt operations, destabilize investor confidence, and create immediate cash flow pressure. Key person coverage, death benefit only plans, and high-limit life and income protection programs provide the capital your business needs to absorb the impact and maintain continuity.
Partnership & Equity Structures
For businesses with multiple owners, partners, or equity participants, the obligations that exist between them need to be clearly defined and properly funded. We work across phantom stock, SARs, split dollar programs, and partnership obligation structures to ensure that what’s on paper is backed by a strategy that performs.
We work strategically with you and your advisors to assess exposure, design the right structures, and ensure they hold up under the scenarios that matter most.
Our Solutions
- Key Person Coverage
- Buy-Sell Funding
- Death Benefit Only (DBO)
- Phantom Stock / SARs