A quiet phenomenon is taking over the insurance industry. While firms continue to provide clients with property, health and luxury asset protection, the number of UHNW individuals taking out whole of life policies has increased significantly in the last two years.
According to a report by Swiss Re, the average sum assured by underwritten whole of life policies increased by 52 per cent between 2024 and 2025. Separately, Evelyn Partners reported that its risk protection team processed 66 per cent more whole of life policies in 2025 compared with the previous year.
‘There has been a sheer increase in demand,’ Rob May of Howden tells Spear’s. The boom is widely attributed to the Autumn budget rolled out by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves, which eliminated a number of other methods individuals might typically use to mitigate their inheritance tax (IHT) liability. ‘I could break my career down into everything I did before the 2024 budget, and now – the dynamic and level is just completely different,’ May says.
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The life insurance boom
Reeves’ plan put in place a number of policies aimed at increasing the levy for Britain’s wealthiest families. In April 2026, changes to business and agricultural relief mean that UK estate owners now have to pay IHT at 20 per cent of on assets valued over £2.5 million.
[See also: HNWs brace for rising burden as pensions fall into inheritance tax scope]
The latest reform, which will come into effect in April 2027, brings unused pensions into the scope of IHT. Around 10,500 additional estates are expected to be affected, and the initiative is projected to make the Treasury an estimated £1.5 billion a year by 2030. Reeves described the move as ‘closing the loophole’ in UK tax policy, while one insurance adviser Spear’s spoke to referred to it as ‘the final in a treble-whammy attack’ on inheritance. For many UHNWs, life insurance policies are one of the few remaining ways to mitigate their exposure to IHT.
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‘The issue that many face is that they wish to keep the business or farm intact and owned by the family,’ explains Ian Dyall, head of estate planning at Evelyn Partners. ‘Finding the money to pay a tax bill of 40 per cent of the business’s value is difficult when the liability is based on an asset that can’t easily be sold, so many owners are looking at whole of life insurance policies that will pay out on their deaths to cover the liability that will be payable on their businesses.’
A wealth planning tool
Leveraging insurance as a vehicle within a broader wealth planning strategy is nothing new; one adviser referred to it as the long-time ‘underdog’ of estate planning, but these tax changes have ‘forced people to look at life insurance in a way that they wouldn’t have needed to before’.
Essentially, when held in a trust, whole of life insurance policies are not subject to the 40 per cent IHT rate, as they are not considered to be part of an estate.
A top insurance adviser can underwrite a policy that names children or grandchildren as beneficiaries. The proceeds, paid out after the death of the named individual, are paid into the trust rather than the estate, meaning they do not fall under the scope of IHT. Furthermore, beneficiaries of the policies receive their payments quickly and can use the funds to pay any IHT that may come from other means of wealth transfer.
[See also: Experts warn of £3m tax bills as wealthy families rush lifetime gifting]
‘Consultant and teacher’
Advisers tell Spear’s that an increase in work for brokers, the lack of insurance knowledge among wealth managers and lawyers, and a state of fear among wealthy clients have created a situation in which one must trust their insurance adviser to be credible and reliable.
‘The majority of all the applications we’re receiving at the moment are people panicking and trying to get on top of their inheritance tax liability,’ says Guy Everington of Castleacre Insurance, which offers both life and luxury asset solutions. Alongside colleague Ali Adham, Everington takes a simple and honest approach with clients, explaining how they can structure their policies to best remove uncertainty around tax.
Similarly, Rahul Chopra of Charles Monat tells Spear’s that he sees himself as both ‘a consultant and a teacher’. ‘We are guiding the client and their advisers through what insurance can do and how it can be plugged into overall succession planning.’
Spear’s ranking of the best insurance advisers showcases specialists who excel in creating bespoke solutions tailored to the unique and varied needs of wealthy clients. While the majority of those represented in our list focus on life insurance policies, a number can also underwrite health policies, as well as those for luxury assets such as property, yachts and private jets.
These experts address everything from asset protection and liability management to legacy planning and tax strategy, offering much more than basic coverage.
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- Methodology
- The best insurance advisers: some names to know
- The best insurance advisers: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best insurance advisers: some names to know
Holly Hill
- Focus: Property and Landed Estates
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: John Lamb Hill Oldridge
Holly Hill is an associate director at John Lamb Hill Oldridge, where she advises clients – particularly those who own country homes and landed estates – on the use of life insurance as an inheritance tax planning tool.
Hill can guide clients through the complex process of either brokering or restructuring an insurance portfolio. A common issue arises when clients hold multiple historic policies that are outdated or no longer fit for purpose.
‘In estate planning, people sometimes go years without reviewing their policies,’ she tells Spear’s. ‘People are now going back and reviewing old contracts and getting a surprise with what is in place.’
A former professional international rower, Hill entered the life insurance sector shortly after retiring from the sport, working under the mentorship of Paula Steele, one of the UK’s leading experts on UHNW life insurance policies.
Read Holly Hill’s full profile on Spears500.com
Filippo Guerrini-Maraldi
- Focus: High-value assets
- Firm: Howden Insurance Brokers
- Ranking: Senior Statesperson
Filippo Guerrini-Maraldi is executive director of the Italian operations of Howden Insurance Brokers, the world’s largest independent insurance broker. Guerrini-Maraldi has been in the insurance industry for four decades, and he previously served as chairman of Howden’s private wealth divisions.
Providing a range of specialist insurance solutions to clients around the world, Howden is global, but Guerrini-Maraldi prides himself on having an approach founded on high-quality local teams that build solutions by accessing knowledge and expertise appropriate for each client.
These teams offer insurance for homes and their contents, art collections, yachts and cars. ‘Bringing talent together and harnessing the full potential of our resources sets us apart from our competition,’ he says.
Read Filippo Guerrini-Maraldi’s full profile on Spears500
Guy Everington
- Focus: Full-spectrum Insurance
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Castleacre Insurance
Guy Everington, founder of insurance brokerage Castleacre Insurance, focuses on home and contents insurance, covering large houses, farms, estates, art collections and jewellery, with a particular specialisation in listed buildings.
He prides himself on listening closely to HNWs to find out exactly what they need from their insurance, particularly in relation to their overall wealth plans. ‘Where there are extremely large houses, it is possible to arrange insurance in a way that is more economical for the client than it used to be,’ he says.
He adds that clients’ insurance requirements often evolve as they acquire new assets or undertake major refurbishments and building projects, and Everington can also advise on, for example, liabilities should the owner of an estate open it up for public use or revenue-generating activities and events.
Alongside fellow director Hugo Johnsen, Everington founded Castleacre with the aim of putting personal service and client relationships at the heart of the insurance business, not just focusing on the bottom line.
‘We both felt that the emphasis for many insurance brokers had shifted – there was too much concentration on the size and number of policies sold, rather than how well clients were being looked after,’ Everington tells Spear’s.
Read Guy Everington’s full profile on Spears500.com
Henry Komansky
- Focus: International Clients
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Axcelus Financial
Henry Komansky is a Bermuda qualified inhouse counsel and chief risk officer for the Bermuda insurance operations at Axcelus Financial.
With a background in trust and life insurance litigation – he also spent time as a special agent in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and as the head of analysis in the Financial Intelligence Agency – Komansky specialises in private placement life insurance (PPLI) solutions for UHNWs and institutional clients.
He tells Spear’s that UHNW clients typically need bespoke insurance policies given their complex finances; PPLI can also be an effective tool in helping families to transfer wealth across generations.
Komansky, who says the average policy size at Axcelus is $40 million, often liaises with asset managers, tax planners and lawyers to craft policies that possess the sensitivity that his clients require. He notes that the company is currently expanding to encompass digital assets.
Read Henry Komansky’s full profile on Spears500.com
Rahul Chopra
- Focus: Landed estates
- Ranking: Legacy and Estate Planning
- Firm: Charles Monat
‘We call ourselves consultants, but we are also teachers, educating the client on what insurance can do and how you can use it as part of your overall legacy and succession planning,’ says Rahul Chopra, a managing director at Charles Monat.
As head of the company’s Dubai office, Chopra advises UHNWs on their life insurance needs and has played a key role in designing Middle East-specific insurance products, including policies that are compliant with sharia law.
He advises clients across the EMEA region, including in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Kenya. His client base comprises established families with generational wealth, family businesses and younger wealth creators in their early forties. ‘Most of our clients are international, with assets spread across multiple jurisdictions,’ he tells Spear’s.
Chopra graduated from INSEAD business school and enjoyed a long career in banking, working for major international players including HSBC Private Bank and Barclays before moving into insurance broking.
Read Rahul Chopra’s full profile on Spears500.com
Rob May
- Focus: Landed estates
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: Howden Insurance Brokers
Rob May, an executive director at SPF Private Clients (part of the Howden group) and a qualified trust and estate practitioner, advises on high-value life insurance, with a particular focus on policies tailored to clients’ inheritance tax and wealth planning needs.
The adviser, who tells Spear’s that SPF is equipped to place coverage in excess of £100 million, mostly works with international HNW individuals, businesses and trustees. ‘One of the unique features of the Howden life insurance proposition is that we operate in so many different jurisdictions,’ he says. ‘I can lean on colleagues in other markets to get additional cover while coordinating that process under the same roof.’
The government’s changes to inheritance tax have meant a ‘sheer increase in demand’: ‘The changes have forced people to look at life insurance in a way that they wouldn’t have needed to before,’ he explains. While life insurance has often been overlooked, he adds, ‘it makes a lot of sense, because it’s relatively cost-effective and it gives clients the liquidity that an estate would need if something happens’.
Read Rob May’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best insurance advisers: the complete list
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