Olympia Financial Group Inc. has filed a patent application in Canada and the United States for an owner-directed universal life insurance product.
The Calgary company’s invention is a universal life insurance policy where the owner of the insurance product is permitted to fully manage the assets in the account.
In addition, the policyholder’s account may have safeguards against policy lapse for non-payment of premiums and/or loss of tax-advantaged status of the account by pre-configured authorization settings and the inclusion of at least one other asset side account (and optionally may include at least one trust account).
Olympia (TSXV:OLY) says its product will allow universal life policyholders unprecedented discretion and control over their life insurance account assets.
“This new structure will allow individuals to contribute shares of listed companies, bonds, or mortgages to their universal life policies. The costs to administer these plans will be more transparent than the costs associated with traditional universal life policies,” explains Rick Skauge, president and CEO of Olympia.
As Olympia is not an insurance company (and does not plan on becoming an insurance company) it plans to earn fees or royalties for the administration of the self-directed portion of the owner-directed assets and will not underwrite or offer life insurance.
It is now seeking joint venture partners for the product and licensing agreements with certain insurers.
“We believe that sophisticated individuals, who are talented at making good investment returns, will be attracted to this type of owner-directed policy. We also anticipate that stock brokers and mortgage brokers will be strong proponents of such a product,” says Skauge.