For Registered Investment Advisers
Insurance Planning Partner for RIAs
BUI provides registered investment advisers with access to an objective, transparent life insurance, long-term care, and annuity platform. We provide access to dozens of highly rated carriers, a turnkey planning model, estate and business planning resources, underwriting expertise, and the administrative infrastructure needed to evaluate and implement coverage with a client-first approach. This allows RIAs to incorporate comprehensive risk management into their client relationships while maintaining their fiduciary obligations under the SEC regulatory framework.
Key Takeaways
- BUI provides carrier access, underwriting expertise, and application processing infrastructure so your RIA can offer insurance planning resources without building that capacity internally.
- The BGA model supports both fee-based and fee-only workflows, accommodating RIAs with different compensation structures.
- BUI’s advanced planning team includes credentialed specialists in life insurance, long-term care, underwriting, business succession, and estate planning who provide expertise in complex case design and placement.
- Turn-key evaluation processes are designed to fit into your existing financial planning workflow, making it predictable and easy to engage clients on insurance without being the insurance expert.
- Readily available specialists can lead joint client presentations, fielding questions and allowing the advisor to sit on the same side of the table as the client, guiding decisions together rather than presenting across from them.
- BUI communicates with your clients only through you, preserving the advisory relationship and ensuring the client experience remains consistent across your firm.
- A single insurance partner creates consistency across your firm, rather than each advisor using a different referral partner and delivering a different client experience.
The Challenge
Why RIAs Struggle to Offer Insurance
Registered investment advisers operate under a fiduciary standard established by the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, which requires that recommendations serve clients' interests. When clients need life insurance, long-term care coverage, or an annuity, the RIA faces a structural gap: many advisory firms are not licensed to place insurance, and building an internal insurance program requires navigating state licensing, carrier appointments, underwriting specialization, and compliance documentation that is distinct from the SEC's advisory framework.
The result is that many RIAs refer insurance needs outside the firm, losing visibility into a critical component of the financial plan.
A partnership with BUI can close that gap by providing the infrastructure, expertise, and carrier access the RIA lacks, while allowing the advisory relationship to remain intact.
Four Core Challenges for RIAs
Fiduciary Compliance
Insurance recommendations must align with the RIA's fiduciary obligations, requiring careful product selection and documentation.
Licensing Gaps
Many RIA representatives do not hold state insurance licenses, creating a barrier to placing coverage directly and/or making product-specific recommendations.
Compensation Models
Fee-only RIAs face tension between commission-based insurance products and their compensation structure, requiring transparent alternatives.
Inconsistent Client Experience
When each advisor in the firm uses a different insurance referral partner, clients receive varying levels of service, expertise, and communication, undermining the consistency that defines a well-run advisory practice.
Our Approach
How BUI Serves as Your Insurance Planning Partner
BUI operates as an extension of your advisory firm, providing the insurance infrastructure your RIA needs without the overhead of building it internally. Each capability below is designed to integrate with your existing advisory workflow while maintaining the fiduciary standard your clients expect.
Fiduciary-Aligned Product Selection
BUI's client-first philosophy aligns with the RIA fiduciary standard. When insurance is not the right answer, we say so. Product recommendations are made based on client needs.
Licensing and Appointment Bridge
BUI maintains state licenses and contracting requirements, allowing the RIA to stay focused on planning rather than administrative hurdles.
Flexible Compensation Models
The BUI model supports both fee-based and fee-only workflows. BUI works behind the scenes as an extension of the advisory firm, providing product expertise, case design, underwriting, and implementation support while allowing the RIA to maintain control of the client relationship and planning process.
Carrier Access and Relationships
BUI maintains relationships with a broad network of carriers across the market. This access allows your RIA to compare products and pricing across multiple insurers, though product availability and terms vary by carrier and state.
Underwriting Expertise
BUI's underwriting team handles complex health histories, impaired risk cases, and large-case placements that require specialized knowledge most RIAs do not maintain in-house.
Relationship-Preserving Communication
BUI never communicates with your client without looping in the advisor. We understand that the client is your client. Every interaction, from underwriting follow-up to policy delivery, flows through the advisory relationship so the client experience stays in your firm's hands.
Joint Client Presentations
BUI specialists are readily available to co-present with your advisors. We lead the meeting, field technical questions, and allow the advisor to sit on the same side of the proverbial table as the client, guiding the decision together rather than presenting across from them.
Consistency Across Your Firm
When 20 advisors each use a different insurance referral partner, that is 20 different client experiences. A single BGA partnership standardizes the insurance planning process across your entire firm, so every client receives the same level of expertise, communication, and service.
The Comparison
Building In-House vs. Partnering With BUI
For most RIAs, the cost and complexity of building an internal insurance program outweigh the benefits. Hiring experienced professionals who can work with high-net-worth clients is difficult and expensive, and the buildout typically requires multiple employees across licensing, underwriting, operations, and carrier relationships. There is also the risk of losing a key team member and the disruption that loss creates. The table below compares the two approaches across the capabilities your firm would need to develop.
| Capability | Building In-House | Partnering With BUI |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance Licensing | Each advisor must obtain and maintain state licenses individually | BUI helps facilitate licensing for commission-based advisors; fee-only advisors may have alternative paths through the BUI relationship |
| Carrier Appointments | Negotiate and maintain contracts with each carrier separately | Access a broad carrier network through a single relationship |
| Underwriting Support | Hire or train internal underwriting specialists | Classically-trained, former carrier underwriters on staff to advocate for clients. |
| Advanced Case Design | Build internal estate and business planning expertise | Estate and business planning experts on staff |
| Application Processing | Dedicate staff to manage paperwork and carrier follow-up | BUI handles application completion and carrier communication |
| Compliance Documentation | Develop and maintain insurance-specific compliance protocols | BUI provides documentation support, though the RIA retains compliance responsibility |
| Client Communication | Each advisor manages their own insurance referral relationship independently | BUI communicates with clients only through the advisor, preserving the advisory relationship |
| Consistency Across the Firm | Each advisor may use a different referral partner, creating varying client experiences | A single partnership standardizes the insurance experience for every advisor and client |
| Staffing and Talent Risk | Hiring experienced professionals with high-net-worth client expertise is difficult and costly; the buildout requires multiple employees across licensing, underwriting, operations, and carrier relationships, and losing a key team member creates operational disruption | Access a fully staffed team of specialists without hiring, training, or bearing the risk of turnover; BUI absorbs the staffing and continuity risk |
| Time to Launch | Months to years of buildout | Partnership can be established quickly; timelines vary by firm |
Expertise
Advanced Planning and Underwriting Support
Complex insurance cases require specialized knowledge that most RIAs do not maintain internally. BUI's advanced planning team provides direct support for estate planning strategies, business succession arrangements, and large-case underwriting that involves nuanced health histories or financial profiles.
Brian Seigel, JD, AEP leads advanced planning, bringing legal and estate planning expertise to support strategies involving irrevocable life insurance trusts, collateral assignments, and business continuity planning. Chris Hooper, CLU, FALU, FLMI oversees underwriting, providing guidance on accelerated underwriting programs and complex risk placement.
This expertise is available to your RIA on a case-by-case basis, meaning you can bring in specialized support when a situation requires it without maintaining that capability full-time. Results vary by case complexity and carrier requirements.
Planning Scenarios We Support
The Process
How the BUI Partnership Works for Your RIA
The engagement process is designed to integrate with your existing advisory workflow, minimizing disruption while adding insurance planning capabilities.
Identify the Need
Use BUI's turn-key evaluation processes or lifestyle spend needs analysis to identify insurance gaps within your client base. These processes are designed to fit into your existing financial planning workflow, making it predictable and easy to engage clients on insurance without being the insurance expert. BUI provides client-ready documents that help you communicate the value of addressing these gaps.
Design the Solution
BUI's advanced planning and underwriting teams help design the appropriate coverage structure, whether it involves a straightforward term policy or a complex estate planning case. Carrier selection is based on the client profile, health history, and coverage objectives. BUI specialists are also available to lead joint client presentations, fielding technical questions and allowing the advisor to sit on the same side of the table as the client, guiding the decision together. The advisor does not have to be the insurance presenter.
Place the Coverage
BUI handles application completion, carrier submission, underwriting follow-up, and policy delivery. Your RIA maintains the advisory relationship while BUI manages the insurance logistics.
Review and Maintain
BUI supports ongoing policy reviews to help confirm that coverage remains appropriate as client circumstances change. Regular reviews may identify opportunities to reduce premium, increase benefits, or adjust coverage based on life events.
Explore Further
Resources for RIA Insurance Planning
What Is a Life Insurance BGA?
Understand the brokerage general agency model and how it supports advisory firms.
Turn-Key Life Insurance Evaluation
Structured evaluation processes that identify planning opportunities in existing client portfolios.
Life Insurance Needs Analysis
The Lifestyle Spend Framework for calculating appropriate coverage levels.
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
How ILITs support estate planning and wealth transfer strategies for advisory clients.
Collateral Assignment Guide
When business loans require life insurance and how to structure collateral assignments.
Accelerated Underwriting
How accelerated underwriting programs work and which carriers offer them.
Life Insurance Policy Reviews
A structured approach to reviewing and auditing existing life insurance policies.
Family Office Insurance Planning
Insurance planning support for family offices and multi-generational wealth structures.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an RIA sell life insurance?
Yes, an RIA can sell life insurance if the individual advisor holds the appropriate state insurance license. Fixed insurance products, such as term life, whole life, and fixed annuities, typically require a state life insurance license. Variable products, such as variable life and variable annuities, require both an insurance license and a securities registration through a broker-dealer. A BGA partnership provides the carrier access, underwriting support, and application infrastructure, while the advisor maintains the licensing requirement. According to Kitces, RIAs can sell life insurance through a BGA by obtaining state insurance licenses and leveraging the BGA's carrier appointments and operational support (source, accessed August 2026).
How can an RIA offer insurance without building an internal department?
An RIA can offer insurance solutions by partnering with a BGA like BUI, which provides the carrier appointments, underwriting expertise, application processing, and compliance documentation support that an internal department would otherwise handle. The RIA maintains the client advisory relationship and identifies insurance needs, while BUI manages the insurance placement workflow. This model allows the RIA to add insurance capabilities without hiring specialized staff or negotiating individual carrier contracts.
Does BUI manage assets?
No. BUI does not manage assets or compete with your advisory firm's investment management services. This is an important distinction, because many insurance professionals and firms that offer insurance support also manage assets, meaning that referring insurance business to them could be sending your clients to a direct competitor. BUI is exclusively a brokerage general agency focused on insurance placement, underwriting, and advanced planning support. Your RIA retains the investment management relationship without conflict.
Add Insurance Planning to Your RIA Without Building the Infrastructure
Schedule a consultation to discuss how BUI can serve as your outsourced insurance planning partner. We will review your firm's needs, compensation model, and client base to identify how our BGA services can integrate with your advisory practice.
Schedule a ConsultationOr call us at 314-392-2841 | BUI, St. Louis, MO