- Business Continuity & Executive Benefits
The business should continue, even when a leader cannot.
WSG coordinates succession, key-person protection, buy-sell funding, executive benefit concepts and continuity planning around the value your people create.
- Ownership continuity
- Capital when it matters
- Executive retention
- The day-one test
If a key person is suddenly unavailable, what happens next?
Select a scenario. A useful continuity plan answers the immediate operating, ownership and liquidity questions before a crisis answers them for you.
- OWNER DEATH
Can the Company Fund the Transition Without Weakening the Balance Sheet?
The plan should connect the governing agreement, current valuation, policy ownership, beneficiary, settlement mechanics and operating cash needs.
Who controls the company?
Voting rights, interim authority and successor leadership.
Who receives cash?
Estate, family, seller, company or remaining owners.
How is value determined?
Current formula, appraisal process and timing.
What remains for operations?
Debt service, payroll, recruiting and working capital.
- OWNER DISABILITY
Can Ownership, Income and Operations Continue Through A Long Absence?
Disability creates a different timeline than death. The plan may need income replacement, overhead support, disability buyout funding and a clear definition of when control changes.
Who decides incapacity?
Policy definitions, medical standard and agreement trigger.
Who runs operations?
Delegated authority and interim management.
How is income replaced?
Individual, overhead and business cash-flow sources.
When does a buyout occur?
Waiting period, valuation and payment schedule.
- EXECUTIVE DEPARTURE
What value leaves when a critical executive walks out?
Retention risk reaches beyond compensation. The response should connect client ownership, intellectual capital, leadership depth, benefit vesting and an executable succession path.
Which relationships are exposed?
Clients, lenders, vendors and strategic partners.
Who can assume the role?
Internal bench, recruiting timeline and authority.
What incentives remain?
Vesting, performance and transition obligations.
What knowledge must transfer?
Systems, documentation, access and accountability.
- The continuity architecture
Five layers turn coverage into a business plan.
Insurance can supply capital. The surrounding agreements, roles, systems and reviews determine whether that capital solves the intended problem.
VALUE
Measure the Exposure
Quantify enterprise value, debt, revenue concentration, replacement cost and the time needed to stabilize operations.
CONTROL
Define Succession
Clarify who makes decisions, who may own shares and how authority transfers under each triggering event.
CAPITAL
Fund the Promise
Match insurance, reserves, installment obligations and financing capacity to the agreement’s actual payment terms.
PEOPLE
Retain Leadership
Coordinate executive incentives, transition responsibilities and the talent needed to preserve client and enterprise value.
REVIEW
Keep It Current
Reconcile valuation, ownership, beneficiaries, policy performance, debt and governance after material changes.
The governing agreement and funding should be reviewed together. A policy amount based on an outdated valuation or a beneficiary inconsistent with the agreement can create a false sense of readiness.
- Protection with a defined job
Capital Should Arrive Where the Obligation Lives.
WSG helps evaluate carrier, underwriting, ownership and funding choices against a documented business purpose.
01
Key-Person Protection
Provide business-owned liquidity for lost earnings, recruiting, transition costs or credit pressure.
Operating risk
02
Buy-sell funding
Coordinate death or disability funding with the agreement’s trigger, valuation and purchase obligation.
Ownership
03
Loan protection
Align coverage with business debt, guarantees, lender requirements and the liquidity needed after a loss.
Credit
04
Business overhead disability
Help fund eligible operating expenses during a covered owner’s disability, subject to policy terms.
Cash flow
05
Contingency liquidity
Protect payroll, client service and critical commitments while leadership and ownership stabilize.
Continuity
- A critical valuation checkpoint
Entity-owned redemption insurance deserves renewed review.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Connelly decision held, on its facts, that life-insurance proceeds used for a corporate share redemption increased the corporation’s estate-tax value and that the redemption obligation did not offset that value.
- Update the enterprise valuation and ownership schedule
- Review entity redemption, cross-purchase and alternative structures
- Reconcile policy owner, beneficiary and agreement obligations
- Model estate, income-tax, basis and cash-flow consequences
- Document counsel, tax and valuation conclusions before changes
Do Not Change the Structure From A Headline.
The decision does not make every redemption arrangement wrong. It does make current valuation, agreement mechanics, ownership design, estate exposure and funding alternatives essential attorney-and-tax-advisor review points.
- Executive benefits
Protect the People Who Protect Enterprise Value.
Benefit concepts should reinforce retention, performance and succession without creating an unfunded promise or avoidable tax and compliance exposure.
Executive bonus
Employer-paid individual coverage concepts, with compensation, deductibility and ownership reviewed by tax and benefits advisors.
Split-dollar
Economic-benefit or loan-regime structures requiring formal agreements, annual administration and tax counsel.
Deferred compensation
Selective benefit concepts coordinated with vesting, payment events, funding and Internal Revenue Code Section 409A review.
Retention & succession
Benefits aligned with service milestones, transition responsibilities, leadership continuity and enforceable plan documents.
These are planning concepts, not product recommendations. ERISA, tax, employment, corporate-governance, insurance and accounting issues may apply depending on design and facts.
- The WSG continuity review
Connect The Agreement, The Capital and The Operating Plan.
A disciplined case process keeps the insurance decision tied to business reality and advisor accountability.
INVENTORY
Gather
Ownership, agreements, debt, policies, valuations, benefit promises, executive roles and existing continuity procedures.
QUANTIFY
Model
Test loss scenarios, capital needs, policy funding, tax assumptions, collateral and operational runway.
COORDINATE
Align
Bring insurance, legal, tax, valuation, benefits, lender and governance workstreams into one decision record.
STEWARD
Review
Update the plan after ownership, valuation, debt, leadership, policy or regulatory changes.
WSG coordinates insurance planning and carrier-market analysis within applicable licensing. The company’s counsel, tax advisor, valuation professional, benefits counsel and other qualified advisors must approve their respective work before implementation.
- Start the assessment
How Exposed Is The Business to One Person's Absence?
Share the planning context. WSG can prepare the questions, documents and insurance workstream for a focused continuity conversation.
Submitting this form does not create an advisory relationship, authorize an insurance application or provide legal, tax, valuation, benefits or investment advice.
- Continuity questions
A funded policy is only one part of readiness.
There is no universal multiple. Analysis may include lost profit, revenue dependence, replacement and recruiting cost, transition time, debt, lender requirements, client concentration and the capital needed to preserve operations. Underwriting and carrier limits also apply.
No. The policy owner, insured, beneficiary, amount and payment timing must align with the agreement. Disability, retirement, termination and other triggers may require different funding. Legal and tax counsel should review the agreement and funding together.
Entity-redemption, cross-purchase, trust, partnership and hybrid structures have different control, administration, valuation, basis, creditor and tax consequences. The appropriate structure depends on the facts and requires legal, tax and valuation review.
Not necessarily. Selective or nonqualified benefits can involve different tax, ERISA, funding, creditor and Section 409A considerations. Benefits counsel and tax advisors should review the design and documents.
At least annually and after material changes in ownership, valuation, debt, leadership, family circumstances, agreements, policy performance or law. The review cadence should be documented and assigned to a responsible owner.