Advanced Markets 2026 On Demand: The Legacy Life Executive Benefit Using COLI to Informally Fund Philanthropy

We know how COLI supports executive benefit plans. The Legacy Life Executive Benefit® builds on that idea by pairing COLI with a charitable legacy tied to key executives. In this session, we will walk through how the strategy works, how it is structured, and where it may fit within a company’s broader executive benefit design. 

You’ll see how a company can place cash and cash equivalents from their retained earnings into life insurance, grow them on a tax-deferred basis, and use the eventual death benefit to support both executive planning and charitable giving. The session will focus on the mechanics of the strategy, design considerations, and the types of situations where it may be worth exploring. 

By the end of this session learners will be able to:

• Participants will be able to explain how Corporate-Owned Life Insurance (COLI) can be structured to informally fund both executive benefits and charitable giving objectives. 

• Participants will be able to describe the key design elements and cash flow mechanics of the Legacy Life Executive Benefit strategy. 

• Participants will be able to evaluate the tax treatment and financial implications of using retained earnings to fund COLI within an executive benefit plan. 

• Participants will be able to identify appropriate client and corporate scenarios where a COLI-based philanthropic strategy may be suitable