John Lawson

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After earning an MBA with Honors from The University of Texas in 1993 and a BBA from The University of Texas in 1984, John has amassed a broad range of experience in financial, estate, business, insurance, and investment planning. He is Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and holds licenses for Group I Individual Life and Variable Life.

John holds insurance brokerage licenses in several states including Texas, Florida, and New York as well as in Bermuda. He carries a Bermuda work permit during the facilitation of offshore transactions. He has lectured on the subject of private placement variable life insurance planning and products to various groups including the Heckerling Institute, Annual Private Placement Life Insurance and Variable Annuities Forums, AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conferences, and the American Bar Association Section of Taxation. John has also participated in private briefings with asset managers and brokerage firms and he has presented at numerous insurance conferences on the subject of both domestic and offshore private placement life insurance.

John has authored numerous insurance related publications and presentations which include the following:

• Broker Panel Discussion,  SALI Fund Services: 2018 Fall Private Placement Conference (New York, New York; October 2018)
• Private Placement Life Insurance Case Studies,  MAGNASTAR® Advisors Regional Meeting (Los Angeles, California; May 2017)
• Expanding Into Private Placement Life Insurance and Annuities,  2016 M Marketing Meeting (Washington, DC; September 2016)
• Private Placement Insurance Products,  AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference (Las Vegas, Nevada; January 2016)
• Distribution Strategies for Insurance Dedicated Funds,  13^th Annual Private Placement Life Insurance and Variable Annuities Forum (Boston, Massachusetts; June 2015)
• Private Placement Insurance Products,  AICPA Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference (Las Vegas, Nevada; January 2015)

• Funding an Insurance Dedicated Fund,  12^th Annual Private Placement Life Insurance and Variable Annuities Forum (Boston, Massachusetts; June 2014)
• Private Placement Life Insurance and Annuities – A Tax Efficient Option for Hedge Fund and Alternative Investors,  Texas Family Office Network (Austin, Texas; August 2013)
• Domestic and Offshore Insurance Planning,  STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) Wyoming Conference (Jackson Lake Lodge; September 2012)
• Ask the Expert – A Panel Discussion,  9^th Annual Alternative Investing through Private Placement Life Insurance and Annuities (Chicago, Illinois; June 2011)
• Identifying How Fees Work in the PPLI Process;  Who Gets Paid What and When, IIR 8^th Annual Alternative Investing Through Private Placement life Insurance (PPLI) & Annuities (Chicago, Illinois; June, 2010)
• Private Placement Life Insurance and Annuities,  JPMorgan Private Bank (Austin, Texas; August, 2009)
• Private Placement Products, CitiBank National Professional Development Conference (Miami; Florida; January, 2009)
• Life Insurance Planning for High Net Worth Clients,  Margolis Phipps & Wright P.C. (Houston, Texas; November; 2008
• Private Placement Life Insurance and Annuities,  Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) 2007 Advanced Wealth Management Conference (Charlotte, North Carolina; November 2007)
• Private Placement Products, The M Financial National Advisors Conference (The Sanctuary, Kiawah Island, South Carolina; November 2006)
• The Tax Question – A Panel Discussion,   MARHedge World Wealth Summit (South Hampton, Fairmont, Bermuda; October 2006)
• Buyer/Seller Forum:  Expanding the Distribution Landscape for Selling PPLI Through Education, Marketing, and Sales Strategies – A Panel Discussion,  4^th Annual Hedge Fund Investing through Life Insurance and Annuities (Miami, Florida; February 2006)
• Prudential and Magnastar: ‘A Private Placement Solution,’  Prudential Magnastar Meeting (New York, New York; October 2005)
• The Distribution Landscape for Selling PPLI,  IBC Annual Hedge Fund Investing through Life Insurance and Annuities Conference (New York, New York; June 2005)

• Lawson, John et al., An Introduction to PPLI – the introductory chapter for a comprehensive book for advisors in the private placement marketplace, The PPLI Solution; Delivering Wealth Accumulation, Tax Efficiency, and Asset Protection through Private Placement Life Insurance. Princeton: Bloomberg Press, February 2005
• Reinsurance and Underwriting – An Underwriting Panel Discussion,  M Marketing Meeting (Phoenix, Arizona; February 2005)
• Domestic vs. Offshore Debate: Who’s got the Best PPLI?   IBC Annual Hedge Fund Investing through Life Insurance (New York, New York; June 2004)
• Understanding Insurance for High-Net-Worth Individuals, American Bankers Association Private Wealth Management School (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University; May 2004)
• Placing and Retaining Private Placement Variable Life Insurance Contracts in the Super-Affluent Marketplace,  IBC’s Hedge Fund Investing Through Life Insurance (New York, New York; April 2003)
• Utilizing Hedge Funds in a Tax Advantaged Environment: The Mechanics of Private Placement Life Insurance,  SSB/Consulting Group University Grad School (Denver, Colorado; February 2003)
  Advanced Investments in Life Insurance Strategies – Use of Hedge Funds in Offshore Private Placement Life Insurance, 37^th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Miami, Florida; January 2003)
• Offshore Trust Planning: Use of Hedge Funds in Offshore Private Placement Life Insurance,  ABA Section of Taxation – 2003 Midyear Meeting (San Antonio, Texas; January 2003)
• IDI and the Offshore Market,  Insurance Distributors International (Bermuda) Ltd. Conference (Paget, Bermuda; July, 2002)
• Complex Estate Planning Techniques for the Ultra High Net Worth Client, APIC 12^th Annual Education Conference (San Antonio, Texas; May 2002)
• Advanced Investment and Life Insurance Strategies, State Bar Texas Advanced Estate Planning Strategies (Santa Fe, New Mexico; April 2002)
• Insurance Distributors International (Bermuda) Ltd. Conference,  Co-organizer, (Paget, Bermuda; September 2001)
• Assessing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Offshore Life Insurance, IIR’s (Institute for International Research) Second Annual International Forum (Nassau, Bahamas; November 2000)
• Offshore Life Insurance Planning, ACTEC Notes (Volume 26, No. 1 Summer 2000)
• Offshore Life Insurance,  The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (Montreal, Canada; June 1999)

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