Private Capital Specialist  ·  Premium Finance

Capital preserved.
Leverage controlled.
Legacy secured.

Designing and implementing private wealth structures for high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and affluent families — so capital stays deployable, decisions stay disciplined, and legacy plans endure.

Schedule a Consultation Why Premium Finance
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”
Proverbs 13:22
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Our Approach

Structured.
Conservative.
Built to last.

Charles Grant is a premium finance structuring firm — not a financial advisory or investment management practice. Our singular focus is the architecture of premium finance cases for qualified individuals and families who understand that intelligent wealth management means deploying every available instrument with precision and discipline.

Premium finance can be powerful, though poorly constructed plans carry real consequences. We begin with the only question that matters: What must be true for this structure to work over decades without forcing bad decisions? We pressure-test assumptions, coordinate the moving parts, and build structure that remains resilient when rates, markets, or collateral requirements change.

If a design doesn't pass our stress test, we recommend a simpler path — or we decline the case. That discipline is not a limitation. It is our standard.

01
Clarity Before Leverage
We model the full cost of capital, collateral requirements, and policy performance scenarios before any implementation discussion. You understand the real tradeoffs — not just the ones that look favorable in an illustration.
02
Risk-Led Design
Rates move. Collateral tightens. We design around what can go wrong — and how you remain in control if it does. A plan that survives an illustration but fails under stress is not a plan.
03
Team Coordination
We work alongside your CPA, attorney, and existing advisors to align structure, documentation, and intent — ensuring the premium finance strategy complements, rather than conflicts with, your broader financial picture.
04
Absolute Discretion
Every engagement is handled with strict confidentiality. Need-to-know communication, clear documentation of assumptions and responsibilities, and a process that respects the sensitivity of high-net-worth planning at every step.
Understanding the Strategy

Why sophisticated clients
choose premium finance.

Premium finance is not a life insurance product. It is a capital strategy — one that employs a specifically structured policy as its instrument. Those who have built significant wealth already understand leverage and compounding. What many have not yet encountered is how to apply those same principles within a properly architected insurance structure — preserving liquidity, scaling coverage, and deferring tax exposure simultaneously. The result is a vehicle that sophisticated clients find far more interesting once they look past the insurance label.

Misconception 01
"It's just another life insurance policy."
Premium finance is a wealth strategy that employs controlled leverage — not unlike how sophisticated investors use margin or real estate debt. A lender finances the policy premiums; the policy's cash value growth and death benefit generate the return. The insurance wrapper is the instrument, not the product. Coverage is incidental. Capital efficiency is the objective.
Misconception 02
"This sounds like it carries real risk."
Every structure Charles Grant architects begins with a conservative, stress-tested model. We design around what can go wrong — collateral calls, rate movement, policy underperformance — before we recommend anything. Disciplined structuring and rigorous underwriting criteria exist precisely to eliminate the risks that poorly constructed, product-driven plans quietly introduce.
Misconception 03
"I have enough coverage. I don't need more."
Coverage is not the objective. Clients who engage with premium finance are not simply buying protection — they are deploying capital into a tax-advantaged, lender-supported structure designed to grow, compound, and transfer wealth more efficiently than conventional alternatives. This strategy belongs to those who already think in terms of controlled leverage and long-term capital architecture.
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Tax-Advantaged Growth
Policy cash values grow on a tax-deferred basis. Distributions, when properly structured, can be accessed largely tax-free — a meaningful advantage at this wealth level that compounds significantly over a multi-decade horizon.
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Preserved Liquidity
Premium financing allows existing capital to remain deployed in current positions while a lender funds policy premiums — putting leverage to work without disrupting portfolio allocations or reducing accessible reserves.
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Estate Efficiency
Death benefit proceeds pass to beneficiaries generally free of income tax, providing a powerful mechanism for legacy transfer and estate equalization that compounds quietly over a client's lifetime.
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Longevity by Design
Every plan is modeled with conservative assumptions and stress-tested for duration. A strategy that performs for five years but fails at twenty is not a strategy — it is an undisclosed liability.
Capabilities

Premium finance,
engineered for control.

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Case Architecture & Implementation

Custom structuring from initial design through execution — coordinating lending facilities, policy design inputs, carrier selection, and documentation flow to ensure the structure matches the plan, not the sales narrative.

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Collateral Strategy

Identify collateral sources, concentration risks, and liquidity constraints before they become problems. We model what happens under stress so collateral requirements don't emerge as a crisis at the worst possible moment.

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Tax, Legacy & Retirement Planning

For clients focused on minimizing tax exposure, preserving a lasting legacy, or supplementing retirement income — we architect premium finance structures aligned to each specific objective, not a generic template.

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Business Owner Strategies

Key person protection, corporate-level policy structuring, and liquidity planning for business owners — designed to protect the enterprise against the loss of critical personnel and to create strategic capital at the right moment.

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Ongoing Monitoring & Review

Periodic stewardship of rate environment, loan terms, policy performance, and collateral position — ensuring adjustments are proactive, not reactive, throughout the full life of the plan.

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Performance Over Premiums

Fiduciary responsibility is paramount for each individual client. Unlike other firms, we forego front loaded premiums in order to ensure performance and longevity for the benefit of you and your family.

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Who This Is For

Qualification & Eligibility

Premium finance is a strategy reserved for qualified individuals. Lenders and underwriters apply rigorous standards to ensure every case is built on a foundation of genuine financial strength — not projection or aspiration. This is not a barrier to entry. It is a safeguard for everyone involved.

Beyond the core financial thresholds, Charles Grant evaluates each prospective client holistically: your goals, time horizon, existing asset structure, and commitment to a disciplined, multi-decade strategy. We turn away cases that do not meet the standard for a sustainable outcome — and we say so directly, early in the process.

Prospective clients tend to share a common orientation: they understand leverage, they think generationally, and they are looking for a structure that integrates into a broader wealth strategy rather than sitting alongside it as an afterthought.

These thresholds reflect primary lender and underwriting criteria for premium finance eligibility. Individual circumstances vary; a preliminary consultation will assess your specific situation and determine whether a case can be structured with a clear, sustainable path forward.
Request a Qualification Review
Net Worth
$5M+
The primary benchmark for lender qualification. Demonstrable net worth of $5 million or greater provides the financial standing required to support a premium finance structure.
Annual Income
$250K+
Consistent annual income of $250,000 or above demonstrates the capacity to service obligations and sustain the plan throughout its intended duration.
Insurability
Required
Medical underwriting is a component of every premium finance case. Standard to preferred health classification is generally required for optimal case structuring and carrier options.
Long-Term Commitment
Essential
Premium finance is a multi-decade strategy. Clients must be prepared for a sustained, disciplined commitment. This is not a short-term vehicle and should never be evaluated as one.
How We Work

Simple steps.
Serious diligence.

01
Discovery & Qualification
Confidential  ·  15–30 minutes

We confirm fit: goals, desired premium scale, timeline, liquidity profile, existing coverage, and what a successful outcome must look like over a 20-year horizon. If it doesn't make sense to proceed, we say so directly — and early. No time is wasted on cases that shouldn't be built.

02
Modeling & Architecture
Stress-tested  ·  Conservative assumptions

We build a clean model of rates, collateral requirements, and policy performance — including conservative and downside scenarios. We present only structures we believe can be sustained over the full life of the plan.

03
Implementation & Stewardship
Coordinated execution  ·  Ongoing review

We coordinate with your professional team, lender, and carrier — managing documentation, underwriting, and timing. After implementation, we conduct periodic reviews of policy performance, loan balances, and the rate environment to ensure the plan remains on track for its full duration.

The Principal

Led with conviction.

William Hickey
Headshot Placeholder
William Hickey
Principal;·  Charles Grant

William Hickey is the founder and principal of Charles Grant, a premium finance structuring firm established to serve high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and affluent families seeking more sophisticated approaches to capital preservation, tax efficiency, and legacy planning.

As a licensed life agent, William brings a rigorous, analytical approach to every client engagement. He works alongside a dedicated team of analysts to evaluate each client's unique situation — their financial composition, objectives, and long-term priorities — before designing a structure that is both strategically sound and built for decades of durability.

William's philosophy is direct: the most valuable plan is one that performs reliably over the full course of a client's life, not one optimized for a first meeting. He declines cases that do not meet the standard for a conservative, well-constructed outcome. That standard is not negotiable — and clients who engage Charles Grant understand exactly why.

Charles Grant was not built in a vacuum. William's foundation comes from decades inside his family's enterprise — a firm that fulfilled multi-million dollar contracts directly with the U.S. Department of Defense and operated a diversified real estate portfolio spanning commercial, residential, multifamily, and land development. Those years gave him firsthand exposure to the pressures high-net-worth families and business owners actually face: capital efficiency, leverage, and the cost of getting large financial decisions wrong. Additional work in the futures and commodities markets — applying macroeconomic and technical analysis to opportunities with defined risk — added a capital markets discipline he now brings directly to every premium finance case at Charles Grant.

Licensed Life Agent Premium Finance Specialist
Begin a Conversation

Preserve liquidity.
Scale coverage.
Stay in control.

Serving
U.S. clients nationwide
Confidentiality
Discreet, invitation-style process.
All inquiries handled with strict discretion.
Typical Client Profile
Net worth $5M+  ·  Annual income $250K+
Long-term, goal-oriented planning horizon
Note
Submitting this form does not establish a client relationship or constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. All inquiries are preliminary and subject to a suitability review.

All submissions are held in strict confidence. Charles Grant does not share, sell, or distribute client information. This form is for preliminary inquiry only and does not create an advisory relationship.