The wealth you spent a life building shouldn't end with you.
An institutional-grade, US-dollar offshore solution — built in Bermuda to protect your family from currency, market and cross-border risk, and to pass wealth on intact, for generations.
Onshore, your wealth is exposed on three fronts.
For globally minded families, the threats to lifelong wealth are rarely about how much you earn — they're about where it sits, what currency holds it, and who can reach it.
Currency erosion
Wealth held in a single home currency can quietly lose value to devaluation and capital controls. A US-dollar base is the world's reserve anchor.
Jurisdiction risk
Assets concentrated in one legal system are exposed to its politics, creditors and changing rules. An offshore structure puts distance — and protection — around them.
Succession friction
Without structure, cross-border estates face delay, tax and disputes. The right policy delivers wealth to the next generation cleanly and privately.
The offshore standard
After New York and London, the world's third great insurance capital isn't in Asia — it's Bermuda.
It's where the world's top (re)insurers domicile their risk. Manulife issued its first policy outside Canada here in 1893 — and the Bermuda branch is supervised under both Canadian and Bermudian regulation.
Why it outperforms the Asian field
Hong Kong and Singapore savings plans rely on traditional, heavily non-guaranteed bonuses. Manulife Bermuda's PRO engine taps institutional alternative credit — a different asset class, and a measurably higher long-run return.
Total IRR at Year 30 — illustrative
Higher is better · based on public data, May 2026Competitor figures compiled from public sources as of May 2026; bars scaled to MGG PRO. IRR is non-guaranteed and for illustration only.
Years to break evenLower is better
How fast premiums are recovered · illustrativeMGG PRO breaks even as fast as the quickest in the market — then keeps compounding far longer. Its Day-1 guaranteed value (43%) is deliberately lower than front-loaded plans, by design: the structure favours long-run growth over early guarantees.
An institutional engine
The PRO account invests in alternative credit & ABS via Manulife | CQS — strategies normally closed to individuals. Asian par plans rely on a dividend-and-bonus pool.
A stronger domicile
Bermuda is a top-tier, politically neutral insurance jurisdiction — with Manulife dual-regulated in Canada and Bermuda. Regional onshore policies sit in a single legal system.
Real, not just illustrated
Manulife's dividend fund has paid a 100% fulfillment ratio since 2020 — at a time when several Asian insurers have cut their non-guaranteed bonuses.
| Metric | MGG PRO | HSBC Xnfinite | AIA Xealth | Prudential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day-1 guaranteed CSV | 43% | 85% | 81% | 10% |
| Breakeven year | 3 yrs | 3 yrs | 4 yrs | 8 yrs |
| Total IRR @ Year 30 | 8.10% | 6.00% | 5.82% | 5.09% |
| Structure | PAR + PRO dual-engine | Special bonus | Terminal bonus | Annual + terminal bonus |
Competitor figures compiled from public sources as of May 2026 and may change as products are updated. IRR and breakeven are non-guaranteed.
Bermuda offshore vs. Asian onshore
The same goal — long-term USD wealth — built on a fundamentally stronger foundation, including versus Manulife's own Hong Kong and Singapore offerings.
Comparison is general and illustrative, drawn from public market information as of May 2026. Specific products, rates and features vary; this is not advice.
Three solutions, one offshore platform
From protection and legacy to indexed growth — each tailored to a different objective, all in US dollars from Bermuda.
MGG PRO
The flagship. A dual-engine USD legacy solution — stability plus institutional alternative credit. Built for long-term growth and succession.
MGM — Global Marquis
Participating whole life. Protection and legacy first, backed by a Canadian dividend fund — guaranteed cash value plus a participating dividend.
MGIUL / MGIUL PRO
Indexed universal life linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 — capture the upside, floored on the downside. A high-leverage variant for ambitious legacy goals.
One policy. Two engines.
A default 25% participating account and 75% PRO account — one policy, two contracts. Stability underwrites the structure; institutional alternative credit drives long-term growth.
The PRO account is managed by Manulife | CQS Investment Management — specialists in asset-backed securities and structured credit with 20+ years of experience.
Dual-engine structure
Stability and growth combined within a single policy.
Institutional credit access
Entry to private credit and structured ABS strategies usually reserved for institutions.
Enhanced return potential
Designed to outperform traditional savings-type instruments over time.
Generational flexibility
Built-in succession features and policy-split mechanisms.
Stability and growth, side by side
Illustrative IRR and cash surrender value under the default 75% PRO / 25% PAR allocation, single-pay.
| Year | Total IRR | Total CSV | Guaranteed IRR | Guaranteed CSV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -21.3% | 75% | -55.3% | 43% |
| 5 | 5.3% | 123% | -11.1% | 53% |
| 10 | 6.7% | 182% | -5.0% | 57% |
| 15 | 7.3% | 274% | -3.3% | 57% |
| 20 | 7.7% | 419% | -2.3% | 60% |
| 30 | 8.1% | 988% | -1.5% | 60% |
| 50 | 8.5% | 5,735% | -0.9% | 60% |
For illustration only. Backtested or hypothetical performance does not represent actual results and is not a guarantee of future returns. Returns are non-guaranteed. Investing involves risk.
Linked to US indices — upside captured, downside floored
Index accounts tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, with a 0% floor and a cap — downside risk is locked out while you participate in the climb.
Caps, floors and multipliers are illustrative and non-guaranteed. Index account returns exclude dividends and are subject to policy charges. Backtested performance does not predict future results.
Built for global families
High-net-worth families
Pursuing steady long-term growth and institutional-grade allocation.
Cross-border families
Members in multiple jurisdictions who need a globally portable structure.
Legacy planners
Arranging an efficient, private transfer of wealth across generations.
Your family's wealth, secured for generations
Arrange a confidential, no-obligation conversation about an offshore Manulife Bermuda solution for your family.
Prefer to write directly? info@sancusfinancial.ca
Without a plan, the tax office takes three-quarters of it.
For Canadian private-company owners, one legal tool turns taxable retained earnings into a tax-free legacy — and it changes everything for your family.
A lifetime of work — three-quarters lost to tax
If a successful business owner passes away with no plan, two layers of tax stack up: capital gains on the company's shares, then dividend tax on the cash inside it. Heirs can be left with roughly a quarter of what was built.
Capital gains at death
A "deemed disposition" treats company shares as sold the moment before death — triggering capital gains tax (≈ 27%).
Dividend tax on the cash
Cash distributed to the estate is taxed as a non-eligible dividend — roughly 48–49% at the top rate.
The 2018 squeeze
Passive income above $50K erodes the small-business rate; over $150K it disappears — pushing the active rate up permanently.
The turning point
There is one tool that turns taxable retained earnings into a tax-free legacy.
Corporate-owned life insurance. Since the 2018 reforms closed other doors, it is the cleanest legal way to move corporate wealth to your family — through the Capital Dividend Account.
From 25¢ on the dollar — to the full amount
A corporate-owned life insurance policy, through the Capital Dividend Account (CDA), reverses the outcome for your heirs.
Without planning · heirs receive
- Capital gains tax on company shares (~27%)
- Dividend tax to the estate (~48–49%)
- Roughly three-quarters goes to the tax office
With a corporate policy · heirs receive
- The death benefit pays into the company, tax-free
- It creates a large CDA credit (benefit − policy ACB)
- A capital dividend flows out to the estate, tax-free
The CDA — the only legal pipe for tax-free dollars
The Capital Dividend Account is a notional tax account tracking what a corporation can pay tax-free to its Canadian shareholders. Corporate life insurance is one of its two sources — and since 2018, the cleanest way around the double layer of tax.
Company pays the premium
The corporation owns and is beneficiary of a whole-life policy, funded with after-tax retained earnings.
Death benefit, tax-free
The insurer pays the full benefit into the company, not counted as taxable income.
CDA credit created
Benefit minus policy ACB becomes a CDA credit — paid out as a tax-free capital dividend to heirs.
A corporate dollar buys twice the coverage
To put the same money toward insurance, a personal buyer must first pull a dividend out of the company and pay tax on it. The corporation simply pays the premium directly.
Option A · buy personally
- Company must distribute ~$191K to net $100K after dividend tax
- Coverage ≈ $5.3M
Option B · buy through the company
- Corporation pays the premium directly — no dividend first
- Coverage ≈ $10M — the same spend, double the coverage
Illustrative example: 45-year-old male, standard health, Ontario, ~47.74% dividend tax. Figures vary by province, age, health and product. For education only — not advice.
Five layers, each solving one tax exposure
Insurance rarely works alone. For Canadian business owners it sits inside a wider structure — each layer addressing a specific tax leak and a specific generation of wealth.
Operating company (OpCo)
Active business income and cash-flow generation.
Holding company (HoldCo)
Tax-deferred dividends up, asset protection, investment container.
Family trust
Income splitting, lifetime capital gains exemption multiplication, cross-generation planning.
IFA + insurance
Immediate Financing Arrangement: tax-deductible leverage, tax-free death benefit, and CDA.
Legacy vehicles
Estate freeze, IPP, RCA and cross-border structures for orderly succession.
Tax-efficient tools for business owners
Corporate-owned life insurance
Turn retained earnings into a tax-free legacy through the CDA.
Immediate Financing (IFA)
Keep your capital working: borrow against the policy, deduct interest, grow tax-free.
Corporate IRP
A corporate insured retirement plan — draw tax-efficient income for life from policy cash value.
Estate freeze
Lock in today's value and shift future growth to the next generation via a family trust.
IPP & RCA
Pension structures that beat the RRSP for incorporated professionals and business owners.
Pre-immigration planning
Granny trusts and cross-border structures set up before landing in Canada.
Keep what you built — in the family, not the tax office
The difference between 25% and 100% is a single decision made in time. Arrange a confidential review of your corporate structure.
Prefer to write directly? info@sancusfinancial.ca