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Burns Lowry is a national insurance advisory firm that provides innovative insurance solutions for the nation’s top echelon of wealthy families and successful entrepreneurs. We specialize in the design, implementation, and monitoring of wealth transfer funding strategies.
We have a long history of successful, collaborative work with some of the nation’s finest trust and estate planning attorneys, accountants, investment managers, family office managers, charitable foundation managers, and trust officers engaged in the wealth transfer process at the highest levels.
Our sole focus is on providing a trusted, confidential resource for Professional Advisors who need objective, sophisticated answers about life insurance and wealth transfer strategies for their high-net-worth clients.
A focus on providing expert answers for professional advisors
Whether you are evaluating your client’s existing coverage or investigating new insurance, our four-point system helps assure the policy fits your client’s current needs and continues to serve its intended purpose for the duration of the policy.
When your client or trustee requires ongoing assurance that the policy will perform as promised, including automated trust and policy administration and documentation.
When your client is seeking life insurance coverage but has medical complications or complex financial needs.
Working in concert with clients' legal advisors, we help optimize clients' legacies through tax-advantaged wealth transfer, estate planning and charitable giving strategies.
When your client no longer needs or wants their policy and is seeking an alternative solution to lapsing or surrendering the policy.
When your client has a net worth of $20M+ with exposure to the highest tax brackets, PPLI can offer accelerated, tax-favored growth in cash value with access to a wider variety of investment options than a standard life insurance contract.
When you need professional advice about funding strategies for your clients’ business continuation plans, buy-sell arrangements, key person insurance, nonqualified executive benefit plans and other executive benefit strategies.
Whether you are evaluating your firm’s existing coverage or investigating new protection, our executive disability plans are designed to insulate group rates from the impact of large claims without jeopardizing the quality or high coverage limits often necessary to meet the needs of highly-compensated executives.
Our team is made up of skilled and experienced professionals from a variety of financial disciplines working together to provide seamless, tax-efficient solutions for optimizing your clients’ wealth transfer strategies. We have team members onsite at our main office as well as an external support network of specialists in insurance, tax, estate, and charitable planning.
Burns Lowry is a Member Firm of Valmark Financial Group, a 60+-year-old, invitation-only group of independent wealth and insurance advisory firms. Through this relationship, we have exclusive access to an experienced support team of over 100 professionals with credentials spanning multiple financial disciplines.
OUR INSURANCE PLANNING AND ADVANCED CASE SPECIALISTS include a team of attorneys, accountants, MBAs, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals, Chartered Life Underwriters, and Chartered Financial Consultants who provide independent assessment and analysis of recommended product sets, policy management and life settlements.
OUR UNDERWRITING ADVOCACY TEAM includes several former insurance company underwriting vice presidents, directors and medical directors, a licensed physician, and a staff of case management, business processing and policy service specialists.
AEP® | CAP® | CLU® | ChFC®
PRINCIPAL
For more than 30 years, Mac has been involved in the design and implementation of advanced planning strategies for some of the nation’s wealthiest families as well as leaders of Fortune 500 companies. In most cases, this involves working with the client’s other advisors to establish, fund and leverage multi-generational wealth strategies, frequently in tandem with philanthropic techniques.
Before forming the national insurance planning firms of Burns Lowry, and earlier, Jones Lowry, Mac served as the Managing Director and Senior Resident Officer at Bessemer Trust in Miami, National Director and Senior Vice President with Merrill Lynch Trust Company, National Director of Business and High Net Worth Planning, and Senior Director and National Sales Manager of Merrill Lynch Insurance Group.
Mac is an Accredited Estate Planner, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, Chartered Financial Consultant, and Chartered Life Underwriter. He is a member of the Palm Beach Economic Council, the Palm Beach County Estate Planning Council, and the East Coast Estate Planning Council. He is a graduate of the Securities Industry Association Institute at The Wharton School of Business and a member of the UK-based Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners. He is a longtenured member of Finseca, the leading technical arm of the life insurance industry.
MBA
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
JD | LL.M. (TAX) | CLU® | ChFC®
OF COUNSEL
As Vice President of Advanced Markets for our partner, Valmark Financial Group, Michael Amoia works with our clients and our clients’ advisors to implement advanced wealth transfer and business planning techniques that leverage the use of life insurance. With over 28 years of experience and a deep understanding of complex estate planning techniques, Mr. Amoia works closely with both our back-office life insurance case design and financial planning teams to create client deliverables that help illustrate how these techniques and strategies can maximize the ability for clients to efficiently transfer intergenerational wealth. Mr. Amoia is a frequent national speaker on various estate planning topics and an author of numerous industry articles. He is also a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®), Juris Doctor (JD) which he earned from University of Baltimore’s School of Law, and holds a LL.M. in Taxation and Certificate in Estate Planning from Georgetown University Law Center.
ChFC® | CLTC®
INSURANCE PLANNING
As Director of Insurance Marketing for our partner, Valmark Financial Group, Luke is responsible for advanced life insurance case design, product analysis, and the development of analytical and educational tools to assist our clients with their financial goals. He brings a decade of experience in the life insurance space working in roles at both a carrier home office and the independent agency environment. Mr. Ehinger holds a bachelor’s degree from Trine University and has his Series 6, 63, 7, and 24 registrations. He is also a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) and holds a Certification in Long Term Care (CLTC®).
MBA | CFP® | CLU®
INSURANCE PLANNING
As the Managing Director of Insurance Marketing for our partner, Valmark Financial Group, Mr. Jackson is responsible for managing and mentoring a team of associate analysts and interns to equip the next generation of insurance experts. He serves as an escalation point for Members, assisting with challenging case designs and troubleshooting insurance carrier issues. In addition to his Series 7 and 24 registrations as well as Ohio Life, Health and Variable licenses, Mr. Jackson is a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional. He holds a BA in Marketing and Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and an MBA from Palm Beach Atlantic University.
FLMI | CFS® | CRPC®
POLICY MANAGEMENT
As Vice President of In Force Insurance Solutions for our partner, Valmark Financial Group, Michael Michlitsch leads the Valmark Policy Management Company (PMC) and Life Settlement teams. He is responsible for integrating strategies and solutions to maximize in-force insurance business to best serve our clients. Previously, he was Manager of Practice Management at Securian Financial Services, Inc., a Senior Training Manager for Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., and Sales Manager for Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Mr. Michlitsch earned his MBA from the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas and his BA in Management and Marketing from Bethany Lutheran College. He is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor℠ (CRPC®) and carries the following Financial Services Designations: CFS, CIS, CFF, CES, CAS and CTS. In addition, he holds Series 7, 24 and 66 registrations as well as Life, Health, and Variable Life and Annuity licenses.
CFP® | CLU®
LIFE SETTLEMENTS
James Dawson is the Director of Life Settlements for our partner, Valmark Financial Group. He is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the life settlement business. This includes establishing and implementing new processes and procedures, directing and facilitating the sale of policies from the initial offering through the formal case submission and acting as an escalation resource for complex and technical life settlement issues. He works to find ways to simplify the life settlement transaction process and improve efficiencies. Above all, Mr. Dawson is passionate about delivering the best possible experience for our clients. Mr. Dawson earned a BBA in Financial Planning from the University of Akron, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He also holds Ohio Life, Health, Accident and Variable licenses, Series 7, 24 and 66 registrations and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).
MBA
CHIEF UNDERWRITER
Chris Bottaro is the Senior Vice President of Insurance for our partner, Valmark Financial Group. He is responsible for the vision, strategy and execution of life insurance marketing, underwriting, new business, and inforce insurance solutions. In this role, he partners with advisors and insurance carriers to help make the life insurance process simpler and more efficient for clients. He has a technical risk assessment background and spent the first 12 years of his career in various underwriting production and leadership positions at Lincoln Financial Group in Hartford before relocating to the Twin Cities to join Valmark in February of 2015. He has an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, a BA in Economics from Boston College, and holds Series 6 and 26 registrations. Mr. Bottaro is a member of the Twin Cities Association of Home Office Underwriters, Brokerage Underwriters Forum, the Minneapolis Leadership Roundtable and sits on multiple insurance company advisory boards.
CASE MANAGEMENT
CONCIERGE SERVICES
As a New Business Technical Lead for our partner, Valmark Financial Group, Jamie Block is part of the Concierge Services team. Her responsibilities include helping to coordinate and process applications directly from our clients with our insurance carriers. Mrs. Block earned BAs in Creative Writing and Business Administration, with a focus on Marketing and Management, from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. She holds a Minnesota Life Insurance Producer’s license as well as ALMI and ACS designations.
