That was the initial advice given to an entrepreneur I recently met.
He’s a Canadian citizen who wanted to structure an investment portfolio in Switzerland, with a clear objective: invest efficiently, stay compliant, and avoid unnecessary tax exposure.
We paused.
For a Canadian tax resident, using a trust or an offshore company can quickly lead to:
- Unexpected tax exposure
- Heavy reporting obligations
- Structures that look smart on paper but age badly under scrutiny
In this case, neither option solved the real issue.
Both added risk instead of clarity.
So we went back to first principles:
Who is the investor?
Where is he tax resident?
What is he actually trying to achieve?
The solution turned out to be a PPLI structure.
Not because it was fashionable — but because it aligned with the client’s tax profile, provided predictability, and allowed the portfolio to be managed through Switzerland without triggering the usual trust or offshore complications.
Same entrepreneur.
Same assets.
Same jurisdiction.
Very different outcome.
Uncomfortable truth:
Trusts, offshore companies, and insurance solutions are tools — not answers.
When structuring is driven by habit instead of analysis, value gets destroyed.
Good structuring starts with the person, not the structure.