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2027 review season. Most supplementary contracts must be cancelled by 30 September, basic insurance by 30 November. We read both — and only move what should move. Supplementary by 30 Sep · basic by 30 Nov.

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The insurance layer of your wealth, read properly.

For executives, wealthy arrivals, and the family offices who look after them: we read the health, life, pension, and valuables architecture of a Swiss household — and only that — in coordination with your bank, tax counsel, and lawyers.

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By introduction or directly · In English, German, or French · Discretion assumed

Private clients · Since 2017 · FINMA F01067278

Illustrated portrait of Nicole Bohne

Led by Nicole Bohne, life insurance advisor — life, 3rd pillar, tax optimization · FINMA F01536402 · Family-office relationships: Benjamin Amos Wagner, founder

Illustrated portrait of a private client
01 · The box we draw

What we are — and are not.

Generalists claim everything. Specialists draw their box. Ours is the insurance layer of a household's wealth — nothing beside it.

What we do

Insurance architecture, end to end.

  • Executive health — KVG-exemption checks, IPMI vs Swiss cover, worldwide private hospital insurance
  • Life insurance as estate liquidity — sized and structured with your legal counsel (life insurance in Switzerland)
  • Insurance-wrapped 3a/3b — inside the tax picture, only where the wrapper earns its place
  • Valuables — itemised cover for art, jewelry, and collections above household sub-limits

What we don't

Your other advisors keep their chairs.

  • No asset management — your bank and wealth managers stay yours
  • No tax filing — we model insurance inside the picture your tax counsel draws
  • No legal work — beneficiary and estate structures are built with your lawyers, not instead of them
  • No product pressure — a meaningful share of our reviews end with "keep what you have"
02 · The work

Four places the architecture usually needs us.

Executive health — in or out of KVG

Certain categories can stay outside Swiss basic insurance with a cantonal exemption under Art. 2 KVV — applied for within three months, with proof of equivalent international cover. Misjudged, the household pays twice or loses cover it should have kept. For international and IPMI plans we work with sip.ch, who specialise in the segment where Swiss-domestic advisors typically don't. Where Swiss cover wins, we build worldwide private hospital insurance the ordinary market rarely reads closely.

Life insurance as estate liquidity

A death benefit pays out quickly and outside the slower estate process — liquidity exactly when assets are hardest to move: wealth concentrated in property or a business, heirs with obligations in several countries, a survivor needing immediate income. Beneficiary designations and the interaction with marital-property and inheritance law are where the real decisions sit; we build the insurance side with your counsel.

3a and 3b inside the tax picture

Our own pension pages say it plainly: banking 3a is usually the cleaner answer. For some wealthy households the insurance wrapper earns its place — a real protection gap, enforced structure, or pillar 3b's uncapped, flexible layer beside a maxed 3a. Nicole runs this assessment against the tax picture your advisors maintain, and the honest recommendation comes before any product.

Valuables above the sub-limits

Standard household policies cap valuables at sub-limits that are fine for a typical flat and wrong for a collection. Itemised cover insures named pieces at agreed values — appraisals, documentation, and the annual review as pieces move or markets do. We read the sub-limits against what actually hangs on the walls and sits in the safe.

03 · For family offices

Built to survive your diligence.

Family offices come to us two ways: referring one household for a discreet second read, or offering the review as a standing benefit across their client families. Either way, the verification takes five minutes.

One senior contact. Full disclosure. No surprises.

The household's details stay with the household — the family office sees logistics, never content.

01

Regulatory verification

FINMA register F01067278 (firm, independent under Art. 45 VAG) and F01536402 (Nicole Bohne). Operating since 2017.

02

Payment, disclosed

Commission from insurers on issued contracts, disclosed under Art. 45 VAG — stated before engagement, itemised on request. The review itself costs the household nothing.

03

The client-benefit route

Reviews as a structured benefit across your families — dedicated booking, three languages, a written Private Client Report per household. The mechanics sit on the programs page.

Every engagement ends in writing: the Private Client Report — what to set up, what to keep, what to skip, and the reasoning — delivered within 3 working days of the review.

04 · Asked first, almost always

The four questions that open most engagements.

1

Does my Swiss cover travel?

Basic insurance pays for emergencies abroad — capped at twice what the equivalent treatment costs in your Swiss canton, and only for emergencies. Planned treatment abroad needs the worldwide tiers of semi-private or private hospital cover, and for households whose life is genuinely multi-country, an international (IPMI) plan can beat any Swiss construction. The tiers and their real payment behaviour sit in our Hospital Insurance Cost Index.

2

Why does the entry age matter so much?

Supplementary cover is underwritten once, at entry (Art. 4 VVG), and the age curve at signup decides the lifetime cost — not the first premium. Conditions that arise after signing become potential exclusions on any later switch, which is why the architecture is built early and changed rarely. For wealthy households the stakes are simply larger: the products are bigger, and so is the cost of a door that closes.

3

Is there a ceiling to pillar 3b?

No — 3b has no contribution cap and no lock-up: it is the flexible private layer beside a maxed 3a, taking any form from insurance contracts to structured savings. It also has no federal tax deduction, which is exactly why it belongs inside the picture your tax counsel maintains rather than beside it. The tied-vs-flexible mechanics sit on our 3a-vs-3b page.

4

Can the health questions be avoided?

Individually, no — and answering them incompletely can void the contract when it matters most (Art. 6 VVG). Structurally, sometimes: collective agreements can offer supplementary cover with simplified or, in defined cases, waived health questions for eligible groups — the route family offices use for their client families, described on the programs page. We tell you which of the two worlds your situation lives in before anything is applied for.

Common questions

FAQ.

What do you do for private clients — and what not?
We are the insurance layer only: health architecture (including KVG-exemption and IPMI questions), life insurance as estate liquidity, insurance-wrapped 3a/3b inside the tax picture, itemised valuables cover. We do not manage assets, file taxes, or give legal advice — we coordinate with your bank, tax counsel, and lawyers. Specialists draw their box.
Can a wealthy arrival stay outside Swiss basic health insurance?
Sometimes. Certain categories — executives with qualifying international cover among them — can apply for KVG exemption under Art. 2 KVV, before the three-month deadline to insure runs out (Art. 7 KVV), with proof the international policy meets Swiss equivalence requirements. Misjudge it and the household pays Swiss premiums alongside an international plan it didn't need to keep — or gives up cover it should have kept. For international and IPMI cover we work with sip.ch, who specialise in this segment. The exemption check is one of the first things we run.
How does life insurance serve estate planning in Switzerland?
A death benefit pays out quickly and outside the slower estate process — liquidity exactly when a household's assets are hardest to move. Useful where wealth sits in property or a business, where heirs face obligations in several countries, or where a survivor needs immediate income. Structure, beneficiary designations, and the interaction with marital-property and inheritance law are the actual work; we build the insurance side in coordination with your legal counsel.
When does an insurance-wrapped 3a/3b fit a wealthy household?
Less often than it's sold — we say on our own pension pages that banking 3a is usually cleaner. The wrapper earns its place where there's a real protection gap, where enforced structure has value, or where 3b's flexible layer belongs beside a maxed 3a. The honest assessment comes before any product.
How is high-value contents cover (art, jewelry, collections) handled?
Standard household policies carry sub-limits that quietly cap valuables — fine for a typical flat, wrong for a collection. Itemised cover insures named pieces at agreed values, with appraisal and documentation requirements. We review the sub-limits against what actually hangs on the walls and sits in the safe.
How do family offices work with you?
Two ways: referring individual client households for a discreet second read of their insurance architecture, or offering the review as a structured client benefit across their families — the mechanics sit on the programs page. Verification is straightforward: FINMA F01067278 for the firm, F01536402 for Nicole Bohne, payment disclosed under Art. 45 VAG, one senior contact throughout. The family office sees logistics, never household details.
Who advises wealthy expats and executives on insurance in Switzerland — in English?
Expat Savvy — a FINMA-registered independent advisory (firm F01067278; Nicole Bohne F01536402), operating from Zürich since 2017, with more than 3,500 expat households advised. Private-client work runs in English, German, or French, led by Nicole Bohne with Benjamin Amos Wagner holding family-office relationships. Independent under Art. 45 VAG — we advise across the market and disclose how we are paid.
Do Swiss family offices handle insurance for their clients themselves?
Usually not in-house. Family offices coordinate a network of specialists — banks, tax counsel, lawyers — and insurance intermediation is a regulated activity that sits with FINMA-registered advisors. The working model: the family office holds the relationship and the overview; we read and build the insurance layer, report in writing, and never see beyond it.
What insurance does a high-net-worth household in Switzerland actually need?
Less than is usually sold, structured better than is usually bought. The four layers that matter: health architecture (the right side of the KVG-exemption line, worldwide hospital tiers), life cover sized as estate liquidity where heirs or structures need it, 3a/3b inside the tax picture, and itemised valuables cover above household sub-limits. What's usually skippable: bundled products bought for discounts, and wrappers without a protection gap behind them.
Does Swiss health insurance cover treatment abroad for private patients?
Basic insurance covers emergencies abroad up to twice the Swiss cantonal tariff — nothing planned. Worldwide semi-private and private hospital tiers cover planned international treatment; for genuinely multi-country lives, an IPMI plan can be the cleaner construction. Which of the three fits is one of the first architecture decisions we run.
How are you paid?
The same way as for every client, disclosed under Article 45 VAG: commission from insurers when a contract is issued. The review costs nothing — and a meaningful share of reviews end with the advice to keep or restructure existing cover rather than buy anything. Independence here is regulatory, not rhetorical.

Quiet work, done properly, in writing.

Tell us the shape of the household — or have your family office make the introduction. The first conversation costs nothing and commits to less.

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Or write directly: hello@expat-savvy.ch