1908 Advisors

What 1908 Advisors does

1908 Advisors is a private life settlement intermediary founded in 2016 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company provides a price discovery and auction platform that enables fiduciary wealth advisors and life insurance professionals to monetize unwanted or surplus in-force life insurance policies on behalf of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. Its core offering is a blind, best-and-final 'private value' auction process that connects sellers with more than ten regulated institutional buyers — including hedge funds, private equity groups, family offices, life insurance carriers, and direct buyers — through established provider intermediaries.

The technology stack centers on a private value auction methodology designed to eliminate the incremental bargain-hunting behavior common to open-bidding broker auctions, complemented by a Citrix ShareFile-based secure bid room that provides encrypted document exchange, end-to-end transparency, and a complete audit trail. Policy valuation assessments are delivered within one to two days of receiving in-force illustrations. The company reports an 80% auction success rate, an average winning bid of 28% of policy face value (range 5%-60%), a weighted average 1.8x multiple of broker net proceeds, and an average 10x multiple of cash surrender value.

Revenue is generated through transaction fees of 7.5% of gross winning bids minus cash surrender value (with a $12,500 minimum), stepping up to 8.5% when an affiliated broker is involved. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales targeting the top 50 RIAs and large national wirehouses with channel partnerships involving BGAs, IMOs, and top producers under 10%-15% compensation splits. The company reports engagement with twelve of the top fifty RIAs and 100% repeat engagement across those accounts, with named customers spanning $10 billion RIAs through a $350 billion RIA and a $1.8 trillion asset manager.

Name

1908 Advisors

Legal name

1908 Advisors

Website

https://1908advisors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

1908 Advisors is an Atlanta-based life settlement intermediary founded in 2016 that uses a blind best-and-final private value auction process to monetize unwanted in-force life insurance policies for fiduciary wealth advisors and life insurance producers serving HNW/UHNW clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Life Settlement Services

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150), Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities (523991), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Investment Advice (6282), Life Insurance (6311)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAEABAC

Private Banking & UHNW Wealth Advisory

Financial & Insurance/Financial Advisory, Brokerage & Intermediation/Wealth & Retirement Advisory

SECONDARYFSAEAIAC

Sell-Side Business Brokerage

Financial & Insurance/Financial Advisory, Brokerage & Intermediation/Business Brokerage (Buying/Selling Private Businesses)

SECONDARYFSAAABAF

Trust & Fiduciary Advisory for HNW/UHNW (Trust Structuring & Trustee Oversight)

Financial & Insurance/Asset & Wealth Management/Private Banking & HNW/UHNW Wealth Management

Keywords

• Life settlement services
• Wealth advisor auctions
• Policy monetization platform
• In-force life insurance
• Institutional price discovery

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fee - Standard: 7.5% fee on the difference between gross winning bid and cash surrender value (minimum $12,500). Transparent fee structure versus broker fees of 20%-33%.
2. Transaction Fee - Broker-Assisted: 8.5% fee (7.5% + 1% additional) when their affiliated licensed broker is involved in the transaction.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

1908 Advisors runs a blind, best-and-final private value auction process to help wealth advisors and life insurance professionals sell unwanted or surplus in-force life insurance policies of HNW/UHNW individuals (typically aged 72+) for materially higher proceeds than the traditional broker channel. The firm sources policies through enterprise relationships with top RIAs and wirehouse wealth management firms and through channel partnerships with BGAs/IMOs/insurance producers, then runs an institutional-quality auction across 10+ regulated providers connected to capital sources such as hedge funds, private equity, family offices, and pension/endowment investors. Pricing is a 7.5% transaction fee (minimum $12,500) on the difference between gross winning bid and cash surrender value, with standard turnaround of 15 days to actionable bids and 60 days to funding.

Product overview

1908 Advisors offers a single unified platform for life settlement price discovery and auction services, specifically designed for wealth management firms and fiduciary advisors. The core offering consists of a blind, best-and-final auction platform that connects institutional buyers with policy sellers, delivering substantially higher winning bids (averaging 28% of face value vs. industry 5%) and lower fees (5%-7.5% vs. industry 33%). The platform is supplemented by policy valuation assessment tools, client identification frameworks, and a secure ShareFile-based bid room that provides end-to-end transparency and complete audit trails throughout the 60-75 day transaction process.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Life Settlement Auction and Price Discovery Service End-to-end life settlement service for fiduciary wealth advisors and life insurance producers, using a blind best-and-final private value auction across 10+ regulated providers connected to institutional buyer capital. Delivers actionable bids within 15 days and funding in 60 days, with typical winning bids around 28% of policy face value (5%-60% range) and 1.8x the net proceeds of broker outcomes; fee is 7.5% of gross winning bid less cash surrender value (minimum $12,500), or 8.5% when an affiliated broker is used.
• Advisor Advocacy and Client Identification Program Program that helps RIA advisors and life insurance producers identify client situations where an in-force life insurance policy is no longer serving its original purpose (surplus coverage, change in beneficiaries, expired buy-sell agreements, departed key persons, charitable trust rebalancing, illiquid trusts). Provides frameworks and engagement templates that advisors can use to surface the life settlement option in financial and estate planning conversations.
• Policy Valuation and Preliminary Assessment Preliminary policy analysis that returns qualified value ranges under multiple health and discount rate assumptions within 1-2 days of receiving the in-force illustration, allowing advisors to discuss likely settlement outcomes with clients before committing to a full auction; does not require a life expectancy report, eliminating weeks of delay typical of broker processes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.8x higher net proceeds versus broker net proceeds
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered founding, core and infrastructure.

• Oldest Life Settlement Provider (Partnership to establish institutional fund)foundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20091908 Advisors founders established an institutional life settlement fund in partnership with the oldest life settlement provider in the country in 2009. This partnership provided the foundation for understanding market structure and provider relationships that inform 1908's current operations.
• Life Settlement Providers (10+ regulated intermediaries)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor1908 engages 10+ established life settlement providers that act as regulated intermediaries accessing institutional buyer capital. Providers include well-known names in private equity, public and private pension funds, endowments, and family offices. 1908 only engages reputable capital sources and does not engage fringe buyers.
• Citrix ShareFileinfrastructureTechnology or IntegrationSecure encrypted document sharing and storage platform used for all case information, policy documents, medical records, bidding interactions, and audit trail. All document exchange between advisors, clients, and providers occurs through this secure platform rather than email.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• American Life Fund: Life settlement broker offering viatical and life settlement transactions to seniors and their advisors — overlapping with 1908 Advisors in the HNW/UHNW advisor-referral channel.
• Stone Street Capital: Specialty life settlement broker focused on wealth management and estate planning channels — directly comparable to 1908 Advisors on target customer and service offering.
• Ashar Group: Direct life settlement broker with similar advisor-channel GTM and institutional buyer relationships — competing for the same RIA-sourced policy flow as 1908 Advisors.
• Q Capital Strategies: Life settlement broker with established relationships among wealth advisors and institutional buyers — comparable transaction-fee intermediary model to 1908 Advisors.
• Coventry Direct (formerly Coventry First): One of the largest U.S. life settlement brokers, serving wealth advisors and policyholders seeking to monetize in-force life insurance — directly competitive with 1908 Advisors on RIA relationships and settlement transaction flow.
• Lifeline Financial: Life settlement broker serving financial advisors and policyholders, providing a comparable fee-based intermediary service for monetizing unwanted life insurance.

Broad incumbents

• GWG Holdings: Institutional buyer of life insurance policies (a 'Provider' in the value chain 1908 accesses), historically one of the largest capital sources in the secondary life insurance market.
• Wells Fargo Insurance Services: Large financial institution with broad wealth and insurance capabilities, including referrals into life settlement channels — comparable target customer base to 1908 Advisors but operating as a broad incumbent rather than a specialist intermediary.
• Abacus Life: Vertically integrated life settlement provider and institutional buyer, serving both policyholders (directly and via advisors) and the institutional buyer side — a broader incumbent that 1908 Advisors routes transactions through.

Emerging players

• Magna Life Settlements: Smaller-scale life settlement broker with a comparable advisor-channel focus and transaction-fee model — partially overlapping with 1908 Advisors on HNW policyholder cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1908-advisors

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 1908 Advisors