From Boutique to Benchmark: The Evolution of IWP

By Mary Oliva

When I founded International Wealth Protection (IWP), I wasn’t looking to build just another brokerage, I wanted to redefine a standard.

The idea was born from experience and necessity: to help advisors and families navigate the world of international life insurance with clarity, structure, and purpose.

What began as a specialized international boutique brokerage firm has evolved into a benchmark platform for global life insurance advisory, connecting trusted advisors, agencies, and agents who share one belief, that international business must be conducted with integrity, precision, and foresight.

This evolution is not about scale. It’s about continuity, ensuring that the expertise, ethics, and technical discipline we stand for continue to guide those who will shape their future.

A Platform with Purpose

At the center of this new era stands the IWP interactive website, featuring a first-of-its-kind global intelligence map that allows advisors to explore key jurisdictions and understand how tax, regulatory, and life-insurance frameworks intersect across borders.

It’s not a replacement for experience; it’s a bridge to it. A tool designed to empower advisors with insight and confidence to expand their practice internationally with accuracy and compliance.

Having been among the select few who helped pioneer the international life-insurance industry, I built IWP around one guiding principle: everything we do must be done with the intention to protect the space, not compromise it.

Today, we’ve reached a place where we can open access responsibly, where knowledge is shared, not diluted, and opportunity can coexist with integrity.

Expanding with Continuity

This year, IWP extends beyond the advisory channel to include agency and agent distribution, a natural evolution that strengthens our foundation and ensures the sustainability of what we’ve built.

It’s about preserving expertise and passing it forward creating the infrastructure, mentorship, and global framework that new professionals need to thrive in an increasingly complex marketplace.

Because in a world where many claim to operate internationally, true command of this space belongs to a select few. Carrier access alone isn’t enough, real mastery lies in understanding what others overlook: the nuances, regulations, and structures that define cross-border success.

Those guided solely by a product sale often overlook that distinction. At IWP, we uphold a different standard, one that places the profession, the client, and the long-term credibility of our industry above all else. In an often-misunderstood industry, we are setting the benchmark for how it should be represented.

Opening It Responsibly

International life insurance remains one of the most powerful and underutilized instruments in global planning, a vehicle that creates liquidity, preserves privacy, and protects family legacies across jurisdictions.

At IWP, opening access means accepting responsibility. We are committed to investing in compliance, technology, and education to ensure that every advisor and agent who partners with us operates at the highest professional standard.

This is how we safeguard the credibility of our industry while equipping those who will lead it next.

A Personal Reflection

After 35 years in this field, I’ve learned that legacy isn’t built by guarding knowledge, it’s built by sharing it with purpose.

That is the story of IWP. From boutique to benchmark, from independence to influence, our evolution reflects a commitment to those who are ready to expand their practice, elevate their expertise, and honor the principles that define this profession.

The future of international life insurance will belong to those who protect it, elevate it, and lead it forward.