Find True North
Independent, fee-only advice on executive benefits and the funding behind them.
Independent Insight for Executive Benefits and Institutional Planning
Arctis Advisory is an independent, fee-only consulting firm. We help credit unions, health systems, universities, and nonprofits design, fund, and govern executive benefit programs. That usually means a SERP, a 457(f) or 457(b) plan, a split-dollar arrangement, or a restricted bonus plan. On the funding side, COLI and CUOLI, annuities and funding agreements, charitable donation accounts, life settlement funds, and the prefunding a credit union holds under §701.19.
What usually brings people here
Two ways to work with us
Building or rebuilding a plan
A phased engagement that starts with discovery and stops wherever you decide it should. Each phase stands alone and nothing commits you to the next.
How we work →One defined question
A review, an analysis, a second opinion, a board session. Scoped and priced on its own, with no expectation that it leads anywhere else.
What we do →An independent read of someone else’s proposal is $1,500. A full engagement starts at $3,500 and is quoted in writing before any work begins.
Every engagement is a flat fee, quoted in writing before any work begins. It does not change based on which product or structure we recommend, or on whether you implement anything at all. We are paid the same to tell you to keep what you have as to tell you to replace it. We receive no commissions, overrides, revenue sharing, or referral fees from any carrier, vendor, or product manufacturer, and we do not sell or place insurance.
We act as a fiduciary
We act as a fiduciary to our clients with respect to the advisory services we provide, and we put that in writing in every engagement. It means undivided loyalty, full disclosure, and independent judgment, and it means we have no financial interest in which answer turns out to be the right one.
We are not an ERISA fiduciary, an investment adviser under the Advisers Act, or a trustee. We do not hold your assets, exercise discretion over your contracts, or manage investments. The commitment we make is to the advice.
True North Philosophy
Arctis is meant to be a fixed point in decisions where most of the available advice has a stake in the outcome.
01
No carrier appointments, no distribution agreements, no preferred products. There is nothing we can recommend that earns us anything.
02
A life insurance illustration is not a forecast. We separate what a carrier guarantees from what it can change, and show you the plan if it does.
03
Every engagement produces written work you own. It holds up to your board, your auditor and your examiner, whether or not you hire us again.
04
If a structure cannot be explained to your board, it should not be adopted. Complexity is not sophistication. Most of it exists to make something harder to question.
Discover the difference. Explore Our Process ➞
Deep Expertise Meets Complete Clarity
Arctis works across plan design, tax structure, and funding governance for an industry that has long operated behind opaque commissions and product-driven advice. The analysis behind a recommendation is shown to you, not summarized for you, so your board can follow the reasoning instead of taking it on faith.
Regulatory Fluency for Complex Environments
Arctis Advisory brings over a decade of experience designing executive benefit arrangements for institutions nationwide. SERPs, 457(f) and 457(b) plans, restricted bonus arrangements, split dollar, incentive plans, and the prefunding behind them.
Not every situation requires an advisor.
Tell us what is in front of you and we will tell you whether you need us.
