Top carriers for private equity professionals
All five carriers below can be written as true own-occupation for most professions. Ameritas builds it into the base definition, Guardian delivers it on the Premier package we place, MassMutual and Principal deliver it through their own-occupation rider or definition, and at The Standard it comes through a rider whose availability depends on your occupation class. Your optimal carrier depends on your specific specialty, income structure, and state. We compare all five side-by-side in every analysis.
| Carrier | Product | AM Best rating | Contract strength |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Provider Choice | A++ (Superior) | Names private equity analysts and bankers at class 5, and in our view writes the strongest contract of the five |
 | Platinum Advantage | A (Excellent) | A maximum-limit Platinum Advantage policy can sit beside Lloyd's coverage applied for at the same time |
 | Income Protector | A+ (Superior) | Private equity firm managers at 5A from $200,000, and the most flexible financial underwriting of the five in our experience |
 | Radius Choice | A++ (Superior) | Mutual-company dividends, and Executive Select for 5A and 4A clients earning $800,000 or more |
 | DInamic Cornerstone | A (Excellent) | Private Equity Managers at 5A after two years at $150,000, and the highest overhead expense limit of the carriers we place |
Provider Choice
- AM Best
- A++ (Superior)
- Strength
- Names private equity analysts and bankers at class 5, and in our view writes the strongest contract of the five
Radius Choice
- AM Best
- A++ (Superior)
- Strength
- Mutual-company dividends, and Executive Select for 5A and 4A clients earning $800,000 or more
Income Protector
- AM Best
- A+ (Superior)
- Strength
- Private equity firm managers at 5A from $200,000, and the most flexible financial underwriting of the five in our experience
Platinum Advantage
- AM Best
- A (Excellent)
- Strength
- A maximum-limit Platinum Advantage policy can sit beside Lloyd's coverage applied for at the same time
DInamic Cornerstone
- AM Best
- A (Excellent)
- Strength
- Private Equity Managers at 5A after two years at $150,000, and the highest overhead expense limit of the carriers we place
Get a comparison of all five carriers tailored to your specialty
Get a Quote ComparisonWhy is disability insurance different for private equity professionals?
Private equity pay is built from pieces that disability carriers treat very differently. Salary and annual bonus are earned income, ordinary K-1 income generally is too, and carried interest and co-investment gains are investment returns, which carriers set aside as unearned income. A vice president paid mostly in salary and bonus can count nearly all of that pay toward the benefit. A partner whose carry dwarfs salary can find that the largest part of the compensation supports no benefit, and at some carriers it shrinks the benefit the rest would support.
The occupation rows add a second layer. Guardian, Principal, and Ameritas print a private equity title and MassMutual and The Standard do not, so the same associate can be classed off a printed row at one carrier and off a description of duties at another. For the full finance class map, including hedge fund, banking, trading and advisory roles, see our finance professionals hub, and the deal-side banking pay mechanics are on our investment banker disability insurance page.
What occupation class does each carrier give private equity roles?
Guardian classes its private equity row at 5 with no income test, Principal and Ameritas reach 5A once income clears a two-year test, and MassMutual and The Standard leave the title off and place the role from duties. Under the carriers' mid-2026 occupation listings, the row and its conditions look like this, with venture capital alongside because several carriers class it differently.
| Carrier | Private equity row and class | Venture capital row and class |
|---|---|---|
| Private Equity Analyst or Banker, 5 | Venture Capitalist (office duties only), 3. Moves to 4 with $60,000 of salary and bonus for two years and five years in the role |
| Private equity firm manager, 5A at $200,000 or more in each of the last two years, 4A at $150,000, otherwise 3A | Venture capitalist, 5A at $200,000, 4A at $100,000 to $199,999, otherwise 3A |
| No private equity row. Placed from duties | 5A/5 above $250,000, 5A from $200,001, 4A from $150,001, otherwise 3A. Benefits may be limited |
| Private Equity Managers, 5A with $150,000 or more for at least two years, otherwise 4A | Venture Capitalists, the same two-year test |
| No private equity row. Placed from duties | Venture Capitalist on its bank and finance row, 5A at $200,000 in each of the last two years, 4A at $100,000 |
Those labels sit on different ladders, so a 5A at Ameritas and a 5 at Guardian are each near the top of a scale that runs higher for CPAs and attorneys. Guardian's private equity row carries no move-up option, and it sits inside a block of financial-industry titles that Guardian underwrites on three years of returns. At The Standard, the 5A step of the bank and finance row, where venture capitalists sit, also qualifies for its preferred occupation discount of up to 20% (10% in South Carolina).
Where no row exists, the underwriter classes from the application. Placing a private equity principal at MassMutual or The Standard means reading the duties described, the firm's size and age, and two years of income, so a description such as "investment professional at a buyout fund, office duties only" tells the underwriter more than a title does. Hedge fund managers class very differently from private equity at Guardian, and our portfolio and asset manager page sets that split out row by row.
Which parts of private equity pay count toward the benefit?
Salary, bonus, and ordinary partnership income generally count toward a private equity professional's benefit, and carry and co-investment gains generally do not. Each carrier gets there through its own documentation and averaging rules, which matter most in a year when the bonus or K-1 swings.
| Carrier | Salary and bonus | K-1 partnership income | Carry and co-investment gains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus counts after two years with the same employer. Three years in the industry and three years of returns | Counted as your share of net business income | Capital gains are left out of the income that sets the limit |
| Counts. A falling year sets the benefit on the lower, more recent figure | A partner's share of net profit counts as earned income | Unearned income. Past half of earned income it cuts the benefit |
| A rising bonus is averaged over two years. A single year counts at 75% | Ordinary income plus guaranteed payments. Passive interests are unearned | Unearned income. Past half of earned income it cuts the benefit |
| Tax-reported income only, with uneven years averaged over three | Two years of documents for private equity applicants | Unearned income. Past half of earned income it cuts the benefit |
| Counts with two years of tax returns and is never projected | Schedule E nonpassive income, or ordinary income and guaranteed payments | No offset formula printed. Passive income may count as unearned |
The timing rules bite hardest on a lateral hire. Guardian credits a bonus only when it has been earned for the last two years with no change of employer, so an associate who moved funds last spring is generally sized on salary until the new bonus history builds. Principal and Ameritas look at prior earnings history instead of projections, and MassMutual compares the two most recent bonus years and uses the lower current year when pay falls. None of the five prints a rule for a signing or guaranteed first-year bonus, so a contract that guarantees one is an underwriter's call.
Deferred compensation is handled in the policy wording rather than the underwriting rules. Principal's and Ameritas's contracts exclude income received from deferred compensation plans, Guardian and MassMutual list it as unearned income, and The Standard excludes it unless it results from your own work. The same banking mechanics, including how a once-a-year bonus is spread across a claim, are on the investment banker page.
Why can carried interest lower a partner's benefit?
Carried interest can lower a partner's benefit because Principal, MassMutual, and Ameritas reduce the coverage they will issue when unearned income runs above half of earned income. MassMutual frames it as a question of need, since large unearned income can reduce or remove the need for coverage, and Principal and Ameritas apply the same half-of-earned-income test.
| Carrier | Unearned income ignored up to | How the excess reduces the benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Half of earned income | Half of the monthly excess comes off the maximum benefit |
| Half of earned income | The excess is halved, divided by 12, and subtracted from the limit. Very large unearned income can lead to a decline |
| Half of earned income | Half of the remaining monthly unearned income is deducted from the benefit |
| No offset formula | Capital gains simply do not count toward the limit |
| No offset formula printed | Passive income may be counted as unearned income |
Take an illustrative partner with $500,000 of salary, bonus and ordinary K-1 income and $400,000 of carry and co-investment gains in the same year. Earned income is $41,667 a month, so half of it is $20,833. The gains run $33,333 a month, which leaves $12,500 above the line. Half of that excess, $6,250, comes off a maximum that would otherwise sit near $18,000 at $500,000 of earned income, leaving roughly $11,750 a month at the three offset carriers before any group coverage is counted.
A vice president whose carry has not yet paid out generally stays below the line, which is why the offset is a partner-level problem. The timing is lumpy, too. A fund that distributes heavily in the year before an application can push one year's unearned income over the threshold while the year after shows almost none, and the carriers read the returns in front of them. Principal and Ameritas also route applicants with net worth above $20 million to individual review, and MassMutual says applicants with substantial unearned income may be declined.
Do the contracts count carry when a partial claim is paid?
A total disability claim pays the monthly benefit stated in the policy whatever your investment income, so the definitions below matter for partial (residual) claims and recovery benefits, where the carrier compares income before and after the disability. Most of the forms exclude capital gains outright, and two write a narrower exclusion.
| Carrier | Investment income and capital gains | Investment-type income tied to your own work |
|---|---|---|
| Listed as Unearned Income, outside Income | Counted when it results from your work or personal services |
| Excluded from Earnings, capital gains named | No carve-back printed |
| Listed as Unearned Income, outside Income | No carve-back printed |
| Excluded from monthly earnings, capital gains named | No carve-back printed |
| Excluded from Earnings | Counted when it results from vocational activity you perform |
Guardian's Provider Choice (form ICC16 18ID) counts Unearned Income as Income only "if the Unearned Income is the result of Your work or personal services." The Standard's Platinum Advantage (form ICC17-B180) excludes investments, dividends and capital gains "as long as it is not the result of vocational activity you perform." Principal's Income Protector (form ICC22-800) excludes "capital gains, income received from any form of deferred compensation," MassMutual's Radius Choice (form ICC15-XLIS-RC) lists "investment income, including, but not limited to, interest, dividends and capital gains" as Unearned Income, and Ameritas's DInamic Cornerstone (form ICC21 4601NC) ends its exclusion list with "capital gains, or any other form of unearned income." Contract language varies by state and edition, and the issued policy governs. Our disability insurance contract language library hosts each specimen.
Neither carve-back clause names carried interest. Carry is paid for managing a fund, which is why the question arises, but whether a given carry stream is the result of your work would be the carrier's decision on the facts of a claim, and we would not size coverage on the assumption that it counts. For a partner in a weak year, Ameritas's residual rider (form ICC21 EPRES) says "If prior monthly earnings are determined to be less than or equal to zero, then no residual benefits will be paid," so a partner whose K-1 showed losses across the look-back years could find the partial benefit unavailable.
How does a firm's group plan change the individual policy you can buy?
Group long-term disability counts against the participation limits carriers apply to total coverage, so a firm plan reduces the individual benefit you can add. Each carrier discounts or subtracts the group benefit its own way, and partners paid through a K-1 often get less favorable treatment than W-2 employees.
| Carrier | How group LTD is counted | Partners and LLC members |
|---|---|---|
| An employer-paid group benefit is discounted 30% before it is subtracted, when you pay for the individual policy | The full group amount is subtracted, and employer-paid limits are unavailable |
| 70% of a taxable group benefit is subtracted from an individually paid policy | Individual-pay limits only |
| An employer-paid group benefit is discounted 30%. Combined coverage reaches $40,000 at 5A and 4A | Not separately stated |
| 30% discount only when the group plan is fully employer-paid and integrated with Social Security | No group discount for partners, S-corp owners and most LLCs |
| Counted inside its $35,000 limit, though an employer-paid plan may net more | Not eligible for employer-paid limits |
Take an illustrative firm plan paying $15,000 a month, employer-paid. A carrier that discounts it 30% counts $10,500 against your combined limit, while one that subtracts the full amount counts all $15,000, a $4,500 difference in the room left for an individual policy. In our experience placing coverage for finance professionals, a generous-looking group plan is a frequent reason the individual offer comes in below what income alone would support, and the gap is widest when that plan insures base salary only. None of the five carriers prints a separate rule for a group plan that leaves bonus uninsured.
Is a private equity firm's group disability plan enough?
A private equity firm's group disability plan generally leaves a large gap for a high earner. Employer group long-term disability plans typically cap the monthly benefit at $10,000 to $15,000, commonly define covered pay as base salary, and stay with the firm when you leave.
In the Seaworthy 2026 High Earner AI and Income Protection Survey (n=1,028 employed adults in $100,000-plus households, September 2026), 63 finance and accounting respondents had employer-only disability coverage and earned bonus, commission, or equity pay. Of those, 36.5% believed the employer plan replaced that pay and 12.7% did not know, 49% combined, against 40% of all 546 respondents with employer coverage and variable pay. Treat the finance figure as directional, because the group is small and covers finance and accounting broadly rather than private equity alone.
Taxes widen the gap. Per IRS Publication 525, "In most cases, you must report as income any amount you receive for personal injury or sickness through an accident or health plan that is paid for by your employer." A $15,000 group benefit paid by the firm is therefore worth less after tax than the same individual benefit bought with after-tax premiums, and group own-occupation coverage is usually time-limited before an any-occupation test applies. How your own benefit would be taxed depends on who pays the premium and how, so check it with a tax professional, and see the group versus individual comparison for each plan gap.
How much monthly benefit can a private equity partner buy?
A private equity partner's individual benefit is capped by earned income before anything else, at about $13,300 a month on $300,000 and about $18,000 on $500,000 under the carriers' 2026 issue and participation limits, with group benefits subtracted. Offers from one carrier typically land around $20,000 a month for high earners, so partners above that level combine carriers or use programs built for the top of the range.
| Carrier | Cap at the top finance classes | Room above a single policy |
|---|---|---|
| $30,000 issue at classes 6 through 3 | A catastrophic rider can add up to $12,500 above its limits |
| $35,000 issue through age 60 | Net worth above $20 million goes to underwriter review |
| $35,000 issue at 5A and 4A, $40,000 with group LTD | Executive Select for 5A and 4A clients earning $800,000 or more, up to $60,000 a month |
| $35,000 at 6A, 5A and 4A | Its supplemental layer is unavailable when group LTD is in place |
| $35,000 at 5A and 4A | Lloyd's of London applied for at the same time does not reduce a maximum-limit policy |
 | Excess coverage, set case by case | With its residual rider, benefits from all sources capped at 65% of average earned income |
MassMutual's Executive Select insures up to roughly half of income for a client who also has group LTD in place, about a quarter without it, with a possible monthly maximum of $60,000, and MassMutual does not offer it in California, Florida or Puerto Rico. The Standard's stacking rule requires the applicant to be applying for, and eligible for, the maximum issue and participation for the occupation class, and has to apply to Lloyd's at the same time. Otherwise the Lloyd's coverage counts inside The Standard's limits.
Lloyd's coverage, which Seaworthy uses through Petersen International Underwriters only as excess above the five carriers or for cases they will not write, has its own income rules. Petersen certificate form PDI111521 defines Earned Income to include "Non-passive income reported on Your personal tax return," which reaches ordinary K-1 income, and an endorsement issued with the residual rider caps benefits from all sources at 65% of average earned income, counting group and Social Security benefits. Under that endorsement a lower-earning year can reduce the Lloyd's benefit at claim. Mental and nervous disorders are excluded on that form rather than limited.
What does disability insurance cost in private equity?
Seaworthy's 2026 quote study prices $10,000 a month for a private equity professional earning $250,000 or more at $135 to $680 a month across the five carriers, from a 30-year-old man on a 180-day wait to a 45-year-old woman with inflation protection and a 90-day wait. A real quote will differ with your age, health, class, state, and carrier. The table prices Guardian at 5, Principal 5A, Ameritas 5A, and MassMutual and The Standard at the 5A class each gives investment bankers at $250,000.
| Profile | Monthly benefit | 180-day wait | 180-day wait + inflation protection | 90-day wait + inflation protection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male, 30 | $10,000 | $135–$225 | $165–$240 | $210–$265 |
| Female, 30 | $10,000 | $235–$350 | $290–$390 | $365–$460 |
| Male, 35 | $10,000 | $160–$270 | $195–$290 | $245–$320 |
| Female, 35 | $10,000 | $285–$425 | $330–$465 | $435–$510 |
| Male, 45 | $10,000 | $235–$420 | $265–$450 | $345–$480 |
| Female, 45 | $10,000 | $360–$580 | $405–$635 | $580–$680 |
Lowest to highest carrier, monthly, 2026 prices, Texas basis, with the 5% electronic-application discount at the carriers that offer one. Figures include residual coverage, the no-cost increase riders, and the own-occupation rider at carriers that sell one separately. They exclude the catastrophic disability rider, and inflation protection appears only where a column says so.
Use the 35-year-old as the worked case. On the 180-day design he pays $160 to $270 and she pays $285 to $425. The table above shows the inflation-protection and 90-day designs, and the 30 and 45 rows on either side of that age.
A partner sizing a larger benefit can scale the figures, allowing for rounding, because premiums rose in a straight line with the monthly benefit at every carrier in the study, with no policy fee, through $25,000 a month. A $15,000 benefit on the 180-day design is $240 to $410 for the 35-year-old man and $430 to $640 for the woman. New York ran from the same as Texas to about 15% above, California about 8 to 47% above depending on carrier, class, and age (some carriers sell a different California contract), and a benefit to age 67 instead of 65 added about 4 to 18%.
Every cell includes true own-occupation, residual disability benefits, the carriers' no-cost increase riders, and benefits to age 65, priced before employer and association discounts. These classes need no mental and nervous limitation on a Texas basis, so none is priced in, and MassMutual's prices include the endorsement that removes its built-in 24-month limit. The study applied no occupation discount, so an applicant who qualifies for The Standard's preferred occupation discount could see a lower price there than these ranges show. The study drew on carrier illustrations run in August and October 2026 at ages 28 through 60 and benefits of $5,000 through $25,000, with the age-30 rows interpolated, female prices set from each carrier's measured female-to-male ratio, and the 180-day columns from each carrier's own measured 180-day factor. The white-collar carrier comparison prices each step down a class ladder from the same study.
How does a partial claim work when a partner's deal load drops?
A partial claim pays when a sickness or injury cuts your income without ending your work, such as a partner who can still advise portfolio companies but can no longer run a full deal process. Residual coverage is on more than 95% of the policies in Seaworthy's placed book (2026 audit), since a disability more often trims income than ends a career outright, and the residual disability benefits guide explains the formula.
In private equity the loss has to come from the disability, so a fund that misses its hurdle in a bad market does not create a claim, and the look-back period decides which years of carry-free earnings set the baseline. Our quants and traders page quotes each contract's causation wording and compares the look-back periods for swinging pay.
Can private equity professionals get own-occupation and full mental health coverage?
Generally yes at the classes private equity roles reach. Guardian's Premier package carries a true own-occupation definition at classes 6 through 3, Ameritas builds it into the base definition, Principal writes it as a definition option, and MassMutual and The Standard add it through an Own Occupation Rider available from 3A. No finance occupation is on the lists that force a 24-month mental and nervous limitation, though California limits mental and nervous benefits at every carrier we place. The hub sets out each carrier's route in one table.
How does Seaworthy compare carriers for private equity professionals?
Seaworthy sends a private equity professional's file to Guardian, Principal, MassMutual, Ameritas, and The Standard and compares the class each assigns to the duties described, how each reads the K-1 and the bonus history, whether unearned income triggers an offset, and price. We gather the returns first, because how carry, salary, and K-1 income are reported on the returns decides the benefit before any underwriter looks at health.
Carriers attached an exclusion or rating to about 28% of the policies in Seaworthy's placed book (2026 audit). In our experience, when an exclusion looks unsupported by the record, contesting it with the underwriter and taking the file to another carrier pays off, and over more than 15 years placing individual coverage we have repeatedly seen unjustified exclusions lifted or narrowed, often around two years after issue once the record stays clean. Start with a side-by-side quote comparison, or read our executive disability insurance page if your firm role is closer to an operating executive than an investor.