Unitised insurance funds are a form of collective investment offered through life assurance policies. A Collective Investment Scheme is a way of investing money with other people to participate in a wider range of investments than may be feasable for a individual investor and to share the costs of doing so. ... Life Assurance (Life Insurance in US English) is an undefined legal term which relates to policies or contracts which contain an element that is contingent on human life. ...
Mainly found in the UK and British Isles offshore juristictions, both single premium and regular premium policies offer access to wide range and types of assets for all types of investors. The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ...
Nature of funds
The funds are open-ended investments made available through life assurance companies. Unlike most collective investments there is no independent body tasked with safeguarding the assets. The company may manage, promote and hold the assets on behalf of the policyholders. The policyholders have rights to the assets but do not own the units, nor are they readily redeemable.
This said, in practise life companies tend to be well regulated and depend on their reputation which ensures consumer confidence when investing.
Load funds are sold through financial intermediaries such as brokers, financial planners, and other types of registered representatives who charge a commission for their services.
Most mutual funds' investment portfolios are continually adjusted under the supervision of a professional manager, who forecasts the future performance of investments appropriate for the fund and chooses the ones which he or she believes will most closely match the fund's stated investment objective.
In the United Kingdom the term "mutual fund" may be confusing due to the existence of building societies and mutual life companies which in law are owned by their members and which have no share holders to distribute profits to and consequently are referred to as "mutuals".
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