What are investment products that the insurance market offers? The unit-linked and index-linked

There are several products that the insurance market offers here is how to move among the offerings. And the results of a recent collection of data on the trend of last year Ania

Investments in insurance are traditionally associated with the idea of safety and protection of the portfolio. And this is surely one of the great strengths of the life insurance capital protected or guaranteed, adopting management mechanisms to limit the loss of value of the investment even in the face of adverse market movements. But the insurance market today has a large number of products, each with its own characteristics and advantages or disadvantages.

The two main categories of insurance that is purely financial nature are the unit-linked and index-linked policies. In the first case, the share paid by the insured is intended to investment funds that are managed by the same insurance companies or from companies specializing. The index-linked policies, however, are linked to the performance of an underlying index through the use of derivative instruments for investment.

Other types of insurance have a nature that is halfway between investment and protection. This is the case of annuity policies: products that provide, at maturity, a monthly remuneration the amount of which depends on the premiums paid and by market. And if the insured, unfortunately, had to die before the deadline? The endowment policies it is unaffected by this opportunity, why pay directly to the beneficiaries specified in the contract a capital that serves as a form of compensation. Separate chapter for Pip, individual pension plans, which represent a real form of supplementary pension private.

 

In choosing a financial policy, then, one must carefully consider two additional factors: the rate of relegation, which indicates the gross return of the recognized management to the customer (a rate of 90% means that 90% of performance is attributed to the holder the policy, while 10% is held by the company), and the technical rate, ie the guaranteed minimum return of the policy.

 

The variety of instruments and the related security policies are the main benefits of insurance as an investment. In addition there are some aspects of the tax treatment: the premiums paid to underwrite life insurance policies for insurance purposes, in fact, are deductible for 19% up to a limit of about 1,291 Euros. In addition, if the insured dies, the compensation shall be paid to his heirs is not subject to estate tax. If you look at the unit-linked or index, that part of capital under management, which is reinvested in bonds benefits from the reduced rate of 12.50% instead of 20 percent.

 

The downside of this is given by the costs. The policies are not cheap products. You have to pay monthly premiums, the tax rate on financial income, the boots that cover the cost of management by the insurance company. In 2010, the average gross yield management of life in Italy was 4.7%, while between 2002 and 2008 amounted to approximately 3.5%. But net of taxes and loadings (variables company in the company) the relationship between investment and performance is significantly reduced.

Performance aside, in the first half of 2012, the subscriptions of new life insurance policies have dropped dramatically. According to the latest data Ania, from July 2011 to July 2012, the new production of prizes for the life insurance was reduced by 15.5 percent. The negative trend is directly linked to the crisis: Italians today are directed primarily toward the instruments capital protected or guaranteed, to defend their savings. But the banks, looking for capital, they prefer to place their bonds rather than proposing policies of life insurance companies.

 

25/09/2012

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Translated via software

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Source:

Italian version of ReteIngegneri.it