Don’t know what Investment-linked Insurance Policies are? Here Are 5 Things You Need to Know

Investment-linked policies (ILPs) are essentially a comprehensive insurance solution that can fulfill both protection needs and wealth accumulation goals. You have the flexibility to adjust your coverage and/or your financial goals depending on your lifestyle, stage of life and needs.

If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you may be considering purchasing such an insurance policy, or you’re just curious and doing research on different types of insurance plans in general. To help you make your decision, here are 5 things about this type of insurance you need to know:

1. What is an investment-linked plan (ILP)?

ILPs are insurance plans with both protection and investment elements in its structure. Some of these are paid through regular premiums – with options for policyholders to pay for them on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis. Regular premium ILPs also give you the flexibility to adjust your insurance protection. Separately, there are also single premium ILPs where you pay for your premiums in a lump sum.  

Whole of Life ILPs offers a range of choice of the amount of coverage for a chosen budget and allows you the flexibility to change the coverage amounts as your needs evolve, and is a good all-in-one insurance solution. There are also wealth accumulation plans that help you put in place a long-term savings programme, giving you choices of funds that suit your risk profile.

So what do ILPs invest into? On the investment front, most insurers will have carefully selected pre-packaged portfolio funds to cater for customers who are not as active as investors or have basic investment knowledge and who prefer to leave the portfolio management to the fund manager. For customers who are more investment savvy and prefer to be hands-on, the class of funds invested into can be selected based on their expectations and objectives through ‘investment units’. Do note that the value of the invested units depend on performance. ILPs usually do not have guaranteed cash values, so the upside or downside depends on what they are invested into. Regular review with a financial advisory representative is important as it ensures that the ILP remains relevant to one’s needs.

On the protection side, these insurance plans typically cover policyholders for death, total and permanent disability (TPD) and terminal illness, and riders can be added for additional coverage. Depending on the policy bought, the policyholder’s death or TPD benefit could comprise a combination of the sum assured and/or the value of the units in the sub-fund.

2. How are ILPs different from other types of insurance policies? 

Here’s a quick summary of the main difference between 3 types of life insurance policies: Term Policy, Participating Policy, and Investment-Linked Policies.

3. ILPs could be a good first insurance policy

The usual advice is for first-jobbers to get a term life plan as it is affordable. Then you build on this with different types of insurance plans – for example a personal accident plan, health insurance, critical illness insurance, maybe a second or third term life plan, mortgage insurance and so on.

However, the protection & investment-focused insurance plan is a good alternative to consider. As you grow in your career, you can increase the protection coverage and premium amount, at the same time, know that your plan also has the potential for an investment yield, according to your needs.

Say you get married, buy a house and start a family. A policy such as GREAT Life Advantage 3 gives you the flexibility to increase your coverage as you hit certain life stages without the need for an additional medical assessment. Plus, it also offers free Child Cover Benefit for every child, including your future children. Adjustable coverage starts from as low as $100 a month.

In comparison, while a Term Plan may require a lower outlay for the same level of protection, it doesn’t accumulate any cash value nor offer flexibility in coverage. If you are investing on a long term basis, the ILP fund value can grow with you as you go through your different life stages.

4. Some Common Misconceptions about ILPs

Misconception 1: ILPs are only investment focused, are too rigid and do not offer flexibility

ILPs are essentially insurance plans, and you are able to control your coverage based on your protection needs. You can reduce your cover when your children have grown up and liabilities are paid off to focus the allocation towards accumulation for retirement. If you’re a savvy investor, you could also look into switching sub-funds depending on market conditions and your financial goals. ILPs may help you to achieve your short-term and long-term goals faster due to the investment component of the plan.

Misconception 2: My money is 100% locked in

Some ILPs allow for partial withdrawals as long as you maintain a minimum value of units. You can make single-premium top-ups to help you grow your investment, and your insurer may even include bonuses along the way to help you along. In short, ILPs can be flexible — so go ahead and withdraw that much-deserved lump sum for your anticipated holiday once Covid-19 blows over!

Misconception 3: ILPs have low insurance benefit

This is not true. Remember, ILPs are at the core, insurance plans. How much protection coverage really depends on which ILP you pick — one that is protection-heavy or one with a stronger wealth accumulation focus.

The latter will naturally have a much lower protection benefit as you’re channelling most of your premiums into the investment sub-fund and protection remains basic. With the protection-focused ILP, you can allocate more for protection including critical illness coverage through add-on riders or get higher coverage as you need it.

5. Monitoring and Managing Your ILPs

Many policyholders don’t actively manage such insurance plans. However, some insurers offer convenient ways for you to monitor and manage your ILPs. For example, through the Great Eastern App, our customers have the flexibility to manage their ILPs (and monitor other Great Eastern policies), even at 2am when the day is done or if you are awake having soothed the baby.

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Terms and Conditions apply. Protected up to specified limits by SDIC.

Investments in these plans are subject to investment risks including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. The value of the units in the Fund(s) and the income accruing to the units, if any, may fall or rise. Please refer to Fund Details and Product Highlights Sheet for the specific risks of the Fund(s). Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

Article is written in conjunction with MoneySmart.