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Participating Policy
A with-profits policy ( Commonwealth) or participating policy (U.S.) is an insurance contract that participates in the profits of a life insurance company. The company is often a mutual life insurance company, or had been one when it began its with-profits product line. Similar arrangements are found in other countries such as those in continental Europe. With-profits policies evolved over many years. Originally they developed as a means of distributing unplanned surplus, arising e.g. from lower than anticipated death rates. More recently they have been used to provide flexibility to pursue a more adventurous investment policy to aim to achieve long-term capital growth. They have been accepted as a form of long-term collective investment whereby the investor chooses the insurance company based on factors such as financial strength, historic returns and the terms of the contracts offered. The premiums paid by with-profits and non-profit policyholders are pooled within the insu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations amongst member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smoothing
In statistics and image processing, to smooth a data set is to create an approximating function that attempts to capture important patterns in the data, while leaving out noise or other fine-scale structures/rapid phenomena. In smoothing, the data points of a signal are modified so individual points higher than the adjacent points (presumably because of noise) are reduced, and points that are lower than the adjacent points are increased leading to a smoother signal. Smoothing may be used in two important ways that can aid in data analysis (1) by being able to extract more information from the data as long as the assumption of smoothing is reasonable and (2) by being able to provide analyses that are both flexible and robust. Many different algorithms are used in smoothing. Smoothing may be distinguished from the related and partially overlapping concept of curve fitting in the following ways: * curve fitting often involves the use of an explicit function form for the result, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurance Company
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss. An entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, insurance carrier, or underwriter. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as a policyholder, while a person or entity covered under the policy is called an insured. The insurance transaction involves the policyholder assuming a guaranteed, known, and relatively small loss in the form of a payment to the insurer (a premium) in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate the insured in the event of a covered loss. The loss may or may not be financial, but it must be reducible to financial terms. Furthermore, it usually involves something in which the insured has an insurable interest established by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurance Bond
An insurance bond (or investment bond) is a single premium life assurance policy for the purposes of investment. Due to tax laws they are a common form of investment in the UK and some offshore centres. Traditionally insurance bonds were with-profits policies and were often called ''with-profit(s) bonds''. Since the introduction of unitised insurance funds they have often been marketed as ''unit-linked bonds'' or ''investment bonds''. Why invest in an insurance bond? The decision of which 'wrapper' to place funds within (i.e. onshore bond, offshore bond or collective) can be complex and is based upon the tax position of the investor, the treatment of each tax wrapper, the likely growth and investment term. Insurance bonds can be useful vehicles for minimizing tax as they do not incur the 50% CGT reduction on assets held for 12 months or more. Useful features of Bonds for tax planning scenarios include the tax deferred status, the ability to write the investment in trust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endowment Mortgage
An endowment mortgage is a mortgage loan arranged on an interest-only basis where the capital is intended to be repaid by one or more (usually Low-Cost) endowment policies. The phrase "endowment mortgage" is used mainly in the United Kingdom by lenders and consumers to refer to this arrangement and is not a legal term. The borrower has two separate agreements: one with the ''lender'' for the ''mortgage'', and one with the ''insurer'' for the ''endowment policy''. The arrangements are distinct and the borrower can change either arrangement if they wish. In the past the endowment policy was often taken as an additional security by the lender. That is, the lender applied a legal device to ensure the proceeds of the endowment were made payable to them rather than the borrower; typically the policy is assigned to the lender. This practice is uncommon now. Reasons for an endowment mortgage The customer pays only the interest on the capital borrowed, thus reducing the monthly p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endowment Policy
An endowment policy is a life insurance contract designed to pay a lump sum after a specific term (on its 'maturity') or on death. Typical maturities are ten, fifteen or twenty years up to a certain age limit. Some policies also pay out in the case of critical illness. Policies are typically traditional with-profits or unit-linked (including those with unitised with-profits funds the holder then receives the surrender value which is determined by the insurance company depending on how long the policy has been running and how much has been paid into it. Pension insurance provides many benefits. They can be used as a low-risk way to save. Policyholders can choose how much to pay each month and how long they want to stay, usually for 10 or 20 years. Traditional with profits endowments There is an amount guaranteed to be paid out called the sum assured and this can be increased on the basis of investment performance through the addition of periodic (for example annual) bonuses. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurance Information Institute
The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) is a U.S. industry association which exists "to improve public understanding of insurance – what it does and how it works." Founded in 1959, the organization is based in New York City. Since 1989 the I.I.I. has held 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status (defined as business leagues, chambers of commerce, boards of trade, and the like).Insurance Information Institute Inc. (Nonprofit Explorer profile). . propublica.org. Retrieved 2017-10-21. The I.I.I. web site provides information for consumers, the media, researchers and the general public on a wide range of topics, including |
National Association Of Insurance Commissioners
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. Mission and function Through the NAIC, state insurance regulators establish standards and best practices, conduct peer review, and coordinate their regulatory oversight. NAIC staff supports these efforts and represents the collective views of state regulators domestically and internationally. NAIC members, together with the central resources of the NAIC, form the national system of state-based insurance regulation in the U.S. The NAIC is an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The NAIC acts as a forum for the creation of model laws and regulations. Each state decides whether to pass each NAIC model law or regulation, and each state may make changes in the enactment process, but the models are widely, alb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent Financial Adviser
Independent financial advisers (IFAs) are professionals who offer independent advice on financial matters to their clients and recommend suitable financial products from the ''whole of the market''. The term was developed to reflect a United Kingdom (UK) regulatory position and has a specific UK meaning, although it has been adopted in other parts of the world, such as Hong Kong. The term "independent financial adviser" was coined to describe the advisers working independently for their clients rather than representing an insurance company, bank or bancassurer. At the time (1988) the UK government was introducing the polarisation regime which forced advisers to either be tied to a single insurer or product provider or to be an independent practitioner. The term is commonly used in the United Kingdom where IFAs are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and must meet strict qualification and competence requirements. Typically an independent financial adviser will con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Equitable Life Assurance Society
The Equitable Life Assurance Society (Equitable Life), founded in 1762, is a life insurance company in the United Kingdom. The world's oldest mutual insurer, it pioneered age-based premiums based on mortality rate, laying "the framework for scientific insurance practice and development" and "the basis of modern life assurance upon which all life assurance schemes were subsequently based". After closing to new business in 2000, parts of the business were sold off and the remainder of the company became a subsidiary of Utmost Life and Pensions in January 2020. At its peak in the 1990s, Equitable had 1.5 million policyholders with funds worth £26 billion under management, but it had allowed large unhedged liabilities to accumulate in respect of guaranteed fixed returns to investors without making provision for adverse market changes. Many policyholders lost half their life savings, and the company came close to collapse. Following a July 2000 House of Lords ruling and the fai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985. Its board was appointed by the Treasury, although it operated independently of government. It was structured as a company limited by guarantee and was funded entirely by fees charged to the financial services industry. Due to perceived regulatory failure of the banks during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the UK government decided to restructure financial regulation and abolish the FSA. On 19 December 2012, the ''Financial Services Act 2012'' received royal assent, abolishing the FSA with effect from 1 April 2013. Its responsibilities were then split between two new agencies: the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority of the Bank of England. Until its abolition, Lord Turner of Ecchinswell was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bear Market
A market trend is a perceived tendency of financial markets to move in a particular direction over time. Analysts classify these trends as ''secular'' for long time-frames, ''primary'' for medium time-frames, and ''secondary'' for short time-frames. Traders attempt to identify market trends using technical analysis, a framework which characterizes market trends as predictable price tendencies within the market when price reaches support and resistance levels, varying over time. A market trend can only be determined in hindsight, since at any time prices in the future are not known. Market terminology The terms "bull market" and "bear market" describe upward and downward market trends, respectively, and can be used to describe either the market as a whole or specific sectors and securities. The terms come from London's Exchange Alley in the early 18th century, where traders who engaged in naked short selling were called "bear-skin jobbers" because they sold a bear's skin (the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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