Guaranteed Interest Account
A Guaranteed Interest Account (GIA), is a deposit type product that offers a range of holding periods, from one to five or more years, during which the posted interest rate is guaranteed. GIAs are offered by insurance companies and operate similar to a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC). GIAs are also known as "guaranteed interest contracts", "guaranteed interest annuities", or "accumulation annuities".[1]
Because they are offered by a life insurance company they have different guarantees, and the added benefits of a beneficiary designation and potential creditor protection.[2] GIAs may be offered for terms of up to 10 years.
GIA's are guaranteed in the event of issuer insolvency by Assuris. If your life insurance company fails, your Accumulation Annuity policy will be transferred to a solvent company. On transfer, Assuris guarantees that you will retain 100% of the Accumulated Value up to $100,000.[3] If you want to buy more than $100k in GIAs, get them from different insurance companies since "Assuris protects each member company separately".[3]
GIAs can be purchased from advisors licensed to sell life insurance (including many advisors at full-service investment dealers and independent deposit brokers), as well as insurance company agents.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Ontario Securities Commission, How GIAs work, updated August 30, 2021, viewed November 20, 2021.
- ^ Manulife Investment Management (an issuer of GIAs), Guaranteed interest accounts, November 17, 2020, viewed November 20, 2021.
- ^ a b Assuris - Accumulation Annuity, viewed November 20, 2021.
- ^ Ontario Securities Commission, How to buy GIAs, updated August 30, 2021, viewed November 20, 2021.