Legal issues relating to investment based insurance and pension products.

Abstract

As State pensions dwindle, globally, at an increasingly alarming rate, our post-retirement earnings have become increasingly dependent on life insurance policies, retirement savings plans and other supplementary pension products. Throughout this study I shall seek to highlight the salient legal issues relating to investment oriented insurance policies and pension schemes. Part One - Introduction; provides an overview of these products, their development and their permutations in time and space. Part Two - Insurance Based Investment Products; considers the various legal and regulatory issues attaching to investment linked insurance policies and their providers, particularly in the context of Maltese law. Part Three - Funded Pension Products; provides an insight into supplementary pension schemes and funds and addresses various legal issues relating to these products and their operators. In the absence of specific legislation governing funded pension schemes in Malta, Part Three also seeks to pave the way for prospective legislation by submitting proposals for a legal framework to govern these products in Malta. Terminology It is sometimes said that the proper description of the contract, which inures a life, is 'life assurance' and not 'life insurance'. The reason is simply that death is assured of happening, unlike other risks covered by insurance contracts. This usage is however not universal and the two terms are generally used interchangeably in most textbooks, articles and jurisprudence. Accordingly, throughout this study, unless the context otherwise requires, the words 'insurance' and 'assurance' are used synonymously, in respect of life policies. Matthew Bianchi June, 2001