Life insurance in unit : p lacing guaranteed safe ?
The real financial risks of unit- linked contracts
Diversity of reference values. Until the 1970s, life insurance contracts were denominated in currency. In such contracts, even today distributed, the financial risk is in principle borne by the insurer that guarantees does the payment of capital or annuity at the end of the contract and under conditions laid down by it. Subject to the various contract costs (entry fees, payment fees , management fees, arbitration fees), the annual remuneration of a contract in euros consists of a guaranteed minimum interest rate and a profit sharing, paid at the end of the year, variable according to the results of the portfolio of assets managed by the insurer.
However, these currency life insurance contracts were gradually replaced by contracts in units of account largely financial as compounds and related securities, consisting of multi-support contracts both carriers in euros and supports investment in units of account, called vehicles with variable capital (UCITS issuing SICAV shares or FCP units, etc.), and contracts in euros diversified to hybrid vehicles between unit-linked contracts and those in euros ( Insurance C., art. L. 142-1 to L. 142-5).
Statistics . In the first ten months of 2011, the share holders in units of account in all insurance contributions s -life was 15%, against 14% in 2010 (source : FFSA Studies. Statistics Life insurance 7/12/2011). Moreover, in 2010, 23% of contributions Retirement Savings Plans po p ular (PERP), created by the Fillon law of 21 August 2003 on pensions had been spent on media in units of account (source : FFSA / GEMA, August 2011, cited in the CCSF report 2010/2011, chap. 5, p. 10). As of December 31, 2010, 2.1 million people had subscribed to a P ERP in order to build up a retirement supplement mainly in the form of the payment of a life annuity.
Prudential rules. In all these cases, the units of account are made up of securities or assets offeringsufficient protection for the savings invested (C. assur., L. 131-1, para. 2). Under the terms of article R.332-2 of the Insurance Code, they can be composed of transferable securities, also called financial securities, listed or not on the regulated markets, and similar securities (shares, bonds, SICAV shares, mutual fund or debt units, etc.). They can also be made up of real estate assets, loans and deposits (According to the FFSA, in 2010, unit-linked contracts were invested on average 50% in equities, 35% in bonds, the rest in monetary assets and real estate). With these contracts, the risk is assumed, this time, by the insured whose invested savings evolve upwards or downwards depending on the values which serve as a reference. Indeed, the insurer undertakes on the number of units of account and not on their values which are subject to fluctuations in the financial markets with the risks that this presupposes. For this reason, unit-linked contracts are subject to reinforced information with regard to the subscriber.
Reinforcement of the subscriber's pre -contractual information. Prior to the formation of the contract, the informative box mentioned in Article L. 132-5-2 of the Insurance Code must indicate “ for contracts whose rights are expressed in units of account […] in very visible characters that the amounts invested in unit- linked media are not guaranteed but are subject to upward or downward fluctuations depending in particular on the evolution of the financial markets ”(A. 132-8, I, 2 °, b). As for the units of account , they must be stated in the contract (R. 132- 4 in fine ). Thecontract must also specify the date on which the premiums paid are converted into units of account and, if applicable, the periodic valuation dates used to determine the values of the latter during the year ( ibid .). It must also provide the means by which, in case of disappearance of a unit of account, another of the same nature may be substituted him by a contract amendment (R. 131- 1 in fine ). Finally, during the course of the contract, the subscriber receives annual information on the value of the units of account selected, their annual change and the significant modifications affecting each of them (L. 132-22, al. 9 ; A . 132-7. IV).
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