Term, endowment, whole life
Term pays if death falls in-window, usually with no cash value and lower pure-risk cost; renewable/convertible and decreasing (often mortgage-aligned) are common variants. Endowment blends death cover with a survival maturity payout—usually costlier. Whole life is designed for lifetime cover; pay continuous or limited-pay; cash value often builds—“whole life” ≠ “pay forever.”
Universal life and unit-linked / ILAS
Universal life offers flexible premiums and adjustable death benefits, but unbundled charges mean the policy can still lapse if cash value cannot fund cost of insurance and expenses—flexibility is a management duty. Unit-linked/ILAS values track chosen funds; investment risk sits largely with the client. Depth belongs in Paper 5 / site ILAS pages—here, remember who owns the risk.
Annuity, QDAP framing and group cover
Immediate annuities convert capital into near-term cashflow; deferred annuities accumulate then pay. HK public annuity and QDAP sit as retirement-income / tax-eligibility concepts in education—no product pitch, no yields. Group life often uses an employer/association master policy: efficient while in-scheme, but leaving the job can end cover unless a conversion privilege exists; the employee is not the owner.
Study tips
- Five columns—term/endowment/whole/UL/ILAS—write who bears risk in each
- On leaving a group scheme: conversion privilege or a new personal policy?