Guaranteed Investment Fund - GIF

A type of investment product offered by insurance companies that allows its client to invest in an equity, bond and/or index fund while providing a promise that some predefined minimum value of the fund (usually, the initial investment amount) will be available at the fund's maturity or when the client dies. Insurance companies usually charge up to 1% of the investment amount per year for this service.

Some guaranteed investment funds also give people the opportunity to "reset" the guaranteed amount during specific periods of time. This allows investors to lock in greater sums in the event that they incur a large capital gain.

For example, suppose an investor near retirement age had invested $500,000 into this fund and after a incredible bull run, his investment grows to $585,000 in a year. By resetting the guarantee at this point in time, the investor has now guaranteed that he will at the very least receive $585,000.