In general, these companies issue fixed income debt securities that obligate the issuer to pay a fixed sum at a future date.
[1] A face-amount certificate (FAC) is a contract between an investor and an issuer in which the issuer guarantees payment of a stated (face amount) sum to the investor at some set date in the future.
In return for this future payment, the investor agrees to pay the issuer a set amount of money either as a lump sum or in periodic installments.
If the investor pays for the certificate in a lump sum, the investment is known as a fully paid face amount certificate.
Issuers of these investments are face-amount certificate companies.