[1] An insurance company's contract may offer a choice of unit-linked funds to invest in.
Insurers that offer these contracts are mainly found in the UK and British Isles offshore financial centres.
Typically the externally managed fund links have higher charges; this is tolerated as the expectation is for better returns.
Unlike most collective investments, there is no independent body tasked with safeguarding the assets.
This said, in practice life insurance companies tend to be well–regulated and depend on their reputation which ensures consumer confidence when investing.