Who Assumes The Risk In A Variable Annuity? 
In Canada , variable annuities are often referred to as segregated funds or seg funds . They are similar to mutual funds , but since they are issued by insurance companies that have certain maturity and death benefits guarantees . Some even include locking in or resetting of the guarantees to `` lock in '' market gain . The insurance company does provide some guarantees , however , any amount that is allocated to a segregated fund is invested at the risk of the policy owner and may increase or decrease in value . A description of the key features of the segregated fund policy issued by the insurance company is contained in the information folder . If you have further questions , or feel that I could be of assistance , please do not hesitate to contact me . If you would like to work with a local life insurance broker , you could start with a Google search . For example , if you search for life insurance broker Halifax or life insurance agent Halifax , my name , along with several others , will come up . You can use the same method to find a life insurance broker in your community . 