The TEP Exchange accepts all types of with-profit endowment policies.

Policy types:

Traditional Endowments
These policies are the back-bone of the traded endowment policy market. The popularity of these policies is that the amount payable on maturity (or death) is the guaranteed sum assured, plus any accrued bonuses. Due to the variable nature of future bonuses, it is not possible to guarantee what the eventual pay outs might be, so projections are based on past experiences. Premiums are higher than for non-profit endowments with a similar sum assured.

Low-cost Endowments
This is a low cost version of the with-profit endowment. These policy types utilise a combination of with-profit endowment and decreasing life assurance. They were introduced as a cheaper way of covering house purchase loans, with the guaranteed death sum assured being equal to the loan. As the basic sum assured is less than it would be under a full with-profit endowment, the premiums are cheaper and due to the life assurance element, there is a guarantee that the loan will be repaid on death.

Low-start Endowments
The low-start endowment is a variation of the low-cost endowment. Premiums start at a low level and rise gradually over a number of years to the full premium. The initial premium is very low, but this is balanced by a full premium that is somewhat higher than an ordinary low-cost endowment. This type of policy is aimed at the house buyer who is working on a very tight budget and expects salary increases in the future. The sum assured and bonuses continue through the term of the policy in the normal low- cost basis and are not affected by the low initial premiums.

Unit-linked Endowments
These policies were designed specifically for use with mortgage repayment. The premiums are used to buy units in a managed fund at the prevailing market price. The number of units held increases over time as more and more premiums are paid. There is no guaranteed annual growth rate caused by the addition of annual reversionary bonuses. Instead, the value of the endowment depends on the underlying investment performance. Not all the premium goes towards investing in units. Some of the units are cashed in to buy life cover. As with other endowments, the life assurance element ensures that the full loan can be paid back if the policyholder dies.

Flexidowments
The Flexidowment is an endowment policy that has an open-ended term after an initial period. These policies can be cashed in without the normal surrender penalty, at any time after 10 years. The surrender value is usually guaranteed, or partly guaranteed, and is similar to an early maturity value than the traditional endowment surrender value.