Investment bonds are collective investments in which the investments of many individual investors are pooled. This pooling enables relatively small investors to benefit from the economies of scale made available to institutional fund managers.

Investment bonds are technically single premium life assurance contracts and therefore normally have nominal life cover attached.

A wide choice of funds is available ranging from managed to specialist funds. A number of companies market offshore life policies, particularly single premium bonds.

The most popular are those issued by subsidiaries of well known UK life offices in countries such as Luxembourg, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.