The Manulink Investor (II) is a single premium investment-linked plan (ILP) designed to help you invest 100% of your premiums.
It offers diverse investment options while providing coverage against unexpected events such as terminal illness and death.
In this post, we review the Manulink Investor (II) to help determine if it suits your needs.
Read on.
Criteria
- Minimum single premium of $5,000
General Features
Premium Payments
There is a minimum single investment of at least $5,000, with increments in multiples of $100.
Payments can be made via the following methods:
- Cash
- Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) savings.
- CPF Ordinary Account (CPF-OA)
- CPF Special Account (CPF-SA)
Recurring Single Premium (RSP) Option
The RSP option is only extended under the following conditions:
- You have purchased the Manulink Investor (II) with your SRS funds
- You are 75 years old and below
The minimum top-up for each RSP is $2,000 annually.
Adhoc Top-Ups
For adhoc top-ups, you’re minimally required to top-up $500 per sub-fund.
Thus, if you have more than 5 funds, you must top up minimally $2,500.
Protection
Death Benefit
A death benefit payout will be reimbursed if the insured passes while the policy is still active.
The death benefit would be the higher of the following amounts:
- 1% of single premium, premium top-up(s) and RSPs paid, minus all withdrawals
- Value of the insured’s account
Charges deducted from the insured’s account before the date of the death claim application would not be refunded.
Terminal Illness (TI) Benefit
If the insured contracts terminal illness before the policy anniversary and upon his 99th birthday, the TI benefit would be reimbursed as an accelerated death benefit payout.
The TI benefit for this policy is capped at $1 million.
The Manulink Investor (II) will continue to be in force until the TI benefit fully accelerates the death benefit.
Maturity Benefit
You’re entitled to a payout valued at your account balance once your Manulink Investor (II) matures.
Your policy’s maturity date is set on the policy anniversary immediately after you turn 99 years old.
Key Features
Dividend Payouts
If you’ve invested in dividend-paying sub-funds, you may receive dividends depending on the number of units you hold on the ex-date.
It is crucial to note that these dividends are not guaranteed. The frequency of dividend distribution is also subject to the fund’s discretion.
By default, dividend payouts will be credited or reinvested in the following fashion:
| Policy purchased under CPF-OA | Credited to your agent bank |
| Policy purchased under CPF-SA | Credited to your CPF-SA |
| Policy purchased under SRS | Reinvested in the ILP sub-fund |
However, you may also opt to encash or reinvest your dividends.
Your sub-fund must yield at least $40 in dividends to receive cash dividends. Otherwise, the dividend will be automatically reinvested.
Assuming a 4% dividend yield, you will need at least $1,000 in a dividend-paying fund.
Cash dividends will be credited to you within 2 business days.
Partial Withdrawals & Full Surrender
At the time of writing (23 May 2023), you’ll not be charged any fees for partial withdrawals or full surrender.
You must minimally withdraw $500 at each time, and have at least $3,000 remaining in your account after withdrawal.
Do note that making a partial withdrawal will reduce your policy’s death benefit by the amount withdrawn.
For full surrender, you will be reimbursed the surrender value, which is computed as follows:
Surrender value = Investment account value + Premiums paid that are yet to be invested in any fund – Outstanding amount owed
Be aware that the surrender value may be lower than the total premiums you have paid, where the value of your investment account has decreased.
Fund Switching
You may change up the ILP sub-funds you invest in as often as you wish without incurring any charges.
The minimum amount for every fund switch is $500. For sub-funds below $500, you must switch out all its fund units.
Manulink Investor (II) Fees and Charges
Premium Charge
When you pay your single premium, top-up premium, or recurring single premium, and are making investments using cash or SRS, a premium charge of 3% will be deducted before your money is invested in the funds you chose.
The premium charge will be deducted before your money is invested into your choice funds at the current unit price.
There is no mention of premium charges for CPF investors, so there’s likely none.
Fund-Related Fees
The yearly management fee for ILP sub-funds varies across all funds. Fees range from 0.6% to 1.95%.
As Manulink Investor II invests in Manulife’s own ILP sub-funds, there returns you see on the fund factsheet do not include the fees payable.
Thus, you’ll have to check how much additional fees you’ll incur before calculating your returns on the fund level.
Summary of the Manulink Investor II
| Cash & Cash Withdrawal Benefits | |
| Cash Value | Available |
| Cash Withdrawal | Available |
| Health & Insurance Coverage | |
| Death | Available |
| Total Permanent Disability | N/A |
| Terminal Illness | Available |
| Critical Illness | N/A |
| Early Critical Illness | N/A |
| Health & Insurance Coverage Multiplier | |
| Death | N/A |
| TPD | N/A |
| Terminal Illness | N/A |
| Critical Illness | N/A |
| Early Critical Illness | N/A |
My Review of the Manulink Investor (II)
The Manulink Investor (II) allows you to build a diversified investment portfolio through its wide selection of ILP sub-funds.
With some ILP sub-funds offering dividend payouts, you may also receive potential dividend income.
The policy provides flexibility in premium payment options, from cash to SRS and CPF OA & SA.
Additionally, regular top-ups via the Recurring Single Premium (RSP) option are allowed for SRS policies.
Premium charges are affordable at a rate of 3%, which is lower than the premium charges of other policies that can go up to 5%.
Premium charges are waived if you decide to invest with your CPF-OA or CPF-SA.
There are also no surrender charges, meaning you can stay invested as long (or short) as you want.
Best of all, the Manulink Investor (II) offers a hassle-free application process, as there is guaranteed acceptance with no health questions asked.
However, it’s pretty weird that the death benefit is the higher of 1% of your total investments less withdrawals or your account value.
Chances are you’ll definitely get your account value, but if everything somehow goes to zero at the time of passing, you only get 1% of your single premium.
This is highly unlikely, but still something to take note of.
Before making any decisions, you should carefully read the fund’s policy document for more information, including product limitations and risk factors.
To find the best ILP for your needs, you may want to compare the Manulink Investor (II) with other ILPs available in the market or get an unbiased second opinion from another advisor.
Speak to our partnered financial advisors for an unbiased opinion today!
