what is a guaranteed investment contract gic 
a guaranteed investment contract gic is a contract between an insurance company and an investor typically a pension fund or an employer sponsored retirement plan such as a 401 k the investor agrees to deposit a sum of money with the insurer for a specified period of time and the insurer promises to pay the investor an agreed upon interest rate as well as to return the principal employees who participate in a 401 k or similar plan often have gics as one of their investment choices gics are sometimes called funding agreements 