how guaranteed investment contracts gics work
a gic works a bit like a certificate of deposit cd from a bank although gics are typically purchased by institutions rather than individuals and often come in much higher denominations like cds gics are considered a relatively low risk investment they also provide a lower rate of return than many other investments in retirement plans gics typically appeal to risk averse investors or those who want to balance out their portfolios by putting some of their money into a low risk account gics are often offered to retirement plan participants as part of a stable value fund or similarly named conservative investment option most gics have either a fixed interest rate or a variable interest rate that adjusts periodically based on a particular index 