News in brief

• Nvesta

Financial product provider, Nvesta, has launched a FTSE100 tracker product which provides investors with positive returns whether the FTSE gains or falls.

Capital is guaranteed and the product pays 100% of any growth in the FTSE 100. However, if the index falls, the product will also pay 100% of any fall in the index, up to a maximum of a 50% fall. If the index falls by more than 50%, however, the option knocks-out and investors receive no growth, but their capital back. The product has a six-year maturity with a minimum investment of £3,000. The final level of the index is calculated as the average over the last twelve months of the investment.

• Barclays

Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of London-based Barclays Bank, is to issue a synthetic collateralised commodities obligation, backed by a series of commodity swaps, which offers guaranteed coupons with capital backed by a series of commodity trigger swaps.

Market sources say the structure is suitable for private banking clients but BarCap says it has only had “initial discussions” as to whether it could be launched for the European high-net-worth market.

• B&W

Bristol and West has reissued its six-year, Guaranteed Portfolio Bond due to demand from independent financial advisers, the bank says.

The bond offers a mix of growth in three separate asset classes: cash, equities and property. Minimum investment in the bond is £30,000, with one third placed in each of the assets, and capital is fully guaranteed.

The actual underlying investments are the FTSE 100 and the Halifax House Price Index, with participation set at 75%. The bond’s cash element pays a fixed 7% AER in a monthly coupon. It is available for both SIPP and SASS pension plans as well as corporate and private investors.

The bond has a limited offer period, expiring on January 31st, 2005 and will mature on February 14th, 2011.

• Manor Park

Guernsey-based international investment fund manager, Manor Park, has released a best-of equity-linked product, linked to three indexes, the FTSE 100, the S&P500 and the DJ Eurostoxx 50.

The Guaranteed Global Growth Fund is a six and a half year investment, which provides investors with an uncapped 65% of the rise in the index basket at maturity. This rise is calculated with an Asian tail, with averaging of the last twelve months of the investment. If, however, this growth fails to be higher than 20% of the investor’s capital, the product matures at 120%, giving the investor a guaranteed 20% growth.

The fund closes on the January 25th and has a minimum investment of £5,000.