Arc moves to calm fears over Bear credit risk

Arc Capital & Income has reassured investors and advisors over products backed by beleaguered US investment bank Bear Stearns. Following the move, JP Morgan has issued a broad guaranty that covers all of Bear's existing and subsequent trading activities, which will include guaranteeing the security of structured products supplied by Bear.

Arc, a UK-based distributor, previously used Bear Stearns to provide it with a series of growth products. The latest investment was the Fixed Income Plan 4. It offered investors either a 9% higher income option or a 7.5% cautious option, both with guaranteed annual income of that figure. Return of principal at its 5 year 3 week maturity is linked to the performance of the S&P 500, FTSE 100, and Nikkei 225. If any of the indexes falls by more than 30%, or 50% for the cautious option, then loss of