Any Financial advisors out there?

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what type of financial advice you wanting? pension? mortgage? life insurance?

 

Investec have a new product whereby if the FTSE index rises in year 1, the plan matures and pays 7.25%. If it doesn't rise your money forwards to year two and if it rises at end of year two your plan matures and pays 14.5% (not compounded) etc for 4 years. Now I personally can't see the FTSE staying down for more than two years, so it seems a good punt, but I would like the view of someone who understands it better than me. Are Investec trustworthy?

 

book an appointment with an investment adivsor at the bank, get them to check through it see if they can offer owt better, it seems good to me, is there any risk (ie losing ur money) if its protected capital it seems quite good.

 

Investec are as solid a company as whats out there at the moment, it's basically a new structured product that's being pushed, Barclays are also offering a similar structured product (if you're looking for a more familiar name) on the same kind of basis.
If you're unsure check their rating (Standard & Poors, OBSR, Fitch or Moody's rating, they're all broadly similar (ratings around AAA for the most secure companies, which i'm fairly sure Investec are.
The only catch with these types of product are that they usually offer little chance of accessing the money before maturity, or more likely interest penalties for early access of the money.

They work on the basis that the FTSE is going to rise by X% by the maturity date, and the returns are capped (ie If the product is capped at 11% increase, the max you can get is an 11% return on your investment, if the FTSE rises more than this you'll not see any further returns because of the cap) and Investec would take any increase (above 11%) in whole.

Drop me a PM if you need anymore info, I work in life and pensions and should have an idea how to help

 

The 64,000 dollar question is - Will the FTSE be higher at 6 April 2010 than the same date this year? If it is, the plan matures and pays 7.25%. I can't see the FTSE staying this low in the long term and even if it takes two or three years, the 7.25% per annum seems a good shout. Must admit I'm thinking of having a punt.
The capital sum is guaranteed, but it is difficult to get any monies back prior to maturity. (Penalties, fees etc)

 

If I could predict that mate i'm sure i'd not be getting made redundant in 6 weeks!!

Structured products look to be a good deal, but i'd still be tempted to use them as part of a diversified portfolio and not on their own, simply to try and manage investment risk. Have a look at the attached links to the Barclays Structured Products our place are pushing at the minute, i've attached a link. There's the option of 3 and 5 year plans, and i'm more or less sure that they'll be of a similar structure, terms and conditions to the Invested bond.

I'm only using the Barclays one as a guide (i'm not trying to flog it myself!!) as i'm broadly familiar with it through work. It's accessed through an offshore bond wrapper (so will benefit from gross roll up taxation) but i'm of the opinion that at the moment offshore bonds are a very good investment wrapper. Minimum deposit might be a bit steep at 50K though!!

http://www.barclaysoffshoresolutions.com/currentoffers/gdda/gdda0409factsheet.pdf
http://www.barclaysoffshoresolutions.com/currentoffers/gdda/gdda0409brochure.pdf

It may also be worth looking at Anglo Irish deposit accounts if you'tr looking to stick some money in at a high intrest rate for a fixed term. Up to last week they were still offering about 5% rates for deposits into 13 month fixed term accounts. The beauty of these is that they're covered 100% by the Irish Government guarantee. Although there's not such thing as a sure investment you'll not find many accounts offering rates around this.

http://www.adviserzone.com/deposit_rates/deposit_rates.php

Hope this helps!