We are constantly looking at ways to improve our site and make it easier for you to find and compare the latest savings and investment options whilst also giving you plenty of ideas and product selections to help you identify whether they meet your needs. This is why we have recently added a new section to our website, aimed at ‘experienced investors’.

A rising trend

Many of our customers, both new and existing decide that a plan with a fixed term is the right way forward and for both our savings and investment customers, a rising number of these are structured deposits or structured investments respectively, the former offering full capital protection whilst the latter, as with all investments, puts your capital at risk.

These plans offer a defined return for a defined level of risk, providing greater certainty around what they will or could receive and for how long. The return on offer is usually dependent on the performance of the stock market with the vast majority of plans available through Fair Investment being linked to the FTSE 100 Index with a small number linked to a basket of FTSE 100 stocks or another index such as Retail Prices.

Why a new section?

We always want to help our customers by offering plans that are not only relatively easy to understand in terms of how the investment operates, but are also competitive when compared to similar offerings within the market. As such these are considered potentially appropriate for both new and experienced investors.

However, fixed term plans are rising in popularity as savers and investors are increasingly seeing the benefit of having a risk v reward which is clearly defined before committing their capital. We are therefore seeing a rising number of new opportunities with a growing number of additional savings and investment plans becoming available.

Experienced investor section

This is where the experienced investor section offers additional savings and investment opportunities, available to both new and existing customers.

Listed here will be our selection of plans whose performance will depend on other (non-FTSE) underlying indices, a blend of more than one index or perhaps a specific number of stocks targeted at a benchmark or sector.

As such the knowledge and experience required to review them as a potential savings or investment option is considered higher than for our other plans. Therefore these might not be appropriate for someone new to this type of product or new to investing but rather are designed for customers who have already invested in a similar product or who fully understand and have experience of putting their capital at risk.

Who is an experienced investor?

An experienced investor is someone who has sufficient investment knowledge and experience to be able to weigh up the risk and merits of the investment opportunities listed in order to establish that they are appropriate for them.

Since Fair Investment does not give advice, we feel there are certain investments which should only be considered if this knowledge and experience can be established and although there are no formal set criteria, the following are examples of an experienced investor:

1.    An existing customer who has invested in a capital at risk product
2.    A new customer who has, in the last 5 years, held a capital at risk investment
3.    A new customer who has, in the last 5 years, held a structured product

Since an assessment of appropriateness forms part of our application process, all investors into any of the plans listed in this section will need to show that they have the necessary knowledge and experience by confirming they fit into one of the above or similar and we may need to obtain further details from you in order to confirm this.

Income and Growth selections

Currently all of the plans listed are investments although there will be some capital protected options appearing soon. All of these are fixed term investments but some do have the ability to mature early or ‘kick-out’.

Current offerings include the Triple Index Annual Income Kick-Out Plan from Meteor which offers the potential to return 8.25% income each year provided the FTSE 100 Index, S&P 500 Index and the EURO STOXX 50 Index are at least 60% of their starting value at the end of each year. Your return of capital is also dependent on the performance of the three indices and your investment can mature early or kick out from year 3 onwards.

The FTSE 100 Index and the EURO STOXX 50 Index also feature in the Defensive Dual Index Kick-Out Plan from Meteor which will mature early at the end of each year, from year one onwards, returning 10.25% for each year provided the closing level of both indices are at or above 95% of their values at the start of the investment. Capital is at risk if one or both of the indices falls by more than 50% of its starting level during the investment term.

All of the plans listed will be eligible for new ISA investments, ISA transfers and non-ISA investments.

Existing customers

This section is also aimed at those who have taken out investments with us over the years which have either recently matured, look likely to mature early or who are simply looking for a wider selection of ideas for further investment.

Making sure you are kept well informed of any potential maturity as well as offering the widest range of options at that time is an important part of our service to all customers and we feel this new section will really help our existing customers.

New plans to be added

The new section has only just gone live but we already have a number of plans available and we are working hard to expand the depth and range of opportunities that are listed. We do this by independently reviewing all of the savings and investment plans available in the market as well as approaching providers directly with new ideas and opportunities on behalf of our customers.

So keep visiting as we are regularly making changes to this section as well as the rest of our website which is constantly being updated with new and exciting selections. Along with our savings and investment ideas, articles and market commentary, all of which combine to give you more information and  clearer guidance in helping you find the right solution.

We hope you find the new section helpful and easy to use and please do let us know what you think or if you have any questions by emailing us at [email protected] or calling us on 0845 308 2525.

Visit the Experienced Investor section to find out more about our current selections »

No news, feature article or comment should be seen as a personal recommendation to invest. Prior to making any decision to invest, you should ensure that you are familiar with the risks associated with a particular investment. If you are at all unsure of the suitability of a particular investment, both in respect of its objectives and its risk profile, you should seek independent financial advice.

The plans detailed in this article are structured investment plans that are not capital protected and are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for default alone. There is a risk of losing some or all of your initial investment. There is a risk that the company backing the plan or any company associated with the plan may be unable to repay your initial investment and any returns stated. In addition, you may not get back the full amount of your initial investment if the plan is not held for the full term. The past performance of the FTSE 100 Index, S&P 500 Index and the EURO STOXX 50 Index is not a guide to their future performance.

© Fair Investment Company Limited