MoneyTalk May 2005

by Arch Financial Planning Limited

THERE MAY BE A FLAVOUR TO SUIT YOU

Japanese ice-cream lovers can look forward to something a little more exotic than raspberry ripple when it comes to their choice of flavours. Apparently, the choice now available in Japan's shops includes such delicacies as strawberry and spinach, soybean, garlic, potato and lettuce, cactus and seaweed and the refreshingly sounding raw horse-flesh!

You may wonder why we are telling you about this. Well, please bear with us a few more seconds and all will be revealed. We have just produced some new information on an investment product which can be very useful to investors, not least because of its unusual tax treatment - the life assurance bond. In our description of this product type we refer to the fact that the term 'life assurance bond' is the general term for a range of investments that are more often known by the type of underlying funds which they offer.

In this respect a life assurance bond can be likened to an ice cream cornet into which different combinations of scoops of ice cream can be held. Typical names for such bonds could therefore describe a single 'flavour' of investment fund such as a Distribution Bond, With Profits Bond or a Property Bond, or a selection of 'flavours' as would be found in an Investment Bond or Capital Investment Bond.

Life assurance bonds can provide benefits for all types of investors and are particularly useful for investors who require a regular income, or wish to reduce the tax on their investments, or wish to reduce their inheritance tax bill, or are thinking of a possible need at some time in the future for residential nursing care. If you would like to find out whether there is a flavour of life assurance bond to suit your situation then you will want to refer to our newly revised Fact Sheet: Life Assurance Bonds. If you would like to print-off a copy or read about this subject further, please visit our website www.arch-fp.co.uk/life_assurance_bonds.htm.

If you would like to receive a recommendation for a Life Assurance Bond and you have an Arch adviser then please contact him or her, otherwise email direct@arch-fp.co.uk or telephone 01483 204600.

An investment into a life assurance bond is intended as a long-term investment. Where past performance is mentioned please note that the past is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Because this investment may go down in value as well as up, you may not get back the full amount invested.

The return on a With Profit Bond depends on the profits made by the life office and on its policy as to their distribution (whether on early encashment or in adverse market conditions or other circumstances). Bonuses come from profits which are yet to be earned, there is therefore no guarantee that current rates will be maintained beyond any special offer period. If you surrender the contract, especially during the early years, you may get back less than the amount originally invested.

The price of units in a Distribution Fund can go down as well as up, as too can the ‘income’ distributions from them. The value of the investment, therefore, and the income from it will fluctuate and is not guaranteed.

For funds that are wholly invested in, or have an element of property, it may be necessary to defer encashment during periods when property is not readily saleable. The general market for commercial property may during the period of any investment in shares in a property fund with the result that the value of the fund's property investment portfolio falls. The value of any individual property may fall, for example, due to the insolvency of a tenant. The monthly valuation of the fund will be predominantly based on the opinion of the valuer of the fund of the current market value of the fund's property portfolio.

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Arch Financial Planning Limited

Head Office & Registered Office: Caswall House, 6 Wharf Street, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1NN
Tel: 01483 527278, Fax: 01483 527279

Administration Office: Arch House, Collins Court, 39 High Street, Cranleigh, Surrey GU6 8AS
Tel: 01483 204600, Fax: 01483 204611

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