Norwich Union, a U.K. insurance group, is considering making its debut into the fund-linked product market and will look at products that use fund derivatives to give exposure to mutual funds with some capital protection. Investment banks have pitched a range of mutual fund-linked products to the insurer and it plans to study them over the next six-12 months with a view to launching something in the spring, said Richard Kelsall, product development manager at Norwich Union in York. Norwich Union already offers investors exposure to mutual funds--including one guaranteed fund--through its 'investment bond' wrapper.
"We're moving into more of a fund-focused environment now, where guarantees and capital protection have an important role to play," said Kelsall. "This will be an expansion on the products we already offer," he added. Whilst other life companies are looking to replace with-profits funds (DW, 3/21) Norwich Union aims to offer investors a range of products which will include with-profits payoffs, noted Kelsall. Although Kelsall is interested in a range of fund structures, he feels hedge fund exposure is not of interest to Norwich Union investors.
