Portman Building Society, the U.K.'s third largest thrift, is marketing its Guaranteed Equity Account with a minimum return of 114% after six years. The account is a cliquet structure, which records annual gains or losses up to 10% on the FTSE 100. At maturity, the investor's capital is returned along with either the total of the annual performance levels, or 14% growth. The account closes to new investment April 5, and strikes April 20.
The structure is the first since Portman brought its regulated products sales force back in house last year, having previously white-labeled investment products. Mark Byrne, head of markets at Portman in Bournemouth, declined comment on the motivation behind the reorganization, but said the group will now have more opportunities for structuring this kind of product in house. He said the account has been fully hedged, declining to name the counterparty.
