Guaranteed Capital Bond III

PETERPOOS

I'm considering investing either £15k or £20k in Nat West's Guaranteed Capital Bond 3 for 3 and half-years.I was told by their financial advisor that the sum of money invested is safe but depending how well the FTSE 100 index does will determine how much growth/return I will receive at the end of the period.I would like to get people's comments on the pros/cons of this scheme.
Basically,I am looking for a savings scheme where I can leave the above sums of money for a number of years,say 3 or 5,which will pay a good rate of interest on a monthly basis.I am hoping that I do not have to touch the money in the account because I intend to open a Nat West e-Savings account on the internet.I intend to keep some money in my Current Plus Account which will be used to pay bills,spending money etc. Then if my Current Plus Account gets low, I will transfer money from my e-Savings Account to my Current Plus Account.

Thank you for your time in reading this and I look forward to hearing your comments re the Guaranteed Capital Bond III.

grumbler

PETERPOOS wrote:

...I was told by their financial advisor ...

Generally it is not a good idea to seek for a financial advice in a bank. They will always do their best to push you to buy their own products.
Regarding this sort of products read Martins article 'Beat stockmarket returns at no risk' and these threads:
Any views on this savings offer?
portman guaranteed equity account
Help, is this a good offer?
Guaranteed Growth Plan -too good?
New Post Office Geb 125%
130% of any rise in the FTSE?

dunstonh

one word will do - Rubbish

or two words - complete rubbish

edit: ok, a few more words. The product is rubbish.

cheerfulcat

PETERPOOS wrote:

Thank you for your time in reading this and I look forward to hearing your comments re the Guaranteed Capital Bond III.

This product will not pay monthly interest and there is a chance that it will pay no interest at all, in which case you will have actually *lost* money ( due to the effects of inflation ). It is a far riskier product than it seems and the potential reward is not worth the risk. And grumbler's right; as a general rule, advice from bank employees is not the best.

Edit: dunstonh is right too...