Natwest Guaranteed Combi Bond

dunstonh

This seems like no risk in the sense its relatively small amount of money in grand scheme of things with a guarantee.

On a 1-10 risk scale (cash being 1) its around 4/5 as far as risk goes.

I spent 1.5 hours talking to someone at natwest today

Thats not a good idea. You are only being offered their products and they are not very good.

I could just continue playing safe or do this as a test investment....

Knowing you can get better, it wouldnt be a good idea to do it as a test investment. You also seem to be understating the risk which suggests you dont understand it and you shouldnt invest in something you dont understand. You dont have to know everything but you should at minimum know what risk you are taking.

Jonbvn

Found a much lower risk product from the Newcastle BS:

Guaranteed Capital Return Account 2
As long as you hold your account until maturity, you will receive a minimum return of 9%/1.74% AER* or up to a maximum of 45%/7.71% AER* depending on the performance of the FTSE 100, whichever is the highest.

jordan_ash

Forgive me for being pessimistic but I had a natwest saleswoman driving me nuts when she was trying to sell me this cast-iron "deal". When
I managed to get a word in edgeways I noted that she was guaranteeing the capital at the end of 5 years. I asked if the 2014 value of the capital was guaranteed after 5 years or was she merely guaranteeing what the capital was 5 years previously - which even at a modest rate of inflation of say 5% a year would mean a guaranteed 25% loss on your capital, in other words she was guaranteeing I would lose a quarter of my capital. This didn't go down well and she ended the sales pitch.

OneADay

Thanks jordan_ash for the input.

I think I will give it a miss and stick to savings accounts - I need to do some serious research and get my figures right in my own head.

I was not keen on doing anything more than 5k but 25% over 6 years works out to just the same as sticking that 5k into a 4% annual saving account. I would need growth of 50% to think it was a good option and there is no guarantee on that.

This particular natwest product is only available to 23rd oct and I will see what they replace it with.