Product round-up

n UK-based distributor Meteor has launched Galaxy Protected Investment Plan 4, linked to a basket of eight equally weighted hard and soft commodities. The capital-guaranteed option includes 125% participation in portfolio performance; reducing capital protection to 90% increases participation to 160%.

n NFDA has launched Twin Option Kick Out December '07 - a six-year investment linked to the FTSE 100 offering an 11% annual return, or 18% if investors add Nikkei 225 exposure. After one year, the product kicks out if the index or indexes are at or above starting levels. If not, the product rolls over, accumulating the annual return. Capital is guaranteed unless either index falls by more than 50%.

n Barclays Wealth has launched its latest Defined Returns Plan. The capital-guaranteed plan, linked to the FTSE 100, is available as a three-year option with a 20% return or a five-year paying 42.5% at maturity if the index is at or above its initial level. The plan also features a five-year kick-out option paying a 10% annual return. If the index is at or above its initial level on any anniversary, the plan matures, paying the accumulated return. If the index is below its initial level at maturity, original capital is repaid unless the index has fallen by more than 50%, in which case capital loss is 1:1.

n BNP Paribas has launched a new collective investment fund for retail investors in France. The Panka is capital-guaranteed and linked to the performance of three index baskets offering mainstream and emerging markets exposure. At maturity, in April 2013, the payout is 80% of the best average performance of the three baskets. The investor will receive its principal if he has invested before March 14 2008.

n Guardian Group of Funds (GGOF), the fund manager and Bank of Montreal subsidiary, has launched three 100% principal-protected deposit notes linked to the performance of the GGOF Dividend Growth Fund. The Bank of Montreal GGOF Core Protected Deposit Notes, series 5-7, feature a dynamic asset allocation strategy providing up to 200% exposure to a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. The six-year notes come in three classes: Total Return Class provides long-term capital growth; Yield Class a monthly income treated as income tax; and Return of Capital Class monthly distributions, but is tax-deferred until maturity.

n UK distributor Dawnay Day Quantum has launched the Protected Agricultural Commodities Plan II, linked to the equally weighted spot prices of corn, sugar, soybean, wheat and Kansas wheat. The capital-guaranteed investment lasts five and a half years and offers 100% participation.