Barclays offers choice of barriers

The Barclays target growth plan offers two ways of looking at a barrier, with investors taking a risk if there is a breach at an observation date that remains at maturity or a series of breaches that can wipe out a reserve account. The potential returns on offer are 47.5% and 40% respectively

Option 1 (standard): the capital and growth returned to the investor depend on a barrier breach, which occurs if the FTSE index falls by more than 60% from the initial level.

If not breached, investors get their capital at maturity plus a 47.5% return, even if the final level of the FTSE 100 is below the initial level (but not by more than 60%). If the 60% protection barrier is breached, capital and any additional payment are reduced by 1% for each percentage fall in the index. If the barrier is