protected investment bond

Yes, provided you are a UK resident aged between 18 and 80 when you take out your bond.

You can invest between £5,000 and £100,000 per protected investment bond. You can hold more than one, but overall your total holding in these investment bonds must not total more than £500,000.

If you already hold a bond then the minimum investment of any new bond is £2,000.

There is an annual management charge of 1%, and 0.5% expenses. Please see Key Features for more information. Also, if you make withdrawals in excess of 5% of your original investment in any of the first five policy years you will be liable for the following penalties:

Year 1	7%
Year 2	6%
Year 3	5%
Year 4	4%
Year 5	2%

Exit penalties will apply immediately in any of the first 5 policy years to any regular or ad-hoc withdrawal which exceeds or will exceed 5% of the original sum invested. Please see Key Features for more information.

• regular withdrawals may be made monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually subject to a minimum withdrawal of £50 provided it does not take the value of the investment bond below £1,000.

• as long as the total withdrawals in any one policy year do not exceed 5% there will be no withdrawal penalty. If you make a withdrawal or regular withdrawals that exceed 5% of the initial investment amount or close your policy within the first 5 years there will be a withdrawal penalty. 

• if you make regular withdrawals from the outset then it will erode your capital before it has had the chance to achieve any growth.

• making any withdrawals will reduce the value of your investment. If the rate of withdrawal is higher than the rate of growth on your plan this will reduce the value possible to below the original investment.

• making a partial or total withdrawal could result in the loss of some or all of your higher personal age allowance and may result in a tax liability.

The Insight Investment Diversified Target Return Fund is the underlying fund in which the Engage Mutual With Profits Sub Fund currently invests.

This cautious managed fund is run by Insight Investment and aims to increase the value of the money you invest.

No, but it can be used to help with tax planning. If you're a higher rate taxpayer and leave the investment untouched until you become a basic rate tax payer, for example on retirement, based on current tax legislation there would be no additional tax to pay on the proceeds of the bond.

If you already have a number of investments, the protected investment bond could complement your existing portfolio forming a 'core' part of your long term investment strategy.

Yes - but overall your total holding in these investment bonds must not total more than £500,000.

No. Although the fund is carefully managed with the aim of providing you with the potential for growth, growth depends on investment performance and is not guaranteed.

This is where the flexibility of the investment approach can help. If shares are falling in value, the investment team are able to switch funds into other asset classes like cash, property, commodities or absolute return funds, all of which have the potential to produce growth when share prices are falling - although this may not always be possible.

To further help control the risk, this flexibility is also carefully controlled, and there are strict limits on how much the fund can invest in a particular asset class.  You should though be aware, the risk cannot be removed entirely as the value of your investment can go down as well as up. If you cash in at a time when its value has fallen you could suffer a loss.

An asset is anything that can be bought, sold or exchanged. An asset class is simply a category of asset. The most traditional asset classes are cash, bonds, property and shares but can include currencies and commodities such as gold, oil, art or even fine wines.

There is a small built in life insurance element to the investment. If you die, the policy will pay out a sum equivalent to 101% of the value of the units held in the bond on the day before death or the original investment less any withdrawals, whichever is greater. An investment held jointly will pass into the surviving policyholder's name. For full details please read the Key Features document.

You can apply by downloading an application form.

Before completing the application form, please make sure you have read the Key Features and Terms and Conditions document.

Once you have completed your application form please post it along with your cheque made payable to Engage Mutual Assurance to:

Protected Investment Bond 
Engage Mutual Assurance
FREEPOST, NEA4568
Harrogate
HG2 7BR

Please note: if you are using a building society cheque or banker's draft, ask the organisation to print your name and account number on the reverse of the cheque and endorse it with their stamp.