More Structured Growth Products From Standard Bank

Stephen Harris

30 January 2008

Standard Bank is launching the latest in its series of structured growth solutions offering investors the choice of two products. The first is a new tranche of its Global Portfolio Picker and the second is a new product investing in soft agricultural commodities. The products are available for subscription until 18 March 2008. Global Portfolio Picker – Series 4 allows investors to track three portfolios, Aggressive, Balanced and Conservative, over a six-year period. Investors’ return is based on the potential performance of the best of the three portfolios. Each portfolio is diversified across four asset classes - equities, property, commodities and fixed income. Global Portfolio Picker is designed to return investors' capital in full at maturity and there is no limit to potential positive returns. The product includes a “look back” feature, so that investor do not have to choose a portfolio to invest in at commencement of the product, but instead receives the return of the best performing of the three portfolios at the end of the term. Investors participate in 110% for sterling and 100 per cent for US dollar in the potential growth of the best performing portfolio. Global Portfolio Picker will again be launched in two variants, a deposit and tradable security. The minimum deposit amounts are £10,000 or $20,000. The minimum investment amounts for the security variant are £50,000 or $100,000. Agriculture Accelerator is linked to the performance of Merrill Lynch’s agriculture index, which consists of soft commodities such as wheat, corn, livestock, sugar, soybeans and coffee. The product is designed to return investors’ capital in full at maturity, and there is no limit to potential positive returns. In addition, investors receive 105 per cent participation in the potential growth of the index over the six-year investment period. Agriculture Accelerator is only available in sterling, and will be offered as a deposit and a tradable security. For the deposit, the minimum deposit amount is £10,000. The minimum investment amount for the tradable security is £50,000.