With the increase to 2.9% for inflation over the 12 months to August, the focus on income and what we are earning from our capital is most certainly on the up as well, with many investors looking for the opportunity to secure more income in order to counter the effects of this rise in the cost of living. Despite only on its third issue, the FTSE 100 Defensive Income Plan from Investec is proving to be one of our most popular income investments ever, with the opportunity to receive a high level of income, even if the stock market goes down by up to 40%, thereby giving the plan an attractive balance of risk versus reward. Here we take a closer look at what exactly the plan has to offer.
Plan overview – income
The FTSE 100 Defensive Income Plan from Investec offers investors an annual income of up to 7.25%. Income payments are made quarterly, and the plan has a maximum fixed term of eight years, although it could also mature early or ‘kick out’ at the end of each year from year 2 onwards.
Plan overview – capital
If the plan does mature early, your capital is returned with your final income payment. If the plan runs for the full eight years, you will receive your initial capital provided the FTSE 100 Index has not fallen by more than 40% from its value at the start of the plan. This is known as conditional capital protection and is unique to structured investment plans such as this. If it has fallen below this level, your initial capital is reduced by 1% for each 1% fall in the Index, so you could lose some or all of your initial investment.
FTSE linked
The plan is linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 Index (‘the Index’ or ‘the FTSE’), with both the level of income you receive, and the treatment of your initial capital, dependent on what happens to the FTSE in the coming years. The FTSE 100 Index tracks the share prices of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is widely recognised as the proxy benchmark for most investment managers, especially those investing predominantly in UK equities.
Potential 7.25% annual income
The FTSE is measured at the start of the plan, and then again at the end of each quarter thereafter. If the Index is above 80% of its starting level (i.e. it can fall almost 20%), a 1.8125% income payment is made. If the Index has fallen by 20% or more, no income payment is made for that quarter. The plan also includes a second, more defensive option, which offers up to 5.50% per year provided the FTSE does not fall by 40% or more at the end of each quarter.
Defensive income
There are very few investments out there offering the potential for such high income yields, particularly when income payments can be achieved even if the FTSE falls below its current levels. So for investors who are not confident the FTSE will rise in the future, but also want the potential to receive income that is significantly higher than the current rate of inflation, the Defensive Income Plan could be an attractive option.
Investment term
The FTSE 100 Defensive Income Plan requires an 8 year commitment from investors, which means that investors should be prepared to commit their capital for this length of time before investing. Although you are able to withdraw your money early, the plan is designed to be held for the full term and early withdrawal may result in you getting back less, or more, than you invested, since it is based on the market value as at the date of the withdrawal.
Kick-out opportunity
Despite having a maximum term of eight years, the plan also has the ability to mature early or ‘kick out’, which is also dependent on the FTSE. The plan will mature early in the event that the FTSE has gone up by 5% or more, annually from the end of the second year onwards. This means that should the FTSE increase by this amount in the future, investors will receive a final income payment along with a full return of their initial capital.
Conditional capital protection
Another feature of this plan is that it offers conditional capital protection. This means the initial capital invested is at risk if the FTSE falls by more than a fixed percentage, in this case, more than 40% below its value at the start of the plan. If it does, your investment is reduced by 1% for each 1% fall. For example if the FTSE fell by 39% then the investor’s capital is not affected, but if the FTSE fell by 41% then the investor would lose 41% of their capital. You should therefore only consider this investment if you are prepared to lose some or all of your initial investment.
Risk v reward
The principle of risk versus reward means that the search for potentially higher returns leads us to consider putting our capital at risk. A good benchmark for assessing the merits of an investment is to compare what returns can be secured from a fixed rate deposit over a similar timeframe (fixed income plus full capital protection), with the potential returns from the capital at risk product. One may then evaluate whether the risk to the capital is worth the opportunity to receive a potentially higher level of income.
Fair Investment view
Commenting on the plan, head of savings and investments at Fair Investment Company, Oliver Roylance-Smith, said: “This plan has two options, one paying up to 7.25% unless the FTSE falls 20% or more, the other paying up to 5.50% unless the FTSE falls 40% or more. Receiving such a high income, even if the FTSE goes down, makes for an attractive investment opportunity in any climate, not least one where we are seeing a sizeable increase in the day to day cost of living.”
He continued: “The plan also has the ability to mature early and return a final income payment along with your initial investment, and provides some capital protection against a falling stock market in the event it runs the maximum eight year term. By combining high income potential, the opportunity for early maturity and conditional capital protection, it is perhaps understandable why this plan has generated a great deal of interest with our investors.”
This plan accepts new ISA investments up to the £20,000 ISA allowance, Cash ISA and Stocks & Shares ISA transfers, as well as non-ISA investments. The minimum investment is £3,000.
Click for more information about the Investec FTSE 100 Defensive Income Plan »
No news, feature article or comment should be seen as a personal recommendation to invest. Prior to making any decision to invest, you should ensure that you are familiar with the risks associated with a particular investment. If you are at all unsure of the suitability of a particular investment, both in respect of its objectives and its risk profile, you should seek independent financial advice.
Tax treatment of ISAs depends on your individual circumstances and is based on current law which may be subject to change in the future. ISA transfer charges may apply, please check with your provider.
This is a structured investment plan that is not capital protected and is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for default alone. There is a risk of losing some or all of your initial investment. There is a risk that the company backing the plan or any company associated with the plan may be unable to repay your initial investment and any returns stated. In addition, you may not get back the full amount of your initial investment if the plan is not held for the full term. The past performance of the FTSE 100 Index is not a guide to its future performance.