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Investment account  

Flexible features
The Sterling Investment Account aims to increase the value of the money you invest for growth or income, or both, through a choice of funds which match your investment objectives. You should consider this investment as medium to long term (for at least five to ten years).

bullet point Minimum lump sum investment for the first single payment is £5,000, additional single payments of £1,000 (we can only accept payment by cheque).
bullet point Minimum regular investment is £250 a month or £50 a month if you invest a lump sum at the same time. You can increase your payments at any time by at least £25 a month (we can only accept regular payments by direct debit). Alternatively, you can elect for automatic increases each January.
bullet point If you have existing investments you can reregister them to Sterling.
bullet point In the first ten years, the death benefit for the life assured will be whichever is the higher of the current account value or the total amount invested, less withdrawals and distributed income. After ten years, we will pay the current fund value.
bullet point Fund switching is currently free although we reserve the right to charge for excessively frequent switching. You can download our switch form and send it to us in the post, unfortunately, we cannot accept e-mail or fax requests
bullet point Regular withdrawals, you can take up to 7.5% of the current plan's value either monthly, quarterly, termly (three times a year), half-yearly or yearly, either as a fixed amount or a percentage of the fund.
Download the regular withdrawal request form.
bullet point Income distributions are available from income producing funds in March, June, September and December.
bullet point Phased Investment Facility automatically switches your investment from a 'money market' fund (see the Sterling panel funds guide for more information on the fund) to another predetermined fund or funds over the first 3 to 12 months.
bullet point The Investment Account has no fixed term.
You should monitor the value of your investment as the value and any income from it isn't guaranteed and can fall as well as rise. You may not get back the amount invested. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. 

A select panel of funds
To give you some reassurance, every new fund in our select panel range goes through an initial careful quality control and selection process, which involves ensuring that each one meets our stringent criteria in a variety of areas.

Our select panel range covers all major asset types and geographical regions, giving you and your adviser the flexibility you need to create an investment portfolio that's right for you and your attitude to risk. The range includes our Protected Profits funds, which are designed to meet the needs of cautious or moderately cautious investors.

We regularly review our select panel range against ongoing criteria, adding and removing funds to ensure it remains relevant and up to date.

Wider market funds
If our select panel range doesn't offer the funds you're looking for, our wider market range could have exactly what you need. Our objective is to offer an increasing choice of funds, including more specialist and geographic sectors.

The funds in our wider market range are available at a small additional charge. Please note that these funds do not undergo the same careful selection process undertaken on our panel funds and your should, therefore, discuss this with your adviser. However, we do ensure that the following criteria are met before adding funds to this wider range:

  • The fund must be UK domiciled and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
  • The fund manager must meet compensation scheme requirements.
  • The fund must be of the type that can be put into an ISA.
  • The fund must have daily pricing to allow Sterling to accurately value your investment.

We don't guarantee the value of an investment or the level of income, which can go down as well as up. Depending on investment conditions at the time, the return could be less than the amount invested.

Regular information
We'll write to you twice a year (currently in April and October) with a summary and valuation of your account and you can also check our fund centre to see how your funds are performing. For more information about making changes to your plan visit the changes to your plan page.

Please contact your adviser if you wish to find out more about Sterling plans. If you do not have an adviser you can find one from one of the following websites.

 
   
 
   
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