Metropolitan Employee Benefits launches new investment portfolio aimed at conservative investors

At a time when the local equity market is taking a beating, Metropolitan Employee Benefits (MetEB) today announced the launch of a new investment portfolio that is aimed at investors who are looking for a high degree of capital protection over the short term, but at the same time want to earn inflation beating returns over the longer term.

Jacques Senekal (pictured), product development actuary at MetEB says this fund aims to give investors more than cash returns while at the same time providing hard capital guarantees on a quarterly basis. The fund also provides hard capital guarantees for disinvestments resulting from benefit payments during a calendar quarter.

“The fund’s value lies in its ability to lock in returns on a quarterly basis. At worst you will get the value of your investment at the start of a quarter back at the end of that quarter. At best you will be able to capture the upside over a quarter and lock that in at the end of the quarter,” says Senekal.

Senekal says MetEB has high expectations for the fund and is targeting all retirement funds with an interest in investing in a more conservative fund. The Metropolitan Protected Growth Fund represents a compelling proposition for retirement funds looking for the highest levels of asset protection – particularly those funds with an older membership.

“Finally,” says Senekal, “if you have members that are nervous about the ongoing market volatility brought about by local economic issues like inflation and exogenous problems like the sub-prime issue, this fund is an excellent investment.”