Barclays Structured Deposit Series for Offshore Bonds
BARCLAYS CAPITAL’S NEW GUARANTEED DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS: THE FIVE YEAR GUARANTEED ARABIA TITANS 50 DEPOSIT ACCOUNT & THE FIVE YEAR GUARANTEED FTSE 100 DEPOSIT ACCOUNT
�� Provide investors with protected access to the Dow Jones Arabia Titans 50 Index or to the FTSE 100 Index
�� Designed exclusively as investment links for use within offshore bonds and UK Wrap Accounts
�� Available from 3 November to 30 December 2008
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays PLC, today announces the launch of the latest products in the ‘Structured Deposit Series for Offshore Bonds’, offering two new deposit accounts: ‘The Five Year Guaranteed Arabia Titans 50 Deposit Account’ and ‘The Five Year Guaranteed FTSE 100 Deposit Account’. The Five Year Guaranteed Arabia Titans 50 Deposit Account offers protected exposure to 50 leading Arab stocks, represented by the Dow Jones Arabia Titans 50 Index, while the Five Year Guaranteed FTSE 100 Deposit Account provides exposure to the FTSE 100 Index.
Access to the deposits is via most offshore life bond providers*, with the brochures and fact sheets available for download from www.BarclaysOffshoreSolutions.com from 3 November.
David Macdonald, Director, Barclays Capital, commented on the Five Year Guaranteed Arabia Titans 50 Deposit Account:
"Launched in 2004, The Dow Jones Arabia Titans 50 Index covers in a single index almost the entire investable Arab region, representing the 50 largest stocks across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Within the region we’ve seen strong growth, backed by the key drivers of commodity revenues, regional commercial and infrastructure development, and consumption; this is reflected in the solid performance of the Arabia Titans 50 Index, which has delivered an annualised return greater than 15% over the last five years1.
1 Annualised price return. Source: Bloomberg, 28 October 2008
In their April 2008 World Economic Outlook2, the International Monetary Fund highlighted that the "Global financial market turmoil has had little direct effect on the Middle East", with regional growth (in real GDP) remaining strong at 5.8% in 2007. They highlight the risk from inflationary pressures, but consider overall risks to be broadly balanced - and project growth to extend to 6% in both 2008 and 2009, with short-term outlook for the region remaining positive.
Building upon the success of our previous Dow Jones Arabia Titans 50 Index launches in May and September, we’re delighted to once again offer investors access to this exciting and topical region, particularly during a period when growth opportunities can be more challenging to identify. Combining participation in only positive Index performance and 100% capital protection at maturity, we would expect to again see strong demand for the Account from Investors and their Financial Advisers."
Requiring a minimum investment of $75,000 for the Five Year Guaranteed Arabia Titans 50 Deposit Account, or £50,000 for the Five Year Guaranteed FTSE 100 Deposit Account, investors are guaranteed a full return of their initial capital investment, provided the product is held until its full five year maturity.
