Skipton FS offers free peace of mind for worried with profit investors

With the news this week that American International Group (AIG), until recently the world's biggest insurer, has gone cap in hand to the Federal Reserve for a loan to bail it out of its financial difficulty, the spotlight has turned again to the insecurity of with profit bonds.

To help sift out the good, the bad and the ugly, Skipton Financial Services (SFS), the whole of market financial adviser subsidiary of Skipton Building Society, offers a free with profit bond review service.

Many millions of pounds are invested in with profit bonds but the returns of these investments will vary dramatically, depending on who the provider is. The Skipton Financial Services With Profit Bond Review Service will highlight the important factors people need to consider with these investments and will help determine what, if any, the next steps should be. SFS believes that, in particular, investors who have with profit bonds with any of the following companies should consider some form of action: AXA, Clerical Medical, Friends Provident, NPI, Pearl, Royal & Sun Alliance, Scottish Equitable, Scottish Mutual, Scottish Provident, Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Sun Life.

Matthew Cox of Skipton Financial Services said, "The media coverage of the turmoil in the financial markets cannot have escaped anyone's attention. No doubt, many people are feeling increasingly nervous about the impact of this on their investments, particularly those who have with profit bonds, with the performance of these investments linked inextricably to the fortunes of the with-profit fund itself. Whilst a lot of UK with-profit funds are financially strong, investors with with-profit bonds in some of the weaker life offices will be again hit hard by recent events.

"It is crucial that people know how strong their with profit investments are. Trying to review these investments yourself can be very time consuming and frustrating but our free, no obligation review will do all the work, giving peace of mind to customers whose investments are in the right place and, more importantly, alerting people who didn't realise their with profit bonds are definitely in the doghouse."