Nationwide offers Legal & General's investment and protection products

From Tuesday 5th February 2008, Nationwide Building Society offers an ethical trust and a range of new protection and investment products from Legal & General to complement its existing offers.

The range of products from Legal & General will include:

Ethical Trust - an ethical investment fund that is simple to understand and operate and can be opened with just £20

Family Life Insurance Plan - which provides a range of fixed monthly benefits for dependant children if a parent dies

Capital Guaranteed Multi-Index Equity Bond - a five year deposit based Guaranteed Equity Bond (GEB) that protects the capital investment if held until maturity and provides returns linked to the performance of the world's leading stock markets

Critical Illness Cover - designed to pay out a lump sum if the customer dies or is diagnosed with one of 35 critical illnesses. Children are covered automatically for free

Life Cover - designed to pay a lump sum in the event of the customer's death including level term assurance and decreasing term assurance options

Nationwide director of insurance and investments, Robin Bailey, said: "Our new link with Legal & General enables us to respond to customers' requests for an ethical fund and to launch innovative new policies like the Family Life Insurance Plan to protect young families. In addition to new policies to protect customers and their families, Nationwide will continue to make investments accessible and simple with a £20 minimum investment, no initial charges, single unit pricing and a range of funds designed for people with differing attitudes to risk."

Chris Last, Legal & General's managing director for bank and building society distribution, said: "Legal & General is delighted to be partnering with Nationwide and to be providing our life assurance, pension and investment products to Nationwide's customers throughout the UK. Legal & General has an excellent track record in delivering strong product performance and competitive pricing across the full range of products and we are looking forward to working closely with Nationwide to ensure we continue to deliver products that meet the needs of their customers."

Range of Legal & General products which will be available from Nationwide

Ethical Trust - enables Nationwide customers to invest in a portfolio of companies in the FTSE 350 index which meet a range of ethical and environmental guidelines - and has produced a return of 99.28% growth from 31 December 2002 to 31st December 2007. It is specially designed for people who do not want their money invested in companies involved in practices such as animal testing, arms manufacture, tobacco and gambling, or which have a poor human rights or pollution record. Investments can be opened with just £20.

Capital Guaranteed Multi-Index Equity Bond is a five year deposit based GEB that guarantees to return the original capital and to provide a return of at least 10% if held until maturity. If stock markets grow by more than 10% the investment will provide 85% of any growth in the value of a basket of the world's leading stock market indices. The minimum investment is £500 and must be received by Nationwide by 28 March 2008. The 5 year bond start date is 2 April 2008.

Family Life Insurance Plan (FLIP) - designed to meet the needs of families, in the event of a parent dying FLIP provides a monthly benefit to the policyholder's family until the youngest child's 21st birthday. Policyholders can choose four levels of monthly benefit £250, £500, £750 or £1,000 and cover starts from £4 per month. Acceptance is guaranteed with no need for medical checks.

Life Cover - designed to pay a lump sum in the event of the customer's death. Nationwide customers can choose to cover just their mortgage or to have additional cover, providing even greater peace of mind for their family. The policy provides a lump sum payout to customers diagnosed with a terminal illness, accidental death benefit cover while the application is processed and it even covers for unexpected hitches on the day a customer is moving house.

Critical Illness - provides a lump sum to customers who contract one of 35 serious illnesses enabling them to focus on their recovery without having to worry about their finances. Life cover and Children's cover (the lower of either £15,000 or 50% of the sum insured) are included automatically with no extra cost. Level and decreasing term options offer flexible pricing options.