Its time you had an OIK

An alternative to the traditional investment.

Even the more sophisticated investor may not have heard of the open-ended investment company, or OEIC (pronounced 'Oik'). They have spent a long time in the wilderness since their launch in 1996, but now are gaining pace in the popularity stakes with many investors.

Ready-made portfolio
An OEIC is an open-ended investment company, which is basically a fund holding a portfolio of stock market investments that you can buy into. They are like unit trusts in that they are funds holding a large number of stocks and shares divided into equal parts - and these parts, or shares, can be bought by many individual investors.

Open-ended
Like unit trusts, OEICs are open-ended investments, which means that the amount of capital they hold increases and decreases as investors buy and sell, and there is no limit to the size of the fund. Because OEICs are not listed companies, in practice they are not regulated by the Companies Acts. Instead, the regulations that govern OEICs are more akin to those for unit trusts.

Single pricing
OEICs only quote a single price, rather than an offer price at which you can buy, and a lower bid price at which you have to sell as with unit trusts. A single mid-price is quoted, which is the price at which you buy and sell. The initial charge is shown as a separate sales charge, expressed as a percentage of the investment.

With their single pricing and separate charges, OEICs should make investing simpler as it is easier to see how much they cost.

If your appetite has been whetted by the benefits of investing through an OEIC and you would like to obtain further information about the options available to you - please e-mail or contact us.

The past is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Levels and bases of, and reliefs from, taxation are subject to change. Tax reliefs referred to are those currently applying and their value depends on the circumstances of the individual investor or fund involved. The value of the units in these investments, as well as the income from them, can fall as well as rise. These investments are intended as long-term investments. If you withdraw from these investments in the early years, you may not get back the full amount invested.