Offshore Banking International Mortgages Retirement Planning Saving for children’s Education Financial Protection Corporate Employee Benefits and Pension Plans Capital Growth There are a number of different types of arrangements which offer potentially different levels of growth and risk. The main types are listed below in order of increasing risk: • With profit funds • Mutual funds • Alternative investments With Profit Funds This type of investment is designed to cushion the investor against stock market volatility. It works by smoothing the effects of stock market fluctuations by holding back some of the profits in good times and paying out surpluses in lean times. The smoothing effects of with profits Mutual Funds This type of fund allows you to “pool” your money by using a fund which is actively managed by professional fund managers who make the decisions of the asset mix on a daily basis. Typically these funds are highly diversified over a number of different asset classes which spreads your money over a range of investments thus lowering the potential risk compared to investing directly in stocks. Alternative Investments As global economic markets and returns have changed investors have increasingly looked beyond traditional investments consisting of stocks and bonds. Alternative investment strategies typically comprising of hedge funds and managed futures. This offers a way of generating returns that operate randomly different to traditional funds. This non correlation to conventional investments can be especially useful in diversifying a portfolio as this type of fund can potentially produce positive funds whilst conventional funds are yielding negative returns along with the rest of the market.