AIB has issued its third tracker bond of the year Issue 6 of its Secure Tracker Bond series, this one tracking the performance of the Eurotop 100 index of top European companies and the Japanese equivalent, the Nikkei 225. The fund split is 75/25 respectively.

This bond includes three investment options the first for three years and nine months, includes a previous bond growth restriction of just 28 per cent. This reflects the increasing cost of buying options in some high-flying international stock market indices at a time of low interest rates, but once taxes are deducted the investor can only earn about 22 per cent or about 5.3 per cent net.

This is better than many deposit accounts, but given that you have no access to your money for nearly four years, it falls short of what most people expect from a tracker.

The two other options, both for 51/2year periods are more promising: the first, which also allocates the fund on a 75/25 per cent basis, provides a potential return of 70 per cent of the rise of the markets subject to a maximum overall return of 70 per cent of your investment.

The other option, which invests the entire fund in the Eurotop 100 offers 65 per cent growth in the index subject to a maximum return of 65 per cent of the fund. The minimum investment is £2,000 and profits are subject to 24 per cent tax. There is a six-month averaging period which AIB and some financial advisers claim produces better returns than the longer 12- to 18-month averaging periods favoured by other tracker providers. The closing date is June 12th.