We asked three financial advisers to tell us what issues should be considered when embarking on a long-term investment of the Children's Allowance.

The advisers based their comments on two working examples. The first was for one child over a period of 15 years at £67.50 (#86) per month.

The next example was for three children under eight. The family's combined monthly benefit will be £221 from June and the investment term is 10 years.

Moneywise - Mr Alan Morton: For both families, I would firstly see if there are sufficient resources in place to maximise contribution levels to the new Government savings scheme. For these, I would suggest one parent opts for a deposit-style instrument and the other for an equity-based scheme. Assuming the child benefit amounts are surplus to this, the 10- and 15-year time frames involved both lend themselves to equity investment.

They should both look for an aggressive equity fund with a healthy geographical and sectoral spread. Top of my list would be Target 20 from Hibernian Life & Pensions.

Assuming an average growth rate of 8 per cent per annum, the first couple are looking to turn their £67.50 per month into £18,811 over 15 years. If the child benefit was to increase by 5 per cent per annum, this would rise to £25,585.

The second couple could expect a sum of £34,945 in 10 years, or £42,537 with an increase of 5 per cent per annum. If the parents were to start off within the Government scheme, these returns would be boosted. Hibernian Spectrum Saver has no bid-offer spread (entry charge), a £2.50 per month policy fee and a 1 per cent annual management charge - about as good as it gets.

Financial Engineering Network The first question to ask is whether these people are taking advantage of the Government savings scheme. If they are not, the first recommendation must be for them to invest via that scheme. In so doing, the first couple with one child would receive an extra £16.88 per month from the Exchequer over the first five years. Which type of scheme they should use will depend very much on their personal risk preferences. Direct comparisons between the charging structures of deposit-type investments and unit-linked equity-based investments are, for the most part, ridiculous.

You will be required to pay for professional investment management but you can expect to receive much greater returns on your savings than for those where there are no obvious charges. The amount of risk any particular investor can take is dictated by how dependent they are upon the investment money. If these people are extremely dependent upon the Children's Allowance for, say, the future education of their children, then the risk they can take will be minimal. In such a scenario, I would be inclined to suggest an investment in a deposit-based savings scheme or at least a mixture between deposits and managed funds. History has shown us that the stock markets are the place to gain substantial returns while deposits are an extremely safe haven, but the price you pay for safety is lacklustre returns.

National Deposit Brokers - Mr Douglas Farrell: I often come across people who take out savings policies on the birth of their children and it's never a bad idea to be building funds. The money might be there to help the child with their first house or for college. But parents have to consider their own savings needs, bearing in mind their age profile. If you are 15 years from retirement, it's important to have a solid pension going and to be availing of the tax relief on pension contributions.

Having said that, anyone who can should be concentrating on putting the maximum into the Government savings scheme but take your time to figure out which product is best for you.

As a long-term savings strategy, it only makes sense to put the money on deposit if you are comfortable with losing money. That's assuming the family already has a minimum amount of readily accessible savings as an emergency fund. One important thing is not to be put off taking an active interest in investment by the fact that the monthly savings amount is small.

You should still take control of it and review your investment strategy regularly. Consensus funds are good for less involved investors as they take the average weighting of all the managed funds and mirror that. Irish Life Saver Scope would be suitable for parents investing over the long term as it offers good geographical diversification and allows you to switch to different funds as you go along.