Friends First has introduced a product under the new Government Special Savings Incentive Scheme aimed at the middle end of the market by setting a minimum entry level of £75 (#95) per month. This will exclude small savers who, under the Government plan, qualify for the scheme if they save £10 per month.

Friends First is one of the first to introduce products targeting investors under the scheme. Under the charging structure chosen by Friends First, a saver putting in the minimum £75 per month will face annual charges of 2.83 per cent. For a saver saving £100 per month the annual charge would be 2.5 per cent. At the maximum £200 per month saving allowed under the scheme the annual charge would fall to 2 per cent.

The charging structure involves an annual management fee of 1.5 per cent plus a policy fee of £1 per month. The Friends First product, SaverFirst, is a unit linked savings scheme which will offer investors an opportunity to split their savings over a range of options from Irish equities, managed funds, international equities, fixed interest and cash.