Man Investments has launched a structured product with a capital guarantee provided by the German bank WestLB AG.

The new Man AP Unison Series 1 Ltd (Man AP Unison) is a capital guaranteed structured product that consists of strategic allocations to arbitrage, managed futures, directional, equity hedge and long/short equities investment styles.

Christoph Moeller, Managing Director and Head of Global Sales at Man Investments, said: "Man AP Unison offers investors the opportunity to take advantage of a versatile product that contains an array of investment styles. This is an excellent choice of product for any level of investor on the basis that it has valuable portfolio diversification properties, a built-in guarantee and the capability of sustaining solid gains over the medium term."

Man AP Unison targets annualised returns of 14-16 per cent for a volatility of 8-10 per cent over the medium term. Man stated that capital guarantees provided by WestLB AG ensure investors the return of at least 100 per cent of their initial investment at maturity. The product also benefits from a profit lock-in feature and will be offered in both EUR and USD classes.

Man AP Unison is the latest addition to the Man AP structured product family which was established over three years ago with the launch of Man-AP Stratum Ltd. The core objective of this product family is to target conservative risk-adjusted returns.

Man Investments stated: "The ability of the Man AP portfolio to generate returns and protect investors' capital during difficult market conditions for traditional assets is highlighted by the performance of Man-AP Stratum Ltd, which has delivered returns of 74.8 per cent since inception (Oct. 1999), compared to a return of -33.7 per cent for World stocks and 26.1 per cent for World bonds over the same timeframe."

Man AP Unison has been carefully structured in order to take advantage of the full range of Man Investments' styles from arbitrage, managed futures, directional, equity hedge and long/short equities categories. The lack of correlation between these investment styles increases the potential to produce a stable return stream with a low associated level of volatility. This approach provides an enhanced risk-adjusted investment opportunity.

Man AP Unison incorporates an enhanced principal protection structure that guarantees investors the return of at least 100 per cent of the face value of their initial investment at maturity.  In  addition, provisions have also been made to include a profit lock-in feature which, subject to trading performance, has the potential to elevate the level of the guarantees at maturity by locking in a portion of net new trading profits following periods of sustained profitability. The operation of both the guarantees and the profit lock-in feature are subject to the terms and conditions of the capital guarantees provided by WestLB AG.

With total assets of more than EUR 350 billion, WestLB AG is one of the leading providers of financial services in Germany. As an internationally operating commercial bank, it maintains branches, representative offices and subsidiaries in over 35 countries and employs approximately 8,700 people around the world. WestLB AG's senior debt is rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA+ by Standard & Poor's as at 11 April 2003.

Man AP Unison Series 1 Ltd will be available to investors up to 13 June 2003.