A new savings bond has been launched this week by Nationwide, and has growth linked to the FTSE 100, Nikkei 225 and DJ EuroSTOXX 50 indices.

The Guaranteed Equity Bond (GEB) is fixed over five years and guarantees to return the original investment plus ten per cent growth or 55 per cent of growth in the value of the indices.

This 55 per cent growth is equal to 69 per cent before tax for those in the basic and higher rate tax brackets.

This savings bond has an edge over many other deposit-based savings bonds that offer guaranteed equity, because it guaranteed ten per cent growth.

An early investment bonus is also offered to customers that want to be saving money through investment in the new GEB.

People that make their initial investment before October 1st, qualify for a bonus of 0.4 per cent. Those making their first deposit to start saving money between October 3rd and October 15th will receive a bonus of 0.3 per cent and those investing between October 17th and October 29th will get a 0.2 per cent bonus.

Guaranteed Equity Bonds are ideal for people who wish to invest in the stock market but have concerns about the risks involved, commented Clive Parkinson, managing director of Nationwide unit trust managers.

He said that this new savings bond from Nationwide goes a step further as it provides customers with guaranteed growth as well as capital protection.

We have linked the bond to three indices which provide customers with increased exposure to overseas markets and the potential to benefit from the performance of a wider range of companies, he concluded.