M&G ads scrapped

M&G may have to offer investors a refund following its regulator's decision to force it to withdraw ads for the managed income fund PEP, writes Caroline Merrell.

The poster and press campaign, which kicked off on 4 January, advertised the fact that M&G intended to scrap the initial charge on the PEP, but did not point out that exit charges were being introduced.

M&G's regulator, Imro, said it had been alerted to the advertising during the normal course of its compliance checks. The public has been investing pounds 1m a day in the PEP since the offer was launched.

M&G pointed out that anybody who contacted it as a result of the advertising would be sent full details including the exit charges.

Rachel Medill, M&G's corporate communications manager, said: 'We are taking all the posters down and changing the ads.' Investors who withdraw their cash in the first year are charged 4.5 per cent, falling to 2 per cent in the fourth year.

(Photograph omitted)