Money: Charitable savings, protected pensions...

... and a unit trust for rookies. Clifford German rounds up the latest offers for investors

The National Savings movement has added a new product, the Treasurer's Account to its range, aimed at thousands of charities, trusts, friendly societies, trade unions, and clubs and societies of all kinds who have pounds 10,000 in cash on which 5 per cent gross interest currently looks attractive. The rate rises to 5.25 per cent on pounds 25,000 and 5.5 per cent on pounds 100,000, with a maximum deposit of pounds 2m.

Interest accumulates daily from the date of deposit, and is paid gross on 31 December. Funds can be withdrawn at 30 days notice or loss of interest. An estimated 50,000 non-profit-making bodies are eligible, with funds of pounds 25bn on deposit with banks and building societies, but the chief executive of National Savings, Peter Bareau, expects "thousands rather than tens of thousands of customers".

Fidelity is relaunching its top-performing UK Dividend Growth Fund as MoneyBuilder Growth, and adding it to its range of MoneyBuilder unit trusts which feature no entry or exit charges. The fund is aimed at younger, first-time unit trust investors and those wanting a core of units generating income and growth rather than a specialised higher-risk fund.

The fund invests at least half its assets in FT-SE 100 companies with emphasis on the 40 or so which have increased dividends every year in the last five. The existing fund currently yields 2.24 per cent, after the annual management fee of 1 per cent, and the minimum investment is pounds 3,000 or pounds 50 a month

Scottish Amicable is launching two new pension funds offering personal pension purchasers full or partial capital protection for their funds.

The 100 per cent Safeguard and 95 per cent Safeguard offer that much protection by investing sufficient in cash deposits to compensate against falls in the FT-SE 100 index, where the remaining funds are deployed. Gains can be locked in every three months, however. An annual management fee of 0.875 per cent is charged.

ShareLink, the telephone share-dealing service which merged last year with Charles Schwab of the US, is starting a Frequent Traders Club, with a membership fee of pounds 60 and an administration charge of pounds 6 a quarter, which offers customers a telephone dealing system seven days a week up to 12 hours a day and charges a flat pounds 16.50 per deal regardless of size.

A single account holds shares, cash and unit trusts. Call 0121-236 2444 for details.