I am a financial advisor.

My clients are scared to death of the markets and possible war.  What
are the different ways to guarantee someone a return over 3-7 years? 
My colleagues have suggested the following list.  But I know very
little about these options, and would like to get smart in a hurry:

(1)  GIC (Guaranteed investment contract?)
(2)  UIT (Unit investment trust)
(3)  Fixed annuity
(4)  Zero-coupon bond
(5)  Certificates of Deposit

Are there other methods to guarantee a pre-defined return?
A list of 3-5 other methods would be great.

Thanks!  Ron


P.S.   As for comments on the 5 items on my list above...certainly not
necessary, but any and all opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thx.

---

Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 07 Oct 2002 10:34 PDT

Hi! I have answered your questions before and really liked to help you
on this one. I can find you the definitions of the five you mentioned
but since I am not a financial adviser I do not know much about the
other types of investments. Would a link to sources that will answer
your inquiry on the 5 types of investments be enough as an answer?
Just let me know. :)

---

Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 07 Oct 2002 11:02 PDT

There's at least one major category missing: Treasury bills.

Whole life insurance contracts can also be used with high-income
individuals to generate low, but tax-free returns.  The key advantage
in estate planning is for decedents, to whom the life insurance payout
could come tax-free.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

---

Clarification of Question by nronronronro-ga on 07 Oct 2002 11:06 PDT

Thanks, EasterAngel !

The short answer to your clarification question is
"No, but thank you."  The five investments listed in
my question are pretty well defined in the literature
I already have.  What I now need to know is...

"What other products exist out there in InvestmentLand?

These other prducts would need to have guaranteed returns similar to 
the five examples mentioned in my question.

I hope you decide to give it a try.  If not, thanks 
anyway for asking.  :-)

---

Clarification of Question by nronronronro-ga on 07 Oct 2002 11:08 PDT

Thanks, Omnivorous.  Much appreciated !  ron

---

Request for Question Clarification by missy-ga on 07 Oct 2002 12:14 PDT

Hi Ron,

I'm no financial expert either, but it would seem to me that these are
basic financial tools, the explanations for which should be available
from the supervisor at your company.  Have you consulted with your
immediate supervisor?  Or are you seeking alternative explanations for
these, outside the standard ones offered by the banking industry?

--Missy

---

Clarification of Question by nronronronro-ga on 07 Oct 2002 12:20 PDT

Thanks, Missy.
You are completely correct.  The five I mentioned (plus the 2
mentioned by Omnivorous) are covered by our internal brochures, though
I have never utilized them myself.  My question is, "What other
products are available at other firms of which I am not even aware?"

My firm is like many others on Wall Street:  they encourage you to
offer the in-house products.  But they can't prevent you from offering
superior products from competitors if you (the advisor) can document a
proven track record.  Hence, I am trying to get smart about the other
possibilities out there at other institutions.  Thanks !

Hi! Thanks for the question.

Since you mentioned that other financial products offered by other
firms will be good, I am giving this a try. Please be patient with me
and ask for a clarification if you find you will need more
information.

I found Prudential Financial to have different investment products
similar to the five you have mentioned.

Prudential Financial Variable Annuities
With a tax-deferred variable annuity, you can select among a range of
investment options that have the ability to keep up with and even
outpace inflation.
http://www.prudential.com/framesetInternal/0,1493,intPageID%253D2492%2526blnPrinterFriendly%253D0,00.html

Immediate Income Annuities
An immediate-annuity has little or no accumulation phase. You purchase
it with one payment and may begin receiving income payments right
away. An immediate-annuity could help secure your financial future by
locking in a guaranteed income stream.
http://www.prudential.com/framesetInternal/0,1493,intPageID%253D2492%2526blnPrinterFriendly%253D0,00.html

Prudential Financial also has fixed income securities similar to zero
coupon bonds and certificates of deposits.

Municipal Bonds:

Municipal bonds are debt obligations of states, cities, towns,
municipalities, municipal authorities, and governmental entities.

Government Securities
Government securities are direct obligations of the U.S. government
and are widely viewed as the world’s most creditworthy and most liquid
investment.

Government Sponsored Agencies
Issued by federal government-sponsored corporations, these securities
are the direct obligations of the issuing agency.
Although they are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
government, they do have an implied AAA rating.

Fixed Income
http://www.prudential.com/productsAndServices/0,1474,intPageID%253D1426%2526blnPrinterFriendly%253D0,00.html#Government%20Securities

Salomon Smith & Barney also have conservative investment products you
could look into.

The Salomon Smith Barney Fixed Income High Net Worth® Program
http://www.salomonsmithbarney.com/products_services/fixed_income/high_net_worth/

US Savings Bonds
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/sav.htm 

Schwab International also provides fixed income investments. This page
provides non-risk investment tools but there are also medium risk ones
mentioned.
http://www.schwab-global.com/html/fixedincome.html 

According to Smart Solutions Library another fixed income investment
will be money market instruments.

“Money market instruments are short-term (one year or less) debt
securities. Because of the generally high credit quality of money
market debt and its short term, this is among the least risky of
fixed-income investment”

“A Guide to Fixed Income Investment”
http://www.ubt.com/resources/guide_to_fixed_income.htm 

“The major purpose of financial markets is to transfer funds from
lenders to borrowers. Financial market participants commonly
distinguish between the 'capital market' and the 'money market,' with
the latter term generally referring to borrowing and lending for
periods of a year or less. The United States money market is very
efficient in that it enables large sums of money to be transferred
quickly and at a low cost from one economic unit (business,
government, bank, etc.) to another for relatively short periods of
time.”

Chapter 1: The Money Market
http://www.rich.frb.org/pubs/instruments/ch1.html 

The following page meanwhile provides a list of different Money Market
instruments including treasuries and CDs.

The Money Market Instruments 
http://www.toerien.com/neg_financial_instruments/type_of_instruments.htm#The%20Money%20Market%20Instruments

First Union provides its fleet of money market investment products in
its web page.
http://business.firstunion.com/corp_inst/0,3461,1024_1041_1913,00.html

The following are articles that maybe of help to your research.

“Conservative Investment Options Popular”
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:7kprYuSNbLEC:www.napsnet.com/money/52969.html+%22conservative+investment%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

“Fixed-Income Investments for Your Retirement Years”
By Louis Mosca
http://www.igrandparents.com/grandtopics/articles/finance/fiinvest.asp

Search terms used: 
“fixed income” “conservative investment” annuities 

I hope these links are what you were looking for. Remember if you need
a clarification of my answer do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks again for being a part of Google Answers.

Regards,
Easterangel-ga

Thanks, EasterAngel!   Your work is heavenly.   I greatly appreciate
all the time you dedicated to this.  Ron

nronronronro-ga,

I have an Answer prepared which I had completed just before
easterangel's Answer was Locked, so if you are not satisfied with
his/her Answer for any reason, you can take your chances with mine,
which is more highly focused.

Post a comment or Clarificaiton if you are interested. 

My answer focuses in more depth on 3 investment vehicles which fit
your description precisely, rather than links to general sources of
information. I will tell you that 1 of the vehicles is that of
different classses of US Treasury Bills, and certain cases where
treasury bills do NOT fit your criteria, but the other 2 vehicles have
not been mentioned in the Answer or Comments.

~omniscientbeing-ga

Thanks, Omniscientbeing!  I will initiate another question at 8 PM
(PST) just for you, also for $33.  Thx.  Ron