Barclays Wealth has announced that it is launching a new range of investments as part of its ongoing drive to offer investors an alternative to unprotected equities.

The new range of investments will be open between September 1, 2008 and October 31, 2008. The suite has been designed for investors seeking growth, income or, in the case of the Super Tracker, a structure in which they can recover previous capital losses.

The new range includes the Protected FTSE Plan, which offers investors 1.5 times the rise in the FTSE 100 Index up to maximum return of either 27% or 60%. Investors can alternatively select the plan’s early maturity feature, which will deliver a 30% return after two and a half years if the index at that point is 30% or more above its initial starting level. If the index has grown by less than that amount after two and a half years, the plan will continue on the same terms as the standard five-year option.

Other investments include the Minimum Return Plan, a six-year plan which offers a fixed return of 18% at maturity plus a potential additional payment of 26% if the FTSE 100 never trades below 60% of the initial index level.

The Super Tracker, a recovery vehicle now with the choice of two investment terms, offers three times the rise of FTSE 100 up to 40% or five times the index rise up to 75%. Investors’ full capital will be returned unless the FTSE 100 falls by more than 50% and fails to recover by maturity, in which case capital is lost 1:1 with the index.

Rounding out the range is the Regular Income Bond, an income-only investment linked to the Dow Jones Stoxx50 Index, which gives exposure to 50 supersector stocks across Europe. The five-year bond offers an annual gross income of 7.25% or a quarterly income of 1.78%. Investors’ full capital will be returned unless the index falls by 40% and is not equal to or higher than the initial index level at maturity, in which case capital is lost 1:1 with the index.

Colin Dickie, director of Barclays Wealth, said: We continue to see merit in promoting our Super Tracker as an appropriate recovery vehicle. We think advisers should be particularly mindful about investors close to retirement or in drawdown mode where pension pots might be much reduced. This is where the strength of the Super Tracker can prevail over alternative recovery strategies.