Virgin Climate Change Fund - The fund that aims to grow your money, but doesn't forget the planet

Although unit trusts do not offer the same tax advantages as ISAs, they allow you to invest as much as you like. So once you have used up your ISA allowance for the tax year, you can invest even more in a unit trust.

If you are thinking of investing money in stocks and shares through a unit trust, we recommend you only invest money you can afford to save for at least five years, to increase your chances of a good return.

Remember, most stock market investments are considered medium to high risk and there is no guarantee you will get back the full amount you invest. If you are not comfortable at the thought that your savings might go down as well as up in value, the stock market probably is not right for you.

To see the Simplifed Prospectus for the investment funds in a Virgin Unit Trust click on the link below.

Virgin Unit Trust Simplified Prospectus

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Alternatively, you can call 08456 10 20 20 or email info@virginmoney.com to have a copy of the Simplified Prospectus sent to you.

Our funds have no initial charges or bid offer spread, so whether you are buying or selling units the price is the same.

Both the FTSE All-Share Tracker Fund and the Bond and Gilt Fund have an annual management fee of 1% a year with no other charges.

The Virgin Climate Change Fund has an annual management fee of 1.75%. There may also be a 20% performance related fee, which we only earn if we outperform agreed benchmarks.

Your investment will be covered by the FSCS for up to £50,000 per person. Information about the scheme can be found in the product terms and conditions and on the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk.

If you are:

• looking for a potentially higher return than a bank deposit account can offer
• prepared to accept more investment risk and invest for at least five years

That is when stock market investments like the Virgin Climate Change Fund really come into their own. Over longer time spans few other investments can match them for potential returns. They remain the No.1 place for investors looking to grow their money.

If you are looking for an investment that can benefit the planet as well as yourself, the Virgin Climate Change Fund could be the perfect choice for you.

It is worth remembering though, that stocks and shares are not a good place to put cash you might need in a hurry. While you can withdraw your money any time, share prices go up and down on a daily basis so you could invest today and get back less tomorrow. Also longer stock market downturns (often called ‘bear markets’) can sometimes mean you have to wait a few years to see a decent return. It is not risk-free like a deposit account and there are no guarantees about your returns.

The Climate Change Fund is probably not right for you if you are:

• likely to need your money back in a hurry – be prepared to invest for several years.
• hoping to make quick return – short term stock market investors stand a much higher risk of losing money than making it.
• afraid of risk – and could not bear to see your savings fall in value.

If you think shares might not be right for you, ask us about our less volatile Bond and Gilt Fund or a risk-free Virgin Deposit Account.

The initial minimum lump sum payment is £500, then you can invest lump sums of £100 or more after that.

If you prefer to set up regular monthly savings, the minimum monthly amount is £50. Once you have set up your regular savings direct debit, the £500 initial investment is waived and you can pay in lump sums of £100 or more whenever you like.

If you had invested £3,000 on 18 January 2008 in the Virgin Climate Change Fund, it would have decreased in value to £1,985 after charges on 30 September 2011 - a total loss of -33.8%.

Annual returns look like this:

Source: Morningstar Workstation 30.09.08 to 30.09.11, calculation based on figures in £’s, on a bid to bid basis, net of basic rate tax with income reinvested. As the Virgin Climate Change Fund only launched on 18 January 2008, performance data does not exist for five complete 12 month periods.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance and the value of investments can go down as well as up.

We do. We have got over £1.8 billion of our customers’ money invested in index tracking funds and our tracker fund has increased in value by 146% since its launch. An index tracking fund gives a great foundation to any investor’s portfolio. They are a low-cost, straightforward way to invest in a wide range of shares. The wider the range of shares you can invest in, the more you spread your risk. That is why we chose the FTSE All-Share Index for our tracker fund. It is also why we’ve based the Virgin Climate Change Fund on a broad range of shares from European and global markets, building in diversification across the widest possible range of regions and industry sectors. While higher risk than our tracker fund, it has the potential for more upside.

Source: Morningstar Workstation, 30.09.06 to 30.09.11, calculation based on figures in £’s, on a bid to bid basis, net of basic rate tax with income reinvested.

Please remember, past performance isn't a guide to the future, and with all stock market investments the value of your savings and the income you get from them can fall as well as rise, so you may not get back the amount you invested.

On its own, or as a complement to an existing tracker fund, the Virgin Climate Change Fund offers a way to diversify risk with the potential for above average returns, while helping the planet into the bargain.

Research shows the majority of non-index tracking funds struggle to beat the stock market with any degree of consistency. Active fees are only worth paying if you are confident the fund manager has the ability to consistently out-perform stock markets. If you can find a wide-based actively managed fund with a genuine expectation of better than average market returns, they are a great way to diversify your investment portfolio.

Founded over 15 years ago, GLG are one of the largest investment fund managers in Europe, managing over US$23 billion worth of investments across approximately 68 funds.

They typically manage investments for wealthy individuals, families and businesses. Access to their specialist, high-performing funds is not normally available to anyone outside the ultra high net worth bracket. In a UK first, we are teaming up with them to make their expertise available to every investor in the UK.

Sir Richard Branson is a passionate advocate of ethical and environmental ways of doing business. He gives a lead to over 200 Virgin businesses worldwide, and has drawn up a code of conduct to which Virgin companies, our partners and suppliers subscribe.

Sir Richard has personally launched many environmental initiatives, including proposals to cut aviation emissions at Virgin Atlantic and other airlines. He recently launched a new company, Virgin Fuels, which will invest $400 million over the next three years in renewable energy initiatives. Virgin Fuels will invest in technologies producing environmentally-friendly fuels like ethanol, plus wind and wave power. He has also pledged $3 billion to help combat global warming.

At Virgin Money specifically, our brochures, mailers and marketing materials are printed on paper from sustainable and recycled sources that only use energy-efficient and eco-friendly paper mills and transport. Plus our Norwich-based offices were recently renovated with more energy efficient materials, and we recycle everything from paper, cardboard, plastic cups and bottles, to mobile phones and printer cartridges.