The Henley Group -aboutus

Friends Provident International Limited have launched another version of their highly successful Premier regular-savings product, called Premier Ultra. Designed for larger savers, Premier Ultra offers enhancements to your monthly contributions of up to 150% during the first eighteen months.

If you're not saving enough (and, let's be honest, which of us is?!), Premier Ultra could offer just the incentive you need. The FPIL Premier Ultra Technical Guide gives all the details below, as approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

If you would like more information on this topic please contact us

Premier Ultra is a unit-linked, whole of life, offshore life assurance policy.

Units within your funds are allocated either as Initial Units or Accumulation Units. The first 18 months?premiums, and the first 18 months of any increased premiums, are allocated to Initial Units. These are subject to an additional quarterly charge levied by deduction of units.

Additional single premium payments are allocated to Accumulation Units.

You cannot take withdrawals from Initial Units; they can however be surrendered, subject to a Surrender Fee (see the Summary of Charges). Accumulation Units can be surrendered without penalty.

The minimum investment in Premier Ultra is as follows:

MINIMUM INVESTMENT
Frequency	Premium
Monthly	US$1,500 (or currency equivalent)
Quarterly	US$4,500 (or currency equivalent)
Half-yearly	US$9,000 (or currency equivalent)
Yearly	US$18,000 (or currency equivalent)

Single premium payments can be made to an existing Plan (whether premium-paying or paid up). The minimum single premium payment is US$3,000 (or currency equivalent). Single premium payments cannot be accepted for standalone plans.

Payment frequency is as above ?monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly.

Units will be allocated to the Plan according to a formula, as follows:

100% + (policy term x 2) %

This means that with Premier Ultra you can benefit from up to 150% allocation. This additional allocation applies to the full Initial Unit period.

If a client invests US$2,000 per month into Premier Ultra with a policy term of 25 years, the allocation rate would be 100% + 50% = 150%. So, for US$2,000 contributed, there is US$3,000 working - buying units in your chosen investments.

The following table gives the allocation rates for terms of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years. The allocation rate for terms in between these values can be calculated using the above formula.

ALLOCATION RATES
Term (years)	Initial	Accumulation
5	110%	100%
10	120%	100%
15	130%	100%
20	140%	100%
25	150%	100%

MINIMUM INVESTMENT
Frequency	Premium
Monthly	US$50 (or currency equivalent)
Quarterly	US$150 (or currency equivalent)
Half-yearly	US$300 (or currency equivalent)
Yearly	US$600 (or currency equivalent)

Premium reductions can also be made at any premium due date without charge, after the Initial Unit Period is completed. Premiums can be reduced to any level as long as it is above the minimum outlined in the Minimum Investment / Premium Frequency / Allocation Rates section of this Guide.

Premiums may be paid in US Dollars, Sterling, Euro or Hong Kong Dollars.

The Plan owner must be at least 18 years of age to effect the Plan. There is no maximum.

The Life Assured or Lives Assured have no minimum age restriction. However, at least one of the Lives Assured must be 75 years of age or under on the Plan Option Date (see below).

This means the length of the savings term.
?Minimum: 5 years
?Maximum: 25 years

Premier Ultra can invest in a selection of any of the funds within the Friends Provident International Limited mirror fund range.

The maximum number of funds that can be linked to the Plan is 10 at any one time.

There is currently no charge for switching between any of the funds within the mirror fund range.

The sum assured is 101% of the bid value of the units. No Surrender Fee (see the Summary of Charges) will be applied to the sum assured.

The maximum number of Lives Assured is four. If there is more than one Life Assured, then the death benefit will be paid on a "last survivor" basis.

This is an optional benefit in Premier Ultra. It is available on either one or two separate lives. If two, then the cover will be made available on a "joint life, first death basis?

The minimum amount of Additional Life Cover is US$30,000(or currency equivalent).

Plans can be made paid up (the contract remains in force although no premiums are received) at any time after the initial unit payment period (see section on Initial and Accumulation Units).

Plans that cease to pay premiums, in whole or in part, during the initial unit payment period will be surrendered (the Plan will no longer remain in force and all appropriate benefits will be paid out, minus any Surrender Fee).

Premier Ultra has no bid/offer spread (a difference in the price at which units are bought and sold).

For the Charges applicable to Premier Ultra please see the Summary of Charges overleaf.

SUMMARY OF CHARGES
INITIAL CHARGE	Quarterly charge of 1.5% (6% per year) of the then value of the Initial Unit holding, taken by cancelling Initial Units on the quarterly anniversary of the Plan commencement. The Initial Unit Period is 18 months on all Premier Ultra Plans. The Initial Charge will continue until the Option Date. The first 18 months of any increased premiums are also allocated to Initial Units.
PLAN FEE	Taken monthly by cancellation of Accumulation Units. The Plan Fee is US$6.00 per month (US$72.00 per year). During periods where there may be no Accumulation Units the Plan Fee will be accrued. When Accumulation Units become available any accrued Plan Fees will be systematically cleared.
FUND ADMINISTRATION	A charge for the management of the funds linked to Premier Ultra is taken from the funds and is CHARGE not deducted from the Plan. This is 0.1% per month (1.2% per year) and is taken each time the fund is priced.
PAID UP/SURRENDER	The Plan can be made paid-up without charge. If the Plan is surrendered before the Option Date, a Surrender Fee will be taken as a percentage of the Initial Units allocated to the policy (the first 18 months of any increased premiums are also allocated to Initial Units).
EXTERNAL FUND CHARGES	Between 0.1% and 3.35% each year, dependent upon the fund chosen. Please refer to the Annual Charges leaflet for full details.
OTHER CHARGES	A charge of US$100 will be levied in the following circumstances: • changing premium frequency • Valuation statements requested from Friends Provident International (an annual statement is provided free of charge) • changing valuation and premium currency.