THE Irish Permanent is offering a choice of two investment periods and two investment options for investors in its latest tracker bond - the Guaranteed Equity Bond 3. Shorter term trackers have proven quite popular with people who are unable to commit their funds for the usual five or six-year periods and who would otherwise suffer interest and capital penalties if forced to encash early.

This latest bond from the Permanent offers either a five-year and six-month term or a three-year, nine-month term. Under the first option, in addition to your capital back, you are guaranteed a return of 45 per cent gross on half of the amount invested over the period while under option two, a 25 per cent gross return (plus capital) is guaranteed on up to half your investment. There is no limit on the potential returns from the funds that are invested in the stock markets, namely the Nikkei 300 and the FT-SE Eurotrack 200.

The investment options also make this tracker a little bit different from others on the market: more cautious investors can opt for a 50/50 split between a deposit investment account and the two stock market indices, while the more adventurous may opt for a 25/75 split.

Because of the shorter time frames involved with this tracker (and the inclusion - yet again - of a Japanese index), prospective investors may want to seek out some independent advice to properly assess their risk profile and the realistic growth prospects of the indices.

This bond closes on November 15th, and requires a minimum investment of £3,000.