Friendly society Family Assurance has relaunched itself as Family Investments in preparation for the introduction of Child Trust Funds.

The Brighton-based group, formed in 1975, said it planned to become a major provider of the savings accounts when they are introduced next April.

The Government-backed funds will give all children born since September 1, 2002, £250 at birth, with children from less well off families getting £500.

Parents, friends and relatives can invest up to an extra £1,200 a year into the fund.

Family Investments said it would be providing the stakeholder version of the Child Trust Fund, which will invest in a mixture of shares, cash and fixed-interest investments.

It said parents could contribute from as little as £10 extra a year up to the maximum of £1,200 and payments could be made regularly or as and when they could afford them.

The group estimates that if parents contributed £15 a month and friends and relatives made one-off contributions to the fund of £100 a year, it would be worth £12,000 by the time the child was 18.

Research for the group showed more needed to be done to encourage parents to save for their children.

It found just 47 per cent regularly put money aside for their child's future, with ten per cent saying they meant to set up a savings account but had not.

Some 14 per cent claimed they did not have enough disposable income and eight per cent said they did not think they should save for their offspring.

Two-thirds of parents with children born since September 2002 did not realise their child was eligible for one of the funds and three-quarters claimed they had never heard of them.

The group has written a guide on the funds to help parents. For a free copy, parents should call 0800 616 695.

Tuesday September 21, 2004