Cleaning up in Telecom's wake

Telecom Eireann is just starting to return the money to those who failed to secure as large a stake in the company as they would have wished. That hasn't stopped the flood of funds looking to tempt the disappointed investors to invest their money elsewhere. One of the most imaginative suitors has been First Active, which introduced a telecoms tracker within days of the Telecom flotation allocation announcement. It has followed this up with carefully constructed advertisements which present the same basic image as the Telecom flotation advertisements.

But it is not alone. The Irish Association of Investment Managers (IAIM) reckons there is a healthy £400 million floating out there - with possibly more to come as people cash in their shares for a quick profit.

Given the paucity of returns on deposits, it was a good time for the IAIM to point out the better prospects, historically, of putting money into even with-profits funds, to say nothing of equity fund performance in the long-running bull market.

Of course, those who borrowed for their gamble on Telecom will not be easily able to switch funds elsewhere. Many of these loans were advanced specifically for Telecom and will have to be repaid immediately if not used for that purpose.