Consumers have a right to clearly presented financial product information says the Consumers' Association of Ireland (CAI).

The CAI has called for the use of realisable values in promotional material and the introduction of a code of ethics for financial product engineering.

The association also criticised the use of future illustrations that had not been adjusted to allow for inflation. These gave consumers "telephone numbers" rather than the expected true value of their funds, said the spokesman.

An US-style Global Investment Performance Standard should be instituted to prevent abuse of fund advertising and the potential for unit price manipulation.

The rates of return on pension and life investments should reflect the fund's underlying strategy rather than being expressed in "one-for-all" illustration codes.

In general, consumer product information should be simplified and financial service companies should provide instant access to real values, said the CAI.