Aberdeen Asset Management has opened up five of its 24 funds to regular savers under the Government savings scheme. Meanwhile, Scottish Legal Life has released details of its Special Savings Incentive Plan, which will also benefit from the 25 per cent Government top-up.

This is Aberdeen's first venture into the regular savings market in the Republic. The funds range from a low-risk cash equivalent fund to a "very high risk" technology fund.

The minimum monthly saving for Aberdeen's funds is £40 (#50.80) up to a maximum of £200. The funds include a medium-risk European High Yield Bond and a high-risk European Multinational Companies Fund.

The annual management fees on the medium to high-risk Aberdeen funds range from 1.25 to 1.75 per cent. There is no annual fee for the first year in the cash equivalent fund and it is 0.75 per cent from years two to five.

The medium to high-risk funds attract a monthly charge of 3.5 per cent. Aberdeen will accept investors from July 1st.

The savings plan from Scottish Legal Life is open to monthly contributions of between £26.63 and £200. A special feature of the plan is the maturity guarantee. It promises to return at least 80 per cent of total contributions - including the Government bonus - after five years, regardless of performance. For savers investing £59.07, the guarantee will cover all contributions.

The Scottish Legal Life plan splits contributions equally between the ISEQ tracker fund and the Cash Fund.

There is a monthly plan fee of £1.50 which is taken by unit deduction and 97 per cent of every contribution is used to purchase units for the plan. The annual management charge on the Cash Fund is 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the fine-tuning by institutions on previously announced products continues. Ulster Bank has announced that the minimum amount that savers may deposit to avail of its fixed rate Government scheme account has been reduced from £50 to £10 per month.