A round-up of today's other stories in brief:

EBS launches first-time buyers DVD

EBS Building Society has produced a DVD for first-time buyers that provides mortgage, property and legal advice.

Buying Your First Home: Uncovered contains information and advice from a range of professionals on all the key areas relevant to buying a first property.

It includes information on the various mortgage options available, the implications of different interest rates, the associated costs of buying a home and the type of documentation required at the application stage. Snag lists, stamp duty and tax relief are among the subjects discussed.

EBS will also host a series of first-time buyer seminars in 2006 in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Waterford.

The first seminar takes place in Dublin's Clarion Hotel on February 16th at 7pm.

Eagle Star launches commodity fund

Eagle Star has launched a global commodities fund that tracks the Goldman Sachs commodity index (GSCI) for investors with a minimum lump sum of €5,000 to invest.

Paul Callan, associate director of equities at Eagle Star, said investing in commodities was a good way for investors to diversify the assets they hold. Commodity funds have performed strongly in recent times.

The GSCI covers all the main commodity sectors with energy (oil and gas) making up the majority of the index. Other sectors included are industrial metals, precious metals and agricultural and livestock products.

Age Action backs bank access study

Age Action has welcomed a new report from the UCD's Centre for Retail Studies launched by the Combat Poverty Agency that highlights the growing problems faced by elderly people in accessing grocery and financial services.

"Older people who are poor, and indeed the not so poor, can be faced with lack of choice, poor transport options, difficulties with shopping and problems with financial transactions," Age Action said in a statement.

Calls to the organisation show that older people can have difficulty with cash transactions. Some of these difficulties could be helped by bigger type in official documents and bank statements, Age Action said.

RaboDirect cuts fund entry fee

Online savings and investment bank RaboDirect has reduced the investment entry fee on its "fund of the month", the Robeco multi-manager Asia Pacific equities fund.

For the month of February, the 0.75 per cent entry fee will be reduced to 0.25 per cent of the funds invested. The minimum investment required to enter the fund is €100. Exit fees are 0.75 per cent and there are no additional early encashment penalties or switching costs.

Greg McAweeney, general manager of RaboDirect, said the low minimum investment sum meant the fund was very accessible to investors who wanted to gain some exposure to a higher risk investment.

Pension premiums in UK fall sharply

Pensions savers in the UK are not keeping up with regular payments into personal pensions after they have taken them out, according to new research.

Insurance specialist Cazalet Consulting said barely 50 per cent of pensions policies in the UK still had contributions being paid into them after four years.

As a result, pensions and savings providers in the UK are paying out billions of pounds more each year than they are receiving in premiums, according to new research. Life and pensions companies in the UK have seen a sharp fall in the level of premiums they receive each year, dropping from £95 billion (€139 billion) in 2001 to £80 billion in 2004.

- (PA)