Aviva is launching a fund in the US that operates as a cross between a mutual fund and a structured product, combining liquidity and capital protection. Aviva Investors in the US has announced plans to launch a fund that tracks the performance of four exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with capital protection provided by the purchase of US Treasuries. The Multi-Asset Preservation (Map) 2015 Fund will open for investment on August 30. The fund works like a mutual fund but includes several characteristics of a structured product, such as a special redemption date in 2015 and capital preservation. “The Map Fund has features of a structured product. However, the advisory community is much more comfortable with mutual funds than with structured products.” says Mark Cernicky, product development manager at Aviva Investors in New York. “The reaction has been very favourable. Several advisers have said they have been waiting for a product like this. We think the reason for this is that their clients are sitting in cash and advisers can use this product to get their clients back into the market again.”