The investment fund that is guaranteed to lose you money The reader, HG from Surrey, wrote: "This fund can only result in investors losing money, as the cash fund is invested in Bank Rate securities producing 0.5pc but Clerical Medical makes a charge of 1pc. Jessica replied: "This is a phenomenon that needs to be watched out for by anyone with money in a cash, or similar, fund. With interest rates as low as they are, skimming profits off such sums in the form of management charges or whatever has become much more transparent than it used to be. So, not only is such money being whittled away by inflation, but a higher percentage is being creamed off by some financial providers than the underlying sum is able to generate itself. She said Clerical Medical - now under the umbrella of Scottish Widows, which is in turn owned by state-backed Lloyds Banking Group - had admitted that the returns on such cash investments had not been enough to fully offset the 1pc annual management fee. This has resulted in the unit price falling slightly. "I cannot change things for you," Jessica said, "but at least I can fulfil your request to make others aware of this."