The New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Limited announces that it is moving to protect investors in one of its funds, the Guardian Mortgage Fund, by suspending new investments and withdrawals. It is expected however that income distributions from the Fund will continue.

Due to current liquidity difficulties in the market, the Fund is currently operating below its target liquidity rate of 5%. In such conditions this is not considered appropriate by the directors. In the interest of fairness among unit holders, the directors feel a cautious approach is necessary.