ISA Guide 2014

Make the most of your 2014 ISA allowance

What is an ISA?   |  How much is the ISA allowance?  |  How can you use your ISA?  | ISA transfers  |  Invest early 

Ideas for your ISA



ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) are one of the only means of investing without having to give a cut of the profits to the taxman.


What is an ISA?

Investing in an ISA means you pay no income or capital gains tax on any returns you make.

An ISA is not a type of investment; it is an amount of money that you can protect from tax each year. Where you invest this money is up to you.


How much is the ISA allowance?

For the 2014/2015 tax year, the ISA allowance is £15,000 - all of this can be placed in an investment ISA or a cash ISA, or you may divide the allowance between the two types of ISA as you wish.

The ISA allowance is per person (age limit is over 16 for cash ISAs and over 18 for stocks and shares ISAs).

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How can you use your investment ISA allowance?

Most investments are allowable within an ISA; these include investment funds, structured investments, Exchange Traded Funds and passive investments.

See the table below for our selections of the latest investment ISAs available:

Investment ISAs - Income
ProviderPlan NameCounterpartyISA OptionTermMaximum Potential IncomeMore Info
FTSE 100 Defensive Income PlanInvestec Bank Plcyes8 years

7.20%

per annum

More Info >
  • 7.20% per year based on the performance of the FTSE 100 Index
  • Income paid even if Index falls by 20%
  • Alternative option paying up to 5.80% income if Index falls by up to 40%
  • Plan can mature early each year from year 2 onwards
  • Available for ISA, ISA transfer and direct investment
  • Investment deadline for ISA transfer applications - 10 August 2018
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA applications - 31 August 2018
  • Capital is at risk if the FTSE 100 Index has fallen by more than 40% at maturity from it's initial level, in which case your initial investment will reduce by 1% for each 1% fall
  • Minimum investment £3,000
  • An arrangement fee applies to this plan
  • Product designed to be held for the full term
FTSE Monthly Contingent Income PlanNatixisyesUp to 10 years

6.00%

per annum

More Info >
  • Up to 6.00% per year based on the performance of the FTSE 100 Index
  • Income paid even if Index falls by 25%
  • Monthly payments
  • Plan can mature early each quarter from year 2 onwards
  • Available for ISA, ISA transfer and direct investment
  • Investment deadline for ISA transfers - 14 August 2018
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA applications by cheque - 22 August 2018
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA applications by bank transfer - 29 August 2018
  • Capital is at risk if the FTSE 100 Index has fallen by more than 40% from its starting level at the end of the investment term, in which case your initial investment will reduce by 1% for each 1% fall below its starting value
  • Minimum investment £5,000
  • An arrangement fee applies to this plan
  • Product designed to be held for the full term
  • May close early if oversubscribed
Important Information: Structured investment plans are not capital protected and are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for default alone. Income and growth returns are not guaranteed. There is a risk of losing some or all of your initial investment due to the performance of the underlying investment. There is also a risk that the company backing the plan known as the Counterparty may be unable to repay your initial investment and any returns stated.
Investment ISAs - Growth
ProviderPlan NameCounterpartyISA OptionTermMaximum Potential ReturnMore Info
FTSE 100 Enhanced Kick Out PlanInvestec Bank plcyesUp to
6 years

10%

per annum

More Info >
  • 10% for each year (not compounded) provided the FTSE 100 finishes higher than its starting value (subject to averaging)
  • Potential to mature early, from year 1 onwards
  • Alternative collateralised option also available potentially kicking out from year two onwards at 8.6% pa
  • Available for ISA, ISA transfer and direct investment
  • Investment deadline for ISA transfers - 10 August 2018
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA applications - 31 August 2018
  • Capital is at risk if the FTSE 100 Index has fallen by more than 40% at maturity from it's initial level, in which case your initial investment will reduce by 1% for each 1% fall
  • Minimum investment £3,000
  • An arrangement fee applies to this plan
  • Product designed to be held for the full term
10:10 PlanNatixisyes10 years

11%

per annum

More Info >
  • 11% for each year (not compounded) provided the FTSE 100 finishes above 105% of its starting level
  • Alternative option 1 available returning a potential 7.50% pa with kick out level reducing from 102.5% to to 82.5% over the term
  • Potential to mature early, from year 2 onwards
  • Available for ISA, ISA transfer and direct investment
  • Investment deadline ISA transfers - 25 July 2018 
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA by cheque - 8 August 2018
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA by bank transfer - 14 August 2018 
  • Capital is at risk if the FTSE 100 Index has fallen by more than 30% at maturity from its starting value, in which case your initial investment will reduce by 1% for each 1% fall
  • Minimum investment £5,000
  • An arrangement fee applies to this plan
  • Product designed to be held for the full term
  • May close early if oversubscribed
FTSE 100 Step Down Kick-Out PlanInvestec Bank plcyesUp to
6 years

7.25%

per annum

More Info >
  • 7.25% for each year (not compounded) provided the FTSE 100 finishes above kick out level
  • Kick out level reduces from 100% to to 80% over the term
  • Potential to mature early, from year 2 onwards
  • Alternative collateralised option also available paying a potential 7.35% pa
  • Available for ISA, ISA transfer and direct investment
  • Investment deadline for ISA transfers - 10 August 2018
  • Investment deadline for direct and ISA applications - 31 August 2018
  • Capital is at risk if the FTSE 100 Index has fallen by more than 40% at maturity from it's initial level, in which case your initial investment will reduce by 1% for each 1% fall
  • Minimum investment £3,000
  • An arrangement fee applies to this plan
  • Product designed to be held for the full term
Important Information: Structured investment plans are not capital protected and are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for default alone. Income and growth returns are not guaranteed. There is a risk of losing some or all of your initial investment due to the performance of the underlying Index or commodity. There is also a risk that the company backing the plan known as the Counterparty may be unable to repay your initial investment and any returns stated.
Fund ISAs - Income
 Product NameISA OptionIncome YieldMore Info
Henderson Strategic Bondyes5.7%More Info >
Newton Asian Incomeyes5.43%More Info >
Newton Higher Incomeyes5.4%More Info >
*Current Income Yields are Gross, Variable and Not Guaranteed
**Historic Yield reflects distributions declared over the past 12 months as a percentage of the mid-market price of the fund.
*** This is the target yield the fund aims to achieve per year, it is not guaranteed and could change according to prevailing market conditions. The target yield is net of basic rate tax.
Information correct as at 08/02/2012.

The value of investments and any return from them can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the full amount invested. Please ensure that you read the Important Risk Information below. 

ISA transfers

Transferring previous years’ ISA savings into an ISA account with higher returns could significantly boost any tax-efficient returns you receive. Transferring is easy, but you must make sure that you transfer properly.

If you encash your previous years’ ISA allowances they will lose their tax exempt status and you will undo your previous good work. All you need to do is request a transfer form for the new account, fill it in, and your new ISA provider should do the rest for you.

You may wish to consolidate any existing ISAs into one new ISA account to maximise any increased returns, but there are a couple of things you need to take into account, including whether the combined amount takes you over the £85,000 Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) savings limit for one financial institution or not.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you can transfer your existing cash ISAs into stocks & shares ISAs, but not the other way round.


Invest early

The earlier you invest your ISA allowance in a tax year, the more time for your investment to generate returns, protected from tax.

If you are not happy with the returns you are making on your existing ISA investments, you can transfer them into something new without losing the protective tax wrapper.


Ideas for your ISA

There is a wide range of options to choose from for investing and saving using your ISA allowance. As well as cash ISAs, investment or stocks and shares ISAs include investment funds specialising in sectors, investing globally or in corporate bonds, as well as structured investment plans which offer potential defined returns linked to the performance of a market, such as the FTSE 100 Index, over fixed terms.

 Important Risk Information:

This website contains information only and does not constitute advice or a personal recommendation in any way whatsoever. The value of investments and income from them can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the full amount invested.

Investments in Stocks & Shares ISAs do not contain the same degree of capital security as investments in deposits. Stocks and shares ISAs are designed as medium to long term investments of, for example, five years or more. The tax efficiency of ISAs is based on current tax law and there is no guarantee that tax rules will stay the same in the future.

Different types of investment carry different levels of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Please ensure that you read the Important Risk Information for further details. Prior to making any decision to invest, you should ensure that you are familiar with the risks associated with a particular investment and should read the product literature. If you are in any doubt as to the suitability of a particular investment, both in respect of its objectives and its risk profile, you should seek independent financial advice.