Treasury to shelve plans for VAT on funds March 7, 2025 Ministers are looking to block a proposal from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to apply VAT to investment funds following warnings from City bosses. According to a report in the Financial Times, the customs body had been trying to end the carve-out that allowed third-party fund management operations to be free from the 20 per [...]
Should I get an Innovative Finance ISA? March 3, 2025 Innovative Finance ISAs offer retail investors an alternative to more conventional savings accounts, although some financial advisers are cautious about the risk that comes with these products. IFISAs are designed to include more long-term, less-liquid investments. These can include peer-to-peer loans, crowdfunded debt issued by companies, and bonds issued by charities. As with all ISAs, [...]
Who is the Lifetime ISA for? February 28, 2025 Lifetime ISAs have been the focus of policymakers’ considerations as they consider how to reform and simplify the UK’s savings landscape. In January, the Treasury Committee called for evidence from industry on whether the Lifetime ISA remains fit for purpose nine years after its creation. It has asked how the product could be reformed or [...]
The power of compounding when it comes to reaching your financial goals February 26, 2025 interactive investor is the UK’s second largest platform for private investors I’ve been re-reading the brilliant best-selling book Atomic Habits by James Clear – which, if you’re unfamiliar with it, outlines the small, but ‘stackable’ behavioural changes we can make to turn big goals into actionable and sustainable daily habits. Clear explains that this can [...]
Getting Brits to invest will take more than tweaking ISAs February 25, 2025 Rachel Reeves is considering reducing the tax-free limit on cash ISAs to encourage people to invest in stock and shares, but she should go even further, says Emma Revell It is one of the most popular and best understood savings tools available for Brits, but there could be a big shake up coming for the [...]
Rachel Reeves urges financial services to back emerging markets February 20, 2025 Rachel Reeves has met with top financial services firms to urge them to work with development institutions and within “emerging markets”. The Chancellor met with firms including Aviva, HSBC and Schroders in Canary Wharf today, as she called on industry leaders to seize on growth opportunities and shore up London as a leader in development [...]
Nick Train: ‘I’m running out of ways to say sorry’ for poor performance January 29, 2025 Star fund manager Nick Train has apologised again for the poor performance of his £1.4bn Finsbury Growth & Income trust. Over the last five years, the trust’s share price has grown only 10.9 per cent, compared to its benchmark’s growth of 26.5 per cent, according to its most recent factsheet. Tracking the FTSE All-Share index, [...]
Freetrade: IG Group swoops for trading app January 16, 2025 IG Group has acquired stock trading app Freetrade for £160m, as the FTSE 250 firm looks to target a new UK audience of traders. The trading platform, along with its 720,000 customers and £2.5bn in assets, will move to IG Group in mid-2025, subject to regulatory approval, the firm said in a stock exchange notice [...]
Crowdcube: Turnover falls by half as losses continue December 13, 2024 Turnover at funding platform Crowdcube fell by half during its latest financial year as it continued to lose money, it has been revealed. The London-headquartered business has reported a turnover of £7.5m for 2023, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House. The new figure comes after Crowdcube posted a turnover of £14.4m for the 15 [...]
Diageo: Shares in FTSE 100 Guinness, Baileys and Johnnie Walker owner are staging a comeback December 12, 2024 Shares in Diageo, the giant behind Guinness, Baileys and Johnnie Walker, are staging a comeback after falling to a historic low last month. The London-headquartered group, which also has a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, has seen its share rise to 2,581p in early trading today, up 3.6 per cent. The latest price [...]