PRE-BUDGET CHILD TRUST FUNDS PLANS WILL BOOST ISAs & THE SAVINGS HABIT
The Treasury’s plans to develop the Child Trust Fund will act as a major boost towards new saving and encourage young people to start their own Individual Savings Accounts, according to the PEP and ISA Managers’ Association.
PIMA’s own recommendations in its October Pre-Budget submission called for the Treasury to ensure the Child Trust Fund would be open to all savings and investment companies to allow the widest and most competitive range of choices for consumers. PIMA also called for the CTF, to act as a feeder for savings later in life through ISAs.
Tony Vine-Lott, director-general of PIMA, said:
‘We are delighted that the Chancellor has used his Pre-Budget report to provide a much needed boost to savings by publishing proposals for the development of the Child Trust Fund. PIMA called for open market competition to provide consumers with the best choice of investments – a proposal which the Government has accepted. The Treasury’s desire to see CTF saving as a feeder for ISA take-up later in life is also extremely welcome.’
The CTF, which is set to become a part of the National Curriculum on saving, is set to be a universal account where the Government will provide an endowment where funds can be accessed at age 18.