Finding the right balance of ISA and investment product can be difficult if you are unsure of what you are trying to achieve. This is where ISB can help. We offer impartial advice and can help guide you through the ISA saving, investment and savings maze.

Once we have established the type of ISA saving or investment product that you are looking for, we will compile a report that details your personal circumstances, and the type of arrangement that we consider to be suitable for you. We will outline how an ISA saving or investment product works, how they will benefit you financially and how our service works.

There are several different ways to save and invest with ISB whether you are looking at long or short term saving, we can offer advice regarding the following;

• ISA savings including existing PEPs and TESSAs
• Investment Bonds
• Unit Trusts
• Childrens Trust Funds

All these products offer different benefits so the explanations below will help you to find the product that is right for you.

ISAs

An ISA is an Individual Savings Account and is a tax free investment allowance which was launched in 1999 to replace PEP and Tessa allowances to encourage people to save for the future. An incentive of investing in an ISA saving is that the interest earned on savings and any capital gains made on investments are tax free. Although there is a limit of £7,200 on the amount that you can invest each year, you can also hold stock market based investments as well as traditional savings.

An ISA allows you to invest in either a single provider that takes the full £7,200 annual allowance or in two providers, one offering a cash ISA (Maximum £3,600 ) and the other a stocks and shares ISA. However, should your circumstances change, ISA savings can be transferred to a more suitable provider or en-cashed at any stage without penalty. ISB can help you find a provider that can supply you with all your ISA saving and investment needs.

The tax benefits apply whether you take your money out of your ISA saving or not and the access to your ISA saving depends on the type of ISA saving that you choose. Some ISA saving products can run for specific time periods and so you must decide how you are going to manage your ISA saving and what the investment will ultimately be used for. Please remember that once you have en-cashed an ISA for a particular tax year, that specific years allowance is then utilised and cannot be replaced.

Investment Bonds

Investment bonds are different from ISA saving and involve using a lump sum investment to invest in a wide range of funds and assets with the aim of providing capital growth and possibly income. Your investment is pooled together with other investor's savings and managed by a fund manager. Investment bonds are seen as medium to long-term investments, typically greater than five years and are more applicable to women wanting to invest more than the ISA saving minimum of £7,200.

Investment bonds are also different from ISA saving as they are not exempt of tax, however our investment bond service reduces the up front charges you normally pay when you invest directly with an insurance company. We research all of the leading investment bond providers and will work with you to ensure that your money is invested according to your specific needs.

Unit Trusts

Unit Trusts are a type of investment that involves ‘pooled' investment rather than individual investment like ISA saving. A fund manager buys stocks and shares in different companies and then pools them in a fund; you are then able to buy a unit of the fund. The fund is open to anyone who wants to invest and therefore the number of units rises and falls with the number of people investing in them unlike ISA saving which is solely an individual investment. As the shares are spread across different companies the risk is also reduced.

There are different types of funds that you can invest in; therefore every trust fund has a stated investment strategy so you are able to invest according to your attitude to risk. For example investing in small companies or emerging markets would carry more risk than investment in large UK companies.

Our staff at ISB can advise you on the best possible route should you want to invest in a unit trust and carry out up to date research of all fund managers, investment houses and their available funds.

Children's Trust Fund

A child trust fund is a savings or investment account for children who were born on or after the 1st September 2002. Eligible children born on or after the 5th April 2005 will receive their voucher once child benefit has been claimed and awarded to them.

The childrens trust fund is a government scheme and is tax free similar to an ISA saving and will entitle the child to a voucher of £250 which can be put into an account and not accessed until they are 18 years old. The idea of the scheme is to allow children to have some money behind them when they reach 18 and also to outline and encourage the importance of saving.

Opening an account for this purpose is easy and can be opened by a parent, or any person with parental responsibility. The sooner the saving account is opened the sooner the money starts to grow and there is the option for additional monies to be invested by parents of grand-parents either on an ad-hoc or regular basis.