Stocks & Shares ISA Top Ups

Stocks & Shares ISA’s are no longer available to open with Foresters. But on the plus side, we do offer other saving plans which can be used to save for your future. Find out more about our Tax Exempt Savings Plan and our Saving and Investment Plan.

We no longer accept transfers of Stocks & Shares ISA’s.

Cash ISAs are basically savings accounts available to anyone aged 16 and over, where all the interest paid is free of income tax. Unlike a Stocks & Shares ISA the value of your capital can’t fall. There are two types of Cash ISAs:

• Instant Access – you have direct access to your money and can make withdrawals whenever you need to.
• Fixed Rate Cash ISAs – encourage you to lock your money away for a set period of time. Generally, the longer it’s in there, the more potential there is for a higher rate of interest.

A Stocks & Shares ISA, like this one, is designed more for longer-term investments and is available to anyone aged 18 years old and over. You may find it delivers a better return over time than a Cash ISA because it’s invested in a range of ways – but that all depends on the performance of the asset types your money may be invested in. The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the full amount originally invested.

The money you pay into the Stocks & Shares ISA is invested in Foresters’ With Profits Order Insurance Fund. The fund’s aim is to deliver investment growth for you. Dependent on the performance of Foresters’ fund, there is the potential for annual bonuses and a possible final bonus to be added to your ISA.

Once invested, your money is spread across various types of investments including property, equities, cash and UK government bonds. This is done to reduce risk and increase the potential for healthier returns. You don’t need to be an investment expert – fund managers will handle the fund for you.

For the latest information on the investment strategy for Foresters’ With Profits fund, please see the Principles and Practices of Financial Management (PPFM).

Rather than receiving interest your investment has the potential to grow through the addition of bonuses which depend on the performance of Foresters’ Order Insurance Fund. Any profits may be used to award an annual bonus to your ISA and possibly a final bonus when you eventually withdraw your money.

Foresters’ Order Insurance Fund has paid annual bonuses on the Stocks & Shares ISA for the past 19 years.

• In 2022 the annual bonus rate was 1.25%.

This annual bonus is applied to the amounts you have invested, less the amounts you have withdrawn, and any annual bonuses that have been previously added.

We recommend you read our Principles and Practices of Financial Management (PPFM) to find out more about the addition of bonuses and how Foresters’ Order Insurance Fund is managed.

From time to time, the product might change slightly to meet the needs of our policyholders. This may affect the timings and amount of any bonuses in the future. Therefore, the above bonus rate is provided for information purposes only. It shouldn’t be considered as an indication of likely future performance.

Every year there is a management charge to pay – it’s set at 2% of your ISA’s value. It’s there to cover our costs in administrating the plan for you. We’ll always deduct the charge before we declare any bonuses. This way there are no additional fees for you to pay and our bonus rates are declared after the charge has been taken. Although this charge could increase in time, we guarantee it’ll never be more than 3% of the value of your ISA in any one year.

For more details, please read the relevant Stocks & Shares ISA Key Information Document and Important Information.

You can make regular and one-off withdrawals just as long as the remaining balance of your ISA does not fall below £500. After two years you can make regular withdrawals at fixed points in time such as monthly or quarterly, and one off withdrawals can be made at any time.

Please take a few minutes to read the Important Information document for further information on making withdrawals.

As a with profits investment, your ISA will benefit from the potential for growth the longer it is kept invested. However, you can cash it in at any time. What you get back will depend on how much you’ve invested, any amounts you’ve withdrawn and any annual bonuses.

In good investment conditions you may also receive a final bonus. However, in less favourable conditions, a Market Value Reduction (MVR) may be applied which will reduce the ISA’s value and may mean you get back less than was paid in.

For more details please take a few minutes to read the Important Information document.