An individual savings account is a class of retail investment arrangement available to residents of the United Kingdom. First introduced in 1999, the accounts have favourable tax status. Payments into the account are made from after-tax income, then the account is exempt from income tax and capital gains tax on the investment returns, and no tax is payable on money withdrawn from the scheme.
In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a financial agreement between two parties, commonly referred to as the "buyer" and the "seller." The contract stipulates that the buyer will pay the seller the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at the time the contract was initiated. If the asset's price increases from the opening to the closing of the contract, the seller compensates the buyer for the increase, which constitutes the buyer's profit. Conversely, if the asset's price decreases, the buyer compensates the seller, resulting in a profit for the seller.
An independent financial advisers (IFA) is a professional who offers independent advice on financial matters to their clients and recommends suitable financial products from the whole of the market. The term was developed to reflect a United Kingdom (UK) regulatory position and has a specific UK meaning, although it has been adopted in other parts of the world, such as Hong Kong.
A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is the name given to the type of UK government-approved personal pension scheme which allows individuals to make their own investment decisions from the full range of investments approved by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic regulator. The intention was for the OFT to make markets work well for consumers, ensuring vigorous competition between fair-dealing businesses and prohibiting unfair practices such as rogue trading, scams, and cartels. Its role was modified and its powers changed by the Enterprise Act 2002.
An open-ended investment company or investment company with variable capital is a type of open-ended collective investment formed as a corporation under the Open-Ended Investment Company Regulations 2001 in the United Kingdom. The terms "OEIC" and "ICVC" are used interchangeably with different investment managers favouring one over the other. In the UK OEICs are the preferred legal form for new open-ended investment over the older unit trust.
The Financial Ombudsman Service is an ombudsman in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2000, and given statutory powers in 2001 by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, to help settle disputes between consumers and UK-based businesses providing financial services, such as banks, building societies, insurance companies, investment firms, financial advisers and finance companies.
Superannuation in Australia, or "super", is a savings system for workplace pensions in retirement. It involves money earned by an employee being placed into an investment fund to be made legally available to members upon retirement. Employers make compulsory payments to these funds at a proportion of their employee's wages. From July 2024, the mandatory minimum "guarantee" contribution is 11.5%, rising to 12% from 2025. The superannuation guarantee was introduced by the Hawke government to promote self-funded retirement savings, reducing reliance on a publicly funded pension system. Legislation to support the introduction of the superannuation guarantee was passed by the Keating Government in 1992.
Aegon UK (Aegon) is an Edinburgh based financial services provider specialising in pensions, investments and insurance.
Small Self Administered Scheme (SSAS) is a type of UK Occupational Pension Scheme.
Halifax Share Dealing is a British online broker, allowing customers to buy and sell shares in UK and international companies across a range of markets. It is a subsidiary of the Bank of Scotland which itself is part of the Lloyds Banking Group.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom. It operates independently of the UK Government and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financial firms providing services to consumers and maintains the integrity of the financial markets in the United Kingdom.
Rebuildingsociety.com is a Leeds-based peer-to-peer lending platform, founded in 2012 by Daniel Rajkumar, to facilitate the online arranging of finance between lenders and small and medium-sized enterprises. The first loans were completed in February 2013.
Pension Led Funding (PLF) is a financial services product offered in the United Kingdom (UK) that raises funds for businesses based upon the use of pension benefits accrued by owners or directors of the business they control. The money can then be used for the provision of a secured commercial loan, the purchase of commercial property, *the purchase of intellectual property assets, or the purchase of share capital.
James Hay Partnership is a provider of financial services products in the UK with headquarters in Salisbury. The company is best known for administering Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) introduced in the Finance Act 1989.
Curtis Banks is a financial services company based in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Peer-to-peer asset management is the practice of sharing investment strategies between unrelated individuals, or "peers", without going through a traditional financial intermediary such as a bank or other collective investment management vehicle.
In the United Kingdom, pension liberation is a term used by confidence tricksters that purports to allow individuals to access the funds within a pension before the age of 55 when permission has not been provided by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
AJ Bell plc is a British public limited company that provides online investment platforms and stockbroker services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Freetrade is a UK-based financial technology company which offers a freemium share dealing service. The company was founded in 2016 and launched an iOS app in October 2018, followed by an Android version in April 2019. In October 2021 the company surpassed one million registered users, with quarterly trading volumes as of March 2021 of over £1 billion. As of November 2021 Freetrade has over £1 billion of assets under administration.
