Institutional Investment in the UK: A Review (the Myners Report) was a report to HM Treasury in March 2001 on institutional investors. It was delivered by Paul Myners.
Government was concerned that institutional investors were giving insufficient attention and resources to their holdings in non-listed companies. The report addressed this, in particular concerning pension fund trustees and fund managers.
Though some anticipated creation of public interest duties, the Report took the approach of asking whether institutional investors were acting in the best interests of their beneficiaries.
The report questions whether institutional investors in the UK are too risk averse and considers if there are any factors distorting the decision-making by institutional investors. Back in 2001 UK pension funds were only investing 0.5% of their portfolio into venture capital, whereas the US equivalents invested 5%.
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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the account is exempt from income tax and capital gains tax on the investment returns, and no tax is payable on money withdrawn from the scheme. Cash and a broad range of investments can be held within the arrangement, and there is no restriction on when or how much money can be withdrawn. Since 2017, there have been four types of account: cash ISA, stocks & shares ISA, innovative finance ISA (IFISA) and lifetime ISA. Each taxpayer has an annual investment limit which can be split among the four types as desired. Additionally, children under 18 may hold a junior ISA, with a different annual limit.
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