isas

Did you see the article in the Sunday Times recently about ISA millionaires? It was one of those classic pieces which is everything that is right (or wrong) about our industry - at least according to a mate of mine.

Disappointing retail sales for the beginning of the year have cast doubt over the success of the 2010/2011 ISA season.

ISAs and their PEP predecessors have been demonstrating their popularity as tax free savings vehicles since the ‘80s.

The Strategic Bond sector was the most popular with retail investors in 2010 but sales of equity funds also soared to a 10 year high, according to the IMA.

The government has said it has no intention of allowing Alternative Investment Market (AIM) shares to be held in ISAs.

Any future increase in ISA limits could be exclusively reserved for green/low carbon ISAs, according to a new report commissioned by the Government.

The Centre for Policy studies has proposed an annual savings limit of £45,000 across Isas and pensions with the aim of simplifying and encouraging savings.

For anyone involved in the manufacture, distribution and advice of investment funds, the latest set of statistics from the IMA make very welcome reading a month into the new decade and potentially point to a new era for the industry.

Corporate bonds remain popular with investors according to FundsNetwork, despite IMA figures showing net retail outflows for the sector of £11.8m in October.

Investors in green ISAs would be the first to benefit from further rises in the tax-free savings limit under a Tory Government, says shadow chancellor George Osborne.