Stocks & Shares ISA

Our online investment advice service simply asks you a number of questions to understand your investment objectives and risk profile to then allocate you to a suitable portfolio of investments that are managed by us on an ongoing basis as your appointed Discretionary Investment Manager. We simply provide electronic investment portfolio recommendations using the information you have provided us. It is therefore extremely important that you provide us with accurate information about your personal circumstances.

This service provides simplified investment advice which means it is limited to the specific amount of money you are investing through this service. The service does not advise on suitable account type (GIA, ISA, JISA, Pensions) to hold your investment portfolio. Moreover, the online advice service does not offer a full or broad assessment of your financial circumstances or consider any existing arrangements (investments, ISAs or pensions) you may have. The service may suit those who wish to self serve and have decided that they do not want a full advice service.

This online service may be suitable if you have a minimum of £1,000 available to invest over a minimum period of 3+ years. For those investing £50,000+ or those who wish to receive professional financial advice on existing investment arrangements should consider our comprehensive personal advice service.

Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a tax free savings vehicle, which means that the money you put in will grow tax free (with the exception of tax credits on dividends). Your returns will be completely free of income or capital gains tax and do not need to be declared on your tax return. ISAs are available to people who are resident in the UK for tax purposes.

While there are four types of ISA’s, we only offer Stocks & Shares ISA.

This account may be right for you if you seek:

• Potentially higher returns than a cash deposit account.
• Comfortable with investment risk, including possible loss of capital.
• Investing for long term.
• Tax efficient saving plan.

For Simplified Advice Online service, the ISA Manager is Fundment. Fundment is approved by HMRC to act as ISA Manager.

To open an account, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Resident in the United Kingdom.
• Not contribute to another stocks & shares ISA during the tax year.
• Not exceed the annual contribution limit during tax year

You can’t open an account together with someone else, or on behalf of someone else.

You are able to invest up to £20,000 in a Stocks & Shares ISA or, if you have subscribed elsewhere to another type of ISA in the current tax year, you may subscribe the balance in a Stocks & Shares ISA. In subsequent years the allowance may alter.

You can withdraw cash from your Stocks and Shares ISA and replace it in part or in full without the replacement counting towards the annual ISA subscription limit providing the replacement is made into the same account and in the same tax year as the withdrawal.

You may transfer some or all of your money from another type of ISA, without affecting your current tax year limit.

Remember, tax depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Broadly, the tax advantages are as follows:

• You don’t have to pay any capital gains tax on profits made from share price increases. Invest outside an ISA and any profits made above the annual capital gains tax allowance (£6,000 for 2023/24) would be subject to tax at 10% for basic rate taxpayers and 20% for higher rate and additional rate taxpayers on shares. You make a profit when you sell a share for more than you bought it for.
• You don’t have to pay any tax on dividends paid within ISA account. After using the dividend allowance, which is currently £1,000 (2023/24) the basic, higher and additional rate taxpayers have to pay tax at 8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% respectively.
• You do not have to include any information about your ISAs in your tax return.

You cannot use any losses in your ISA to set off against any gains elsewhere.

Fundment is the platform provider selected by Simply Ethical to deliver its Online Advice service. Fundment will hold your money as Client Money in accordance with the FCA Rules which, among other things, require Fundment to hold your money in a designated client bank account, in compliance with the FCA Rules. This means, amongst other things, that the Client Money Bank will hold your money in a designated client bank account which is an account kept separate from Fundment’s own funds.

No interest is paid on cash.

Once you have completed the account signup process, you can make a deposit through your secure personal dashboard.

Step 1: Please log into your personal dashboard and then click ‘Deposit & Withdraw’.

Step 2: Choose ‘Your goal’ to pick the goal you want contributions to go to.

Step 3: Then, choose ‘Deposit’ for one-off payment or choose ‘Recurring deposit’ for regular contributions.

For one-off or initial contributions, you can make a bank transfer. The relevant bank details and a reference number will be provided, so that you can make payments by instructing your bank.

For regular payments, you can set up a direct debit.

Upon successful payment, the funds will be added to your balance and be available for investment.

You are limited on how many ISAs you can subscribe to in each tax year. You can only put money into one Cash ISA and/or one Stocks and Shares ISA and/or one Lifetime ISA and/or one Innovative Finance ISA and you must make sure you don’t exceed the total ISA allowance for the tax year. The current tax year’s (2023/24) annual ISA allowance is £20,000.

Yes, but we only accept transfer in the form of cash. Cash transfer means that your current investments will be sold and the cash transferred to your account with us.

You can transfer:

• Your current year ISA subscriptions and/or
• All or part of ISA subscriptions made in previous tax years

If your ISA contains current year subscriptions only, the entire account must be transferred. Alternatively, you could, for example, transfer your savings from the year before to the Stocks & Shares ISA Account and leave your current tax year savings where they are.

To transfer your existing account, please complete our online account opening application.

We only accept transfer in the form of cash.

Cash transfer means that your current investments will be sold and the cash transferred to your ISA with us.

Please be aware that a cash transfer means:

• You may lose out on investment growth while your investment is not invested during the transfer period.
• You may incur charges when you purchase new investments to be held within your account with us.
• You will not have access to your ISA until such time as the transfer is complete.

No, when you transfer previous year’s ISA to us, as long as they have come to us directly from your current provider, they will not impact your current year allowance. However, please confirm with your existing provider before placing any transfer.

Yes, you can transfer an account held with us or any other third party which is in a General Investment Account into an ISA.

You can once we have the relevant documentation from the new provider.

Yes, you can set-up a one-off or regular withdrawal from your ISA account. We do not charge for withdrawal and transactions charges of selling investments in order to meet your withdrawal request.

The Fundment ISA is flexible ISA which means any payment withdrawn during the tax year may be paid back-in during the same tax year without it counting in your annual allowance for that tax year. We will normally treat payment into your ISA as repayment of previous withdrawal of the same tax year.

For security reasons, we only make withdrawal payments to your nominated bank account. We do not pay withdrawals to third parties other than to your estate in the event of your death.

On receipt of a certified Death Certificate by Fundment (ISA provider), all funds will be moved to cash at the date of notification, and on-going adviser charges stopped. Death claims for all products, will only be settled after probate or Letters of Administration is/are received by Fundment and to the payee as instructed on a claim form approved and signed by the Executors or Administrators.

Previously notified nomination of beneficiaries instruction will take precedence. We will continue to invest monies until such time as a Death Certificate is received.

The amount you get back is not guaranteed and depends on a number of factors, such as:

• How much you invested
• The length of time you invested for
• The performance of the investments
• How much our charges are
• The amount of any withdrawals you have taken

You are able to change your mind within 14 days of opening your account and receiving your illustration document.