Santander Stocks and Shares ISA

Santander Stocks and Shares ISA

Santander UK plc is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group. They have over 1,010 branches across the UK and is one of the UK’s leading personal financial services,

While Santander don’t currently offer a Stocks and Shares ISA, they do offer a range of other ISA options. Compare our tables for latest rates.

Why Choose a Stocks and Shares ISA?

In this time of ever decreasing interest rates from banks, many people have turned to investing in order to make up the shortfall.

There is an element of risk as there is no guarantee that you will make any profit and could even make losses on your cash. However, investing has traditionally been a successful way to gain returns on your money and with many providers offering managed accounts with a portfolio to match your risk threshold, it has never been easier for beginners to start investing.

Most Stocks and Shares accounts do take transfers in but check with your current providers to make sure there are no hidden charges for account closure which can result in significant losses.

About Stocks and Shares ISAs

It's accepted that this type of account is not normally an investment in its own right but it does provide you with a platform to invest from.

An investment ISA can hold money in order to invest in qualifying sources such as government bonds and corporate bonds as well as shares and stocks.

They are generally available as either self-select ISAs that allow you to invest directly into stocks and shares or as collective investment schemes.

Stocks & shares ISA are referred to as ‘tax-efficient’ wrappers, as there is no capital gains tax to be paid on gains made on investments held within the wrapper, although dividends do incur 10% income tax at source.

1. Are you new to investing or simply don't have time?A ready made ISA investment portfolio may be right for you where you get investment experts to choose the asset mix of your ISA on your behalf.The good news is that over the last few years investment platform providers have upped their game in providing carefully constructed model portfolio options to suit all kinds of investors for your ISA.Using low cost funds such as ETFs and index trackers and smart technology there are some excellent options for investors.Providers of ready-made portfolios include:
   1. Interactive Investor
   2. Hargreaves Lansdown
   3. Moneyfarm
   4. AJ Bell
2. Choosing a ready made ISA portfolioWith each ready made portfolio, it is the investment team at your selected portfolio provider who have chosen the investments.Each portfolio will typically have a set risk profile e.g. cautious, balanced, adventurous, and then will invest in assets that are aligned with the portfolio risk profile. The ISA portfolio provider’s documentation will clearly explain exactly where your money will be invested.Depending on the type of ISA portfolio service offered:
   1. The fund managers will then manage the investments on your behalf or
   2. Having made the investment choices for you, it is up to you on how you “manage” the investments going forward

The investment experts at the portfolio provider may also monitor the make-up of the portfolio, and may consider changing it if market conditions alter, which might help mitigate the effects of falling stock markets.For example, they might decide to have more exposure to one investment fund which they think is set to perform well, and to reduce their exposure to another fund.However, you still need to make the initial decision as to which portfolio to choose.When deciding which portfolio to invest in, you might decide to look at past performance records.If you do, then please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.