CTF discussion area

smx_2

Hi there,

My wife and I are keen to invest our son's voucher ASAP (it's been left on the back burner for a little too long!), only since we're Muslim, obviously our choice of providers is limited... I see the Children's Mutual offer a Shariah-compliant Baby Bond (http://www.thechildrensmutual.co.uk/Default.aspx?page=476); are there any others in the UK that anyone knows of and could tell me about?

many thanks

macbreath

does anyone know if there is a league table showing past and current performances of ctfs or which funds are the top performers at the moment?

Scr00ge

ReportInvestor wrote:

My suggestion to consider from a Money Saving (rather than investing) point of view would be Foreign & Colonial (also mentioned in Martin's article). You can choose from a range of Investment Trusts and the charges are low.

I phoned F&C up and they confirmed that you could invest the £250 voucher and just leave it there .

If you chose the flagship Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust you would pay:
0.5% Stamp Duty (a one off charge)
0.2% between the buying and selling price of the IT
0.7% pa CTF plan management charge
0.5% pa Fund Total Expense Ratio (includes a very low 0.3% management charge)

That's 1.2% Total annual costs and a 0.7% total initial costs. I doubt that can be beaten in the CTF world - especially if you don't add regular contributions.

Many of the other CTFs will have a 5% initial charge and a 1.5% annual management charge which will end up as as a 2%+ total annual costs, so although these stakeholders will track the index, they won't ever come close to matching it.

I'm looking to setup one of these, but looking on the F&C website, it looks like you have to invest a minimum monthly amount into this account... could you tell me exactly which one you don't have to put a monthly amount into?

dirty_scouser

Hi I wonder if anyone can help. As I live outside the UK I would like to deposit 1000 GBP as a lump sum to mature in 16 or 18 years for my neice. Can anyone advise the best wayto invest it as most accounts including CTF are regular savers and most bonds are 3 year terms.....

bigup7

hi guys!

just a bit confused here, hope some one can clarify something for me.

my son was born in April 2006, and have no received a CTF voucher yet, does it come automatically?? or is there a form i need to fill out? the bounty pack had a child claim benefit form which i need to fill out, will the voucher come after i send that of and has been processed?

many thanks!

isasmurf

To get a CTF voucher you need to be registered for Child Benefit. Once you are registered for Child Benefit your CTF voucher will be issued shortly after.

whippet

Apologies if this is not the correct way to get into this thread but it is only the second time i have used it and i can't remember how i did it last time!!

Basically, my wife received a letter from RBS yesterday stating that they have been instructed by the government to invest my sons £256 voucher into their stakeholder account. They will be sending forms for her to sign. Does anybody know anything about this account ie is it any good, what are the charges and what funds will the money be invested (high/low risk etc).

Finally, Does anybody know why the government has chosen the RBS over anybody else?

cheers

whippet

isasmurf

whippet wrote:

Finally, Does anybody know why the government has chosen the RBS over anybody else?

HMRC has a list of Stakeholder CTF providers who have agreed to open accounts for children whose vouchers are unused. From this list your childs CTF is randomly allocated to one of these providers.

You are free to move the account to wherever you please.

Lucinda_2

Does any1 know if u can change to a different CTF provider after u hav already opened 1? i applied in haste & hav now realised i can get much better interest rates elsewhere. If so, how do i go about this?

evilwitch

Lucinda wrote:

Does any1 know if u can change to a different CTF provider after u hav already opened 1? i applied in haste & hav now realised i can get much better interest rates elsewhere. If so, how do i go about this?

Yes, you can and its an easy process. All you have to do is sign up to the new provider and they tell the previous one (and governement in case they decide to make any additional payments)