CTF discussion area

isayoldchap

InnesL wrote: »

New entry on Quidco £50 when you take out a Child Trust Fund with Engage Mutual.

There is no mention of any minimum investment (although this maybe an oversight, but gotta be worth a shot)

I have invested my voucher and set up a DD for £5 (so the first 10 months should be covered by the cashback).

NB The fund is a stakeholder, so no nasty excessive fees!

Hope this helps somebody.

Hi
I did the same back in November and it still shows as validated.I have despatched an email to Quidco and Engage for an update.
I notice they are not on Quidco anymore.
Could it have just been a scam?
Did you get your £50?
I have PM you

sparkles88_2

I am an Auntie x 2 and wish to open a trust fund for my neice and nephew but I simply cannot find one that you can open a) without a CTF voucher and b) without being a parent/guardian. Is this now a thing of the past? Is there an alternative anyone can reccommend? Thanks so much!

neeko3

MSE_Dan wrote: »

hi

i just recieved my son's yearly statement for his non-stakeholder type fund with the ctf. whilst i confess to being no expert in investments and such i was horrified to find that it had actually reduced by seventy pounds. no explanation was given for this. what's more the small print mentioned a 1.5% charge for investing the money. i could have stuck it in a higher interest BS account and it would still all be there.

have i been an idiot? is there actually a point to these types of schemes?

i have just emailed the ctf on the matter; but was wondering if there is anyone there who knows wether (if i am not satisfied at the end of it) if i can pull the money out of there and put it in a good old-fashioned building society account, where at least i know it wont be eaten away by all manner of hidden charges!

anyone done this?

(a bit vexed). neeko

Cashby

Hi, Does anyone know when Martin's pages that show best buys for CFT's are to be updated please?

baby_boomer

carebear71 wrote: »

My daughter was born in October and after deliberation, we decided to go for the Nationwide Stakeholder fund as this was lower risk but seemed to offer better returns than a cash account. I picked the Nationwide as they have no shareholders. I have just found out that they have been taken over by Legal and General who have shareholders and now I wonder if I should move the account.

You are not investing in Nationwide or L&G but in a stock market fund run by them.

As the charges on the Nationwide stakeholder fund are likely to be 1.5% and capped at 1.5% there is nothing that L&G can do to increase your annual charges. You are therefore not at the mercy of voracious L&G shareholders as opposed to voracious Nationwide members like me who would have benefited from your charges. (But do double check the annual charges on the info sent by Nationwide to see if they are 1.5%.)

You should only switch if you think L&G will be worse fund managers than Nationwide and there is a chance that they will be better.

Having said that, I wouldn't personally invest in a stakeholder - but that wasn't your question.

Footnote:

I've just checked in a cursory fashion and the Nationwide L&G Stakeholder looks to be the L&G UK Index tracker with 1.5% charges. This same fund is available outside a CTF for a 0.5% management charge. This is the nature of stakeholder CTFs, it's not just a feature of either Nationwide cuddly mutual BS or L&G nasty grasping Plc.

dexsta

sparkles88 wrote: »

I am an Auntie x 2 and wish to open a trust fund for my neice and nephew but I simply cannot find one that you can open a) without a CTF voucher and b) without being a parent/guardian. Is this now a thing of the past? Is there an alternative anyone can reccommend? Thanks so much!

i dont believe you can do what you have asked. you have to have a voucher to open the ctf. the alternative would be to ask their parent to open an account or what the details of their childrens ctf/bank account is and just transfer money to that on their birthdays/christmas etc.

c247

Apologies if this is covered else where, but is it possible to open a passive equity tracker CTF with lower fees. I've tried all manner of searches at various online financial websites but not seen any yet.
Thanks

s33mac

Hi can any one tell me if it would be possible to open an account and set up a direct debit for the child trust fund initially and then cancel it once you have received your boots / mother care vouchers?

Thanks in advance for replies.

baby_boomer

c247 wrote: »

Apologies if this is covered else where, but is it possible to open a passive equity tracker CTF with lower fees. I've tried all manner of searches at various online financial websites but not seen any yet.
Thanks

Possibly not. SelfTrade's Stakeholder with that same "cheap" L&G fund has 1.5% overall charges .

But here's a way if you are intending to add a decent lump sum annually.

You could open a Self-Select shares CTF with SelfTrade and invest in the same L&G fund which normally has 0.5% annual charges.

Selftrade dealing charges are £12.50 = just over1% for £1,200. But that's only 1% on £1,200 for one year. In years 2-18 you are just paying 0.5% on that £1,200.

I would definitely consider this option if you were intending to pay in £1200 pa in a lump sum. Then the annual cost (in addition to the 0.5% L&G fund fees) would be a single £12.50 fee when you invested your annual contribution together with the dividends from the previous year.

The problem if you don't invest each year, is what to do with the dividends.

If you were going to contribute, say, £250 pa, then that £12.50 = effectively an off-putting 5% initial charge - although even this will be cheaper for the early years compared to the stakeholder annual charges.

jessicamb

s33mac wrote: »

Hi can any one tell me if it would be possible to open an account and set up a direct debit for the child trust fund initially and then cancel it once you have received your boots / mother care vouchers?

Thanks in advance for replies.

yes you can.