Stocks and share ISA advice please

The_Boss

I'm moving home shortly having saved for past few years and can now start to funnel more into savings. I have a bit more than a year's take home pay in a cash ISA and have just increased my pension contributions, so short and long term savings are sorted and I want something a bit more medium term now so am considering a S&S ISA. I had a few questions below that I can't find answers to so was hoping for some advice please

1) My cash ISA (with Monument) is fully subscribed for 2025/26. Since it is a  flexible ISA I assume I can withdraw £10k to start a S&S ISA to stay within my annual overall ISA limit of £20k, as I dont want to transfer the full value of my cash ISA into it?

2) With my pension, my employer pays into my Aviva account (via salary sacrifice) and Aviva manage the investment - I just log in every now and again to check on the value. But for the S&S ISAs I've seen (after looking at the MSE article) it seems you have to choose the investments yourself, which I'd prefer not to do as I'm not an expert. Are there any where I can just pay in and the ISA provider sorts this? I assume this happens with a robo-operator such as Wealthify, but as my pension is with Aviva I'd prefer not to go with them.

3) From reading about them, S&S ISAs seem better options than cash ISAs for medium to longer term (5 to 10 years) but presumably the potential returns will become even more appealing than cash ISA savings as the Bank of England start decreasing the base rate more frequently?

slinger2

1. No, You can't withdraw from a flexible ISA and put that money into a different ISA without using part of your annual allowance. Flexible ISAs only let you replace withdrawn money into the same ISA (if you don't want to use any of your allowance). You'll have to do a partial transfer.

dunstonh

2) With my pension, my employer pays into my Aviva account (via salary sacrifice) and Aviva manage the investment - I just log in every now and again to check on the value. But for the S&S ISAs I've seen (after looking at the MSE article) it seems you have to choose the investments yourself, which I'd prefer not to do as I'm not an expert. Are there any where I can just pay in and the ISA provider sorts this? I assume this happens with a robo-operator such as Wealthify, but as my pension is with Aviva I'd prefer not to go with them.

Aviva will not manage the investments.  There will be a default fund/strategy and alternative funds available.  You will be in the default unless you select otherwise.

Eyeful

1. Look in to a low cost Muti-Asset Fund with a share/ bond split you are comfortable with. 
This will give you a ready made portfolio with a risk you will be happy with.

2. Read this, then chose a fund:
https://monevator.com/passive-fund-of-funds-the-rivals/
Example:
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-lifestrategy-funds?intcmpgn=lifestrategyfunds_learnmore_link

3. Watch this if you want more info on how to pick a fund:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIx8W6Z0mBA

Albermarle

The_Boss said:

I'm moving home shortly having saved for past few years and can now start to funnel more into savings. I have a bit more than a year's take home pay in a cash ISA and have just increased my pension contributions, so short and long term savings are sorted and I want something a bit more medium term now so am considering a S&S ISA. I had a few questions below that I can't find answers to so was hoping for some advice please

1) My cash ISA (with Monument) is fully subscribed for 2025/26. Since it is a  flexible ISA I assume I can withdraw £10k to start a S&S ISA to stay within my annual overall ISA limit of £20k, as I dont want to transfer the full value of my cash ISA into it? 

2) With my pension, my employer pays into my Aviva account (via salary sacrifice) and Aviva manage the investment -  Ijust log in every now and again to check on the value. But for the S&S ISAs I've seen (after looking at the MSE article) it seems you have to choose the investments yourself, which I'd prefer not to do as I'm not an expert. Are there any where I can just pay in and the ISA provider sorts this? I assume this happens with a robo-operator such as Wealthify, but as my pension is with Aviva I'd prefer not to go with them.

3) From reading about them, S&S ISAs seem better options than cash ISAs for medium to longer term (5 to 10 years) but presumably the potential returns will become even more appealing than cash ISA savings as the Bank of England start decreasing the base rate more frequently?

Aviva do not manage your pension, that is your responsibility, or that of your financial advisor ( if you had one)
However if you make no investment decisions, they will put your money into a default fund. As this is the same fund for everybody, it is unlikely to be the optimum fund for anybody. 
Many pensions work like this, especially workplace ones, as very few people take active decisions on how their pension is invested.
However many personal pensions/SIPPs require you to make investment choices, as with the S&S ISAs you have been looking at. 
Ideally you should be looking at understanding investments more, rather than just letting the provider choose for you whilst knowing very little about you. This is a lot easier nowadays than it used to be.

 From reading about them, S&S ISAs seem better options than cash ISAs for medium to longer term (5 to 10 years) but presumably the potential returns will become even more appealing than cash ISA savings as the Bank of England start decreasing the base rate more frequently?

5 years to be invested is a minimum. Over 10 years gives you the best chance of riding out market downturns.
Potential returns are obviously unknown and not guaranteed in any way. However based on historical trends a 10 year investment ( assuming it is a sensible one) should outperform cash savings.

The_Boss

Thanks for all the comments. In particular regards my pension which has given me some food for thought. I actually have two pensions with Aviva which are itemised in my account separately so am considering changing from the default investment option for the smaller of the two.

As far as stocks and shares ISAs are concerned I've taken the plunge and opened one with AJ Bell, transferring one third of my cash ISA balance which was more than I originally planned but figured why not with interest rates likely dropping in the next 6 months. I've got a specific fund in mind now having used the links above.