The founder of AJ Bell, one of Britain’s biggest funds supermarkets, has criticised Jeremy Hunt’s proposed British ISA as “a white elephant” that will fail to support UK-based companies.
Speaking to Sky News, Andy Bell, who still owns a big stake in the company he took public in 2018, said the chancellor’s plan “would confuse the ISA landscape” – and said he could not guarantee that AJ Bell would offer British ISA products.
The initiative was one of the flagship measures unveiled in Mr Hunt’s budget this week, offering savers the chance to increase their tax-free savings pot each year from £20,000 to £25,000 if the £5,000 incremental sum was invested in UK companies.
Analysts at Citi, the investment bank, suggested the reform could deliver a £1.5bn increase in investment in London-listed companies, but the proposals have been divisive.
Sceptics have argued that many London-listed companies are not British, and said the technical implications of implementing the proposal would be complex.
“Everything you can do in a GB ISA you can do in a Stocks and Shares ISA [so] why would you choose a GB ISA and the investment restrictions it brings when you can choose a Stocks and Shares ISA with no restrictions?” Mr Bell said.
“Don’t underestimate the confusion that will be created as to what a GB ISA can invest in: UK listed shares is the easy bit.
“What about funds – there are over 50 different fund classifications (representing circa 4,000 funds) and whilst the industry and Treasury will probably be able to reach agreement on what is in and out, the poor investor will be in the dark.”
He said the steady flow of new ISA categories had “chipped away” at trust in the category.
“The introduction of a GB ISA is totally contrary to our long-held view that there should be a single ISA tax wrapper with flexibility to invest in pretty much everything any ISA type can invest in now,” Mr Bell added.
“We don’t have a cash pension, a stocks and shares pension, a GB pension etc, so why go down this road for ISAs?”
Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell’s larger rival, has also criticised the government’s plans.
“We will engage constructively with the consultation but that is as much as I can commit,” Mr Bell said on Thursday.
“This, I’m afraid, is destined to be a white elephant and my only hope is that this is the future trigger for the next government to realise that the ISA regime needs simplifying into a single tax wrapper.”
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