JPMorgan Asset Management explains the new ISA age

JPMorgan Asset Management has launched a free guide for investors explaining the changes to Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) due to come into effect in April this year.

Over 100 million accounts, holding assets of over £207 billion, make ISAs one of the nation’s most popular ways to invest tax efficiently. JPMAM, one of the UK’s leading unit and investment trust providers, believes that the changes will make investing in ISAs simpler and more flexible. The guide is designed to explain the new regulations and allow investors to use them to their full advantage, thereby gaining excellent exposure across a range of investments and savings.

The booklet, which is also available to download, highlights the four key changes coming into effect:

Higher Allowance – allowing individual investors to increase the amount that they invest each year to £7,200, or £600 per month, and couples £14,400 per year. Additionally the amount that can be invested in Cash ISAs has been increased by £600 to £3,600

Investment Flexibility – the new rules will allow ISA holders to split their ISA between both a Stocks & Shares ISA and a Cash ISA. The level of split is up to the investor allowing them to find a split that suits them, provided of course, that the Cash ISA does not exceed £3,600

Transfer into Stocks & Shares – for the first time, under the new rules, investors will be able to transfer money saved in Cash ISAs from previous years into Stocks & Shares ISAs without affecting their current ISA allowance

PEPs become ISAs – All PEPs will, from 6 April 2008, convert into Stocks & Shares ISAs allowing investors to benefit from all the tax advantages of an ISA

Campbell Fleming, Managing Director and Head of UK, JPMorgan Asset Management said: “The JPMorgan Asset Management guide, What’s New for ISAs is jargon free and clearly communicates the benefits of the new rules and the advantages they will offer investors. We hope that it will answer some of those questions on investors’ lips as they look to make their investment decisions for this coming tax year.”

Offering investors the choice of 19 investment trusts, JPMAM is the UK’s largest investment trust manager, with over £6.9bn in assets under management, as at 31 December 2007. JPMAM also offers more than 20 different OEIC funds, each designed to fill a particular need in your portfolio.

Copies of the guide are available for download via the JPMAM website, jpmorganassetmanagement.co.uk.