Fidelity FundsNetwork ISA Cash Park takes in £167m in first year

Fidelity FundsNetwork'sTM ISA Cash Park has taken in £167m since launch in March 2008 as investors realise they don't have to forego their valuable ISA tax shelter just because they may temporarily be nervous about stock markets.

About half of this money, £81m, was subscribed in just three individual months of 2008 - April, July and October - when stock markets were particularly volatile.

ISA Cash Park was launched to help investors to temporarily sell out of the market without giving up their tax shelter, and also to give them the flexibility to make a new ISA investment without deciding immediately which fund they would buy.

In addition, FundsNetwork has also introduced a special offer, keeping the interest rate payable in the account at 0.2% above the Bank of England base rate until 31 July 2009. This compares favourably to instant access accounts, averaging just 0.51%, and in line with high street cash ISAs which pay an average of 1.38%, according to the latest Bank of England data.

Peter Hicks, Head of UK Retail Sales at Fidelity International, says, "The ISA Cash Park gives people a previously unavailable option to hang on to their precious £7,200 Stocks and Shares ISA allowance but delay an investment decision. Given that some of the biggest inflows coincided with extreme market volatility, such as October 2008 when the UK Government first bailed out the banks, we can say it's been an unqualified success in its first year.

"Some £80m of the total £167m has already been moved into funds over the last 12 months which shows the Cash Park is doing its job as a temporary haven and, in addition, that investors are prepared to move into markets on a longer term view. In the main we are seeing investors choosing corporate bond and other income producing funds, something I expect to continue as ISA season unfolds."