Northern Irish parents most generous CTF contributors

With the second anniversary of the Child Trust Fund (CTF) just around the corner, Engage Mutual, one of the UK’s largest CTF providers, can reveal that Northern Irish parents are by far the most generous when it comes to topping up their child’s Engage CTF.

In stark contrast to regional salaries which put Northern Ireland salaries bottom of the UK league, Engage has found that parents in Northern Ireland topped up their child’s CTF by 50 per cent more than Welsh parents, 45 per cent more than English parents and 42 per cent more than Scottish parents. Industry figures from PIMA, the leading trade body for CTFs and tax incentivised savings, suggest the average amount saved into a CTF is just over £20 per month.

Research also reveals that 31 per cent of parents with an Engage CTF are topping up their child’s CTF on a monthly basis, compared with an industry average of 22.8 per cent.

Other interesting findings from Engage:

Engage was one of the first CTF providers to introduce online debit card payments into Child Trust Funds. Debit card top-ups account for 18 per cent of all top-up transactions, a proportion which is increasing each month.

Chloe and Jack were the most popular names of CTF recipients in 2006 with Engage Mutual customers

Karl Elliott, spokesperson for Engage Mutual Assurance said: “On the second birthday of the Child Trust Fund, we are delighted to see that Engage Mutual’s Northern Irish parents are leading the way when it comes to topping up their child’s Child Trust Fund despite lower average earnings than other UK regions. Our message is simple - by contributing little and often to a CTF, parents and other relatives can give their children a financial head-start when they reach 18. We are delighted to see that Engage customers are taking our advice on board. Almost a third of our customers are topping up their child’s CTF regularly, compared to an industry average of less than one in four.”