Legal & General corporate cash ISA
Legal & General announced the launch of the UK's first regular contribution corporate cash ISA. The WorkSave Cash ISA accepts contributions directly from payroll and can be topped up online using a debit card. The minimum regular contribution is £50 per month. Working together with HBOS, who are the deposit taker, Legal & General is offering investors 1.0 per cent interest on their savings. The interest rate on the WorkSave Cash ISA is guaranteed to track at 0.5 per cent above the Bank of England base rate.
Unlike many ISA providers the WorkSave Cash ISA offers a consistent rate of interest for the duration of a customer's savings. Most cash ISAs offer an initial bonus rate boosting the overall interest rate, which may reduce dramatically after the introductory period.
Tony Filbin, Legal & General's Managing Director, Workplace Savings said: "We offer employees the convenience of saving at work direct from their pay with the added benefit of sheltering their savings from tax to maximise returns. The WorkSave Cash ISA gives employers a flexible savings plan, which should appeal to all members of staff and can play an important role in kick starting long-term saving for younger employees. There has been wide interest from our clients in take up of cash ISAs since we revealed that we were developing a payroll deduction product at the end of last year. We already have three medium sized employers planning to roll out WorkSave Cash ISA in the new tax year and several large companies, who tend to have longer lead times, lined up for later this year."
Legal & General has also made some changes to their stocks and shares WorkSave ISA including extending the funds available to 38. These funds have been carefully selected from Legal & General's Governed Fund Range and include 28 external funds from a range of 13 investment managers. The selected funds offer a varying range of risk. Savers can also invest in leading UK Shares from the London Stock Exchange and can transfer money and shares from existing ISAs and investments.
Jane Ridgley, Legal & General's Investment & Product Development Director, Workplace Savings said, "Our WorkSave ISA provides employees with the same tax efficiency as a personal stocks and shares ISA, but with the added benefits for employees of much lower management charges and the convenience of making payments from payroll deductions. It is now possible for employees to take advantage of a wider choice of funds to suit their needs whether they are looking for growth, income or both. The major benefit of the WorkSave ISA is its flexibility. Our new WorkSave Cash ISA provides employees with an additional cash savings option."
The WorkSave ISA was the first corporate stocks and shares ISA to be launched in the UK, providing the convenience for employees to save regularly through payroll, up to the full annual ISA allowance. One of the recent developments to the WorkSave ISA is the removal of all dealing fees, allowing savers to change their investments free of charge.
Jane added: "We are continually looking to improve the benefits we offer employees, which is why we are extending the choice of funds for our WorkSave ISA. We will regularly review our fund range to ensure we continue to offer an extensive choice of funds that suit the needs of employees while of course addressing the important issue of improved governance for employers."
Legal & General is contacting customers and financial advisers to inform them of the extended range of selected funds on offer. Customers and IFAs need take no action, although they could choose to review their fund choice in light of the additional options.