ISA's Page Four

What do the terms 'Maxi' and 'Mini' ISAs mean?

The Government has introduced two different vehicles for the ISA, the 'Maxi' and the 'Mini'. Within each of these two vehicles there are several investment routes.
You can choose to invest through either of these two vehicles, but you can't invest through both in the same tax year. Should this be the case, your secondary investment will be void and any tax advantages received will be repaid to the Inland Revenue. Maxi and Mini ISAs differ in the following ways:

Maxi ISAs

These enable you to save the full £7,000 entitlement in the tax year 2002/2003 in stocks and shares, potentially the highest performing savings vehicle. Alternatively, in the same tax year, you can save less than the full amount into stocks and shares and up to £3,000 in cash and £1,000 life assurance.
You only need to select a single fund manager, and should remember that you can only apply for one Maxi ISA in each tax year.

Mini ISAs

These allow you the flexibility to save with up to three different ISA managers, enabling you to create an investment portfolio ideally tailored to your needs. However, with Mini ISAs, for the tax year 2002/2003 you can only save £3,000 a year in stocks and shares - and no more than £3,000 in cash and £1,000 in life assurance.

PEPs

If you already have money invested in a Personal Equity Plan you can leave it where it is or switch to another PEP provider.
PEPs were abolished in April 1999. It is no longer possible to invest any more money in a PEP.
It may be worth continuing with your PEP as PEPs offer similar benefits to ISAs. This means no income tax, no capital gains tax, a 10% tax credit on all dividends from UK shares within this investment until 5th April 2004 (but after this date the total credit will be nil), flexibility, the ability to cash in at any time and a range of PEPs to match your needs.
It could be sensible to review now where your investments and cash currently are:

Is performance up to scratch?
Are your income and growth needs met?
Are the charges and return competitive?
What happens to your regular payments in the future?

These are just some of the areas where an IFA can help you.

Some of the products and services offered by IFAs may not be regulated by the FSA. The value of investments can go down as well as up. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

'authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Act’ '189117'