21st March 2022
Cash ISAs are no longer as appealing as they once were, with very low interest rates unable to keep up with high inflation. The IFISA provides a welcome alternative for those looking to grow their wealth and benefit from higher tax-free returns, as well as compounding interest growth over time.
Potentially earn up to 15% tax-free before losses
As one of the earliest platforms to introduce the IFISA to the UK market, we’ve listed our top tips to help savers maximise their tax-free allowance while also supporting the growth of British businesses.
With the end of the tax year now under a month away, the time to act is now. While current users of Crowd2Fund’s IFISA are probably already very aware of the benefits of the product, we’ve compiled a quick guide to help you make sure you’re using your IFISA to its full potential and not missing out on any opportunities for additional returns. Download the IFISA guide here.
Use It Or Lose It
Your annual £20,000 ISA allowance has to be used up in full by midnight on the 5th April. It is not possible to retrospectively use this once the tax year has ended. In order to get the full benefits of both tax savings and future growth, investors should check to see whether they have used their allowance in full, and if not, consider whether doing so fits in with their investment strategy.
Don’t Forget To Reinvest Your Repayments
When investing directly into entrepreneurs through the Crowd2Fund platform your loan is normally repaid on a monthly basis with interest. It’s important that you reinvest your repayments into new loans to ensure you maximise your interest earnings. If these investments were made within the IFISA wrapper, you can still reinvest this money into qualifying IFISA campaigns without losing your tax-free benefits and re-payments stay within your IFISA wrapper, not affecting your annual allowance.
Take the time to log into your account and check to see whether funds need to be deployed into new investments to maximise your tax-free returns.
You Can Transfer Historic Lower Yield ISAs Into The IFISA easily and for free
With the best performing easy access cash ISAs now generating little over a 1% return, and a volatile stock market making stocks and shares ISAs risky, you could consider transferring traditional ISAs into the IFISA by filling in our IFISA transfer form.
It shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks for funds to be fully transferred, and doing so will allow them to retain their tax wrapper. With our IFISA generating returns of 6% to 15% APR before fees and bad debts , a fully invested £20,000 allowance would potentially yield £3,215 tax-free in one year if lent at 15% , in comparison to a 1% cash ISA, which would return just £200 tax free.
Diversify Your Portfolio To Match Your Investment Goals And Risk Appetite
Take the time to manage your portfolio risk by diversifying your investments. Spread investments across a range of different investment opportunities to match your goals and risk appetite. From a diversification perspective, it’s generally good practice to invest in a variety of different industries and companies.
Review Your Portfolio On A Regular Basis
You should review the performance of your portfolio to assess whether it has performed in line with your expectations and risk appetite.
If you have not reached your desired overall return from interest, you may want to consider deploying a greater concentration of funds into higher risk, higher return campaigns. Our platform gives you all the tools and data for you to make balanced investment decisions. You can even manage it on the go via our revolutionary iOS app which you can download here.
Trade On The Exchange
On our secondary market, The Exchange, you can access and pick from the widest range of IFISA opportunities available.
This can be a useful measure to diversify your portfolio and pick investments better tailored to your overall strategy — for example, you may wish to pick opportunities in sectors which you have a specific interest or expertise in. It may be possible for you to sell primary IFISA investments to buyers and make a profit. To maximise returns these funds can then be redeployed whilst staying within your IFISA wrapper.
Utilise Smart-Invest If You’re Pressed For Time
While the majority of investments made on the platform are facilitated by investors directly choosing the companies they lend to, it’s also possible to take a more passive investment approach to the IFISA. Our Smart-Invest tool allows IFISA users to define their investment criteria and savings plans and will then take this information to automatically invest funds into opportunities that match. You can read more about Smart-Invest here.
Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results. Tax treatment of any of the investment offers will depend on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change in the future. If you are unsure about any aspect of the information provided by the company, you should seek advice from an independent financial adviser. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose. Investing in start-ups and early stage businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution, and it should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Investing in start-ups may expose the individual concerned to a significant risk of losing all of the money or other assets invested. Peer-to-business lending through Crowd2Fund is not the same as holding a bank or building society savings account. When making a peer-to-business loan, your capital lent to a borrower is not covered for compensation in the event of a loss by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. It may prove impossible to recover all or part of the loan by calling in the business assets held as security on that loan. Reward and Donation funding types are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Crowd2Fund Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 623683). Crowd2Fund Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered No. 08472687 Registered Address: 242 Acklam Road, London, W10 5JJ.
