help - how do I find a fund to invest in for my children?

[daisy1999]

my children are too old for the CTF and everywhere I look for investments for children justs sends me to CTF!!!
I am wanting to invest between £25 and £50 each (2 children) for when they are older (minimum 10 yrs).
Are there any clever financially minded people who can advise me?

shall I just put put the money on the horses then

When we were looking for the CTF I noticed that some of the providers also do accounts for children, think F&C do one. It might take a bit of trawling but you could start on the CTF website and follow the links.
However, my mum tells me the Irish Lottery have more winners than ours...

What you probably need if you're looking long term and you don't want a cash bank account is a basic, no-frills index tracker with low fees and that will accept a low monthly investment.

Good ones that I know of include M&G UK index tracker fund, and Fidelity Moneybuilder UK index tracker fund. Both are cheap (ie. have no initial charge and low annual charges) and have reliable admin.

Index trackers are pretty much of a muchness wrt performance since they track the index (either FTSE 100, ie. big companies, or FTSE all-share, which is what we have). The main variable is fees, so it's important to check that out.

If you want something slightly racier, you can go for a global growth investment trust fund, which also have lowish charges. Witan is a reliable solid performer in this sector (managed by Henderson) and they have a specially branded children's investment option called (iirc) Jump.

But overall you shouldn't be seduced by packaged children's funds, since it's just wrapping and what matters is what's inside. Make sure when you fill the forms in that you do it as a bare trust so that it won't count towards your taxable income. There's usually a box to tick and a place where you fill in the initials of a designation, which means that although you legally own the investment, the child is the beneficiary and the money is earmarked for him/her.

hth

thanks everyone- definately looking for a fund not a bank account. I was thinking of opening an isa ( i know that would have to be in my name). Can I still do a bare trust frogs?

Not with an ISA, no. You either do an ISA in your name and mentally earmark the money for the children, or you do a fund outside an ISA which is officially held on behalf of your children in the form of a bare trust (sometimes called a designation).

If that's the only investment money you're likely to have, then it probably doesn't matter much either way (though check the charges on the ISA). If you might additionally want to invest money for yourself (eg. for retirement) then probably best to save your ISA allowance for yourself and do the children separately. The latter is what we do. The sums of money are quite small (we are far from plutocratically rich, sadly!) but do add up over time as long as you don't dip into them.

thanks frog do you do this professionally or are you just financially aware ?

No, self-employed and financially neurotic.