Junior isa / stocks & shares / Scottish friendly ?

[Farmwifefarmlife]

I am currently looking at a savings ISA for my children, 7 2 & 6 months. I like the idea of a stocks and shares one but obviously worried that there will be less rather than more saved / gained . I understand this is the risk! I’ve looked at Scottish friendly and they guarantee the amount you put in is the amount you receive back at age 18 with the possibility of more. ( that’s the way I’ve read it) does anyone know if that’s correct or any other companies that do the same? I’m looking looking for a pension one? Thanks

It is only one specific product they do this on. The fees are high and the customer service is contracted out to a call centre of staff that barely understand what an ISA is. Scottidh friendly is just one of many contracts that they have for various companies and the training is about 30 minutes. The funds that can be invested in are fairly limited.
Of all the Stocks and Shares ISA providers out table this would be the last one I would use.
The likelihood of a S&S ISA making a loss over 18 years is very slim. There are lots of much better providers out there

I opened a S & S ISA for my kids with Hargreaves Landsdown earlier this year. I transferred in from an external cash ISA (which took ages) and despite the volatility of the markets thanks to Trumpenomics - they are doing pretty good. You can do a quiz to understand your appetite to risk and invest accordingly (there are ready made funds you can choose from based on this). I have spread my investments across several funds to diversify the risk.

A S&S ISA is a long term investment, and rarely would you get back less than you put in. The Scottish friendly one is just playing on people's insecurities. We put in £100 each month for DS1 until he was 15 (life changes meant we stopped contributing then), he is now 18 and it's almost doubled in value. Even with Trump's shenanigans it's doing well, it did dip a bit but is pretty much back to what it was.

Thank you, are you / were you happy with Scottish friendly ? Thanks

Thank you, yes they definitely are hence why I was looking at them as it is obviously more secure. It is a long term thing so understand I may just be better going with a different company. I have looked at hargreaves
they seemed good and popular. I also want to open a pension isa.

Thank you, I definitely need to research more as it is something I do not really understand. Hargreaves seem popular. You say you spread your funds across several investments, where would be the best place to learn about things like this? I would not be looking at investing much each month 50 each per month. I also want to open a pension isa

With £50 per month, you should probably look to invest in one fund, but make sure it is diversified. If you pick a fund that just invests in one country or sector and that place does badly, you have more risk of losing money. A stock market tracker may be a good idea. Over time, stocks and shares usually outperform cash.

We didn't use Scottish friendly. I think it was originally with Co-op as we banked with them, but got sold to Foresters which we've been happy with.

If over 15+ years in a standard junior S&S ISA you end up with less than you started with then it’ll be irrelevant as the whole world will have gone to shit. Unless you’re purposefully investing in very volatile high-risk stuff but off-the-shelf junior ISAs are not doing that.

I wouldn’t choose based on a gimmicky guaranteed return, I would choose a reputable platform like Hargreave Lansdown, Wealthify, Vanguard and choose from the funds they guide you through based on your risk profile.

Our financial adviser recommended Wealthify or Vanguard for junior ISAs, we went with Wealthify and so far so good, pleased with the performance on the whole. But it’s a long game investing so you have to weather the peaks and troughs.