How parents invest for their children’s future

How parents invest for their children’s future: new interactive investor data on evolving Junior ISA portfolios

• New analysis from interactive investor (ii), the UK’s leading flat fee investment platform, explores how parents are investing in their children’s Junior ISAs.
• HMRC’s latest Annual Savings Statistics found that the popularity of Stocks & Shares Junior ISAs in the UK rocketed between 2019/20 and 2023/24 – with an 88% uplift in account openings, and a 213% uplift in the amount funded into these accounts*.

Junior ISAs (JISAs) have an annual tax-free allowance of £9,000 and give parents a way to invest for their children’s long-term future. Over an 18-year timeframe, these accounts benefit from compounding, making them a core part of a family-led investment strategy.

Only parents or legal guardians can open a JISA, but other family members, such as grandparents, can contribute to them. As such, they offer both a solid financial foundation and an opportunity to discuss investing as a family.

Commenting, Camilla Esmund, Head of Investor Campaigns at interactive investor: “HMRC’s data is illustrative of greater awareness of Stocks & Shares Junior ISAs and the tax-efficient role they can play in saving for your children’s future. It’s worth noting that the JISA allowance did increase to £9,000 in 2020, which in part explains the uplift in funding into these accounts, but the growing allowance doesn’t necessarily impact the increasing number of account openings across the UK.”

Below, interactive investor looks at its JISA portfolio trends across various ages:

• ETPs (exchange-traded products, largely comprised of ETFs) decline materially after the early years, starting at 24% for children aged 0-4, and stepping down to 17% (5–10 years old), 7% (11–15 years old), and 9% (16–17 years old).
• Funds become increasingly dominant, starting at 38% (0–4 years) to 39% (5–10 years), then jumping to 56% (11–15 years) and 61% by the time a child reaches age 16–17.
• Investment trust usage peaks in the mid-range, increasing from 6% (0–4 years) to 12% (5–10 years) and 13% (11–15 years), before easing to 7% for children aged 16–17.
• Equities follow a mixed pattern, at 19% for children aged 5–10, before moving down to around 11–12% in the older bands.

Breaking down the findings, Camilla Esmund says: “Interestingly, the data gives an encouraging snapshot of the ‘lifecycle’ of a child’s investment portfolio. Parents start simple, holding more ETFs, but as confidence and engagement grows, we can see more diversification – with investment trusts peaking in the mid-range and then easing as the JISA nears maturity.

“It seems as though as children move into their early teen years, parents are seeking a more income or growth-oriented approach. When it comes to stocks, brand recognition and familiarity seem to remain important – they’re very similar to the names we see in our most popular investments across all our accounts.”

Top investments within JISAs:

• Scottish Mortgage is a consistently popular choice, in the top 3 funds and trusts from age 5 onwards.
• Fundsmith Equity was also a top choice, in the top 5 funds and trusts from age 5 onwards.
• Other investment trusts feature in the top 10 investments across all ages, such as F&C Investment Trust and Alliance Witan.
• There was a continued presence of specialist growth exposure such as L&G Global Technology Index.
• Top stock choices in JISAs revolved around the FTSE heavyweights: BP, Rolls Royce, Lloyds Banking Group, Legal & General, among others.
• A handful of high-profile US growth stocks also featured in the top 10 stocks: Nvidia, Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon, among others.

Breaking down contribution patterns, Esmund explains: “Almost half (49%) of interactive investor JISAs are funded on an ad-hoc basis**, with contributors paying flexibly when they can. This reflects the reality of household finances and the various other costs that families need to juggle. Understandably, investing won’t always take priority. That said, it’s encouraging to see parents adapting their contributions based on what is doable for them.

“However, making investing more habitual can also be very effective over the long-term, and make it feel more sustainable. Even a ‘little an often’ approach can compound into something meaningful over those 18 years. Regular investing is an effective way to build this habit, plus it drip feeds your money into the market – helping to smooth out volatility.”

On ii’s Plus plan, customers can open as many JISAs as they have children. Additionally, these customers also have access to ii Family – where they are able to give five family members fee-free accounts.

This means that children are able to invest fee-free once their JISA matures into a Stocks & Shares ISA by staying connected to their parents account, and parents can also invite their other family members – like siblings or cousins – onboard.

Families can also create closed groups on interactive investor’s ii Community platform.

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