Saving for your child’s future
Child Trust Funds or CTFs are a great way to save for a child’s future. Although you can no longer open new CTFs, you can keep paying into an existing one or you can transfer one to us.
Parents, grandparents or other family members and friends can pay up to £9,000 into a CTF in a 'Subscription Year' (birthday to birthday) as at April 2020. You can make one-off payments or pay in regularly.
Only the child can access the money in the fund when they reach 18 – so you can be sure it will be there for them when they need it.
Changes to government rules mean that new Child Trust Funds are no longer available. If your child has a CTF with us, we will continue to look after it and accept any contributions from you or another family member or friend.
We look after two types of CTFs - Stocks & Shares accounts and With Profit accounts. Details on what these accounts provide can be found below.
Although we are no longer accepting transfers-in to our CTF, you can transfer a CTF your child has - either with us or another provider - into our Junior ISA.
We can’t give you any advice on what to do. We can only give you factual information.
At a glance
- Pay in up to £9,000 a year (for tax year 2020/21)
- You can transfer an existing Child Trust Fund into our Junior ISA
- Your money is invested in stocks and shares. As the value can fall as well as rise, your child could get back less than has been paid in
- Anyone can pay money into a Child Trust Fund
- Your child can access their money once they reach the age of 18
- This product is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
- Details
- Performance
- FAQs
Please read through these document for more information about our Child Trust Funds.
It is an investment account for children born on or after 1st September 2002 to 31st December 2010.
The Government made payments into the account and other people can also pay money in.
Yes, there are 3 types:
- Stakeholder CTF accounts
- Non-stakeholder CTF share accounts
- Non-stakeholder CTF deposit accounts
The Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund is a Stakeholder Child Trust Fund.
A “Stakeholder” CTF must meet a number of specific conditions which are shown below.
Charges
a) Charges must not be more than 1.5% of the value of the fund you accumulate. If your fund is valued at £250 throughout the year, this means we deduct £3.75 that year. If your fund is valued at £500 throughout the year, this means we deduct £7.50 that year. The charges on all other types of CTF Accounts are not limited in this way. In our CTF Stakeholder Account, this 1.5% charge is incorporated into the calculation of the Unit Price.
b) There can be no other charges.
Investments
a) Investments must be mainly stock market based.
b) Investments must be spread across the shares in a range of companies. Our CTF Stakeholder Account tracks the performance of the UK Equity market and follows the fortunes of over 600 UK companies whose shares can be bought and sold on the Stock Market.
Payments
a) We must accept any payments from £10 provided it is within the subscription limits for that subscription year.
b) You can pay by cheque, direct debit, direct credit or standing order.
Yes – you, your family and your friends can make additional contributions to your child’s Account.
The most that can be paid in is £9,000 in a 'Subscription Year' (birthday to birthday) with effect from 6 April 2020.
Contributions can be made in a number of ways:
- Regular monthly payments by Direct Debit or Standing Order.
- Payments by cheque – made payable to “Unity Mutual” with your child’s name and unique reference number (URN) on the back.
- Payments by direct money transfer – ensuring your child’s URN is quoted in the transfer
The minimum contribution is £10.
The contribution year runs from your child’s birthday to the day before their next birthday.
All money paid into the account belongs to your child, who can only access it when they reach 18.
Until your child reaches age 15, we use the money paid into their CTF to buy units, at the price prevailing at the next valuation date, in the Unity Mutual Equity Fund. The Fund is single priced.
This Fund tracks the performance of the UK Equity market and follows the fortunes of over 600 UK companies whose shares can be bought and sold on the Stock Market. Spreading the investment over such a large group of companies reduces the risk of individual companies not performing too well.
Yes, the Registered Contact can transfer a Child Trust Fund account to us at any time, free of charge.
Whilst we do not accept transfers into our Child Trust Fund, we do accept transfers from an existing Child Trust Fund account into our Junior ISA. Just contact us if you require further information.
To do this, the Registered Contact can contact us or download our transfer form. Once we are in receipt of your completed form we will contact the other provider, once any cancellation period has expired, and arrange the transfer.
The Registered Contact has the right to cancel the transfer if they wish.
There is no fixed term. However, once the child reaches age 18, the money in the Child Trust Fund account will be taxed in the same way as a normal savings or investment account.
Your child can’t take any money out until they are 18.
This depends on a number of things, such as how much has been paid in and the investment returns on the fund where the money is invested.
The value can go up and down.
101% of the value of the account will be paid to the person with parental responsibility for the child.
If this happens before the child is 18, then it may be possible to draw money out of the account for their benefit. Please contact us for further information.
Money held in a Child Tust Fund account is not subject to income or capital gains tax.
Under current legislation the child will not have to pay tax if they draw the money out of the account when they are 18.
The child might have to pay tax if money is left in the account after age 18.
We will issue a statement each year during the month after your child’s birthday showing what has been paid in and what the account is worth.
You can also access our My Fund Value page and view the current value at any time.
Unit prices are published weekly online, or you can contact us for an update.
How much could your child get?
Because the Child Trust Fund is invested on the stock market, it’s impossible to know the exact return you may get in the future — but we can give you a rough idea.
Adjust the sliders to see how the returns vary depending on different monthly payments, initial lump sum and investment period.
Remember, these figures are only examples and aren’t guaranteed. What your child will get back depends on how your investment grows, and your child could get back more or less than the figures shown. Don’t forget that inflation could reduce what your child could buy with the proceeds of their CTF in future.
The rates of growth we've shown give you a guide as to how much your investments could be worth in the years ahead in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requirements.
If you need financial advice
If you’re in any doubt about whether this product is right for you, it’s a good idea to talk to an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA). You can find a local financial advisor by visiting www.unbiased.co.uk. You may need to pay for a financial advisor’s help, so make sure you ask them about their fees first.
Terms and conditions apply to our Child Trust Fund. For more information read the product’s Terms & Conditions.
Ready to transfer?
If you’ve read through everything and you’re happy our Child Trust Fund is what you’re looking for, let’s get your transfer started.
Call us on 0151 724 1930 (9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm Friday).
Or reach us by email at info@unitymutual.co.uk
Transfer to us
