Abbey: Savings accounts not meeting investors' needs

Abbey has found that millions of pounds worth of savings are currently languishing in accounts that do not suit the needs or the attitudes of their in

09:32 26 November 2004

Abbey has found that millions of pounds worth of savings are currently languishing in accounts that do not suit the needs or the attitudes of their investor.

Using feedback from independent financial advisors, Abbey has found that large sums saved in PEPs and ISAs are no longer meeting the investment goals the accounts were chosen for, or do not reflect the current attitude to risk of the investor.

PEPs (personal equity plans) and ISAs (individual savings accounts) are products designed to allow the general public to benefit from the stock market in a simple way, as well as offering tax benefits to savers.

However, over time some people have built up a number of investments and several of these may no longer fit the saver's current needs and attitudes.

To help deal with this, Abbey for Intermediaries has produced a range of support materials, including letters and sales aids, to help financial advisors and the public see if their investment strategy needs to be updated.

"In discussions with advisers we found that it is not uncommon for them to have clients with significant portfolios that have been built up over many years," said Andy Pennie, head of investment propositions at Abbey for Intermediaries.

He added: "The sheer volume can make the monitoring of individual investments within the portfolio, to identify which ones should be kept and which ones moved, more than a full-time job.

"We wanted to help simplify this and we are tackling it in two ways - first we help IFAs engage with their clients on the issue through the letter and then we offer a possible solution in the form of Abbey Multi Manager."

Using multi-manager Abbey agrees performance and risk targets with the leading fund managers for each asset class, which can then be used to fit funds to investors' current needs.