IG launches a junior Isa and will give match a £250 investment… if you are very quick

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Investment platform IG has launched a fee-free junior Isa and will even pay your children to start investing.

IG says it will match the first investment into the junior Isa account up to £250, when parents first start investing at least £50 for their child.

To access the bonus, parent’s must input the code ‘NEWJISA’ during the final step of the online application process, it said.

However, the £250 bonus is only on offer to the first 200 people to open new junior Isa accounts using the promo code.

After the allocation has been filled, IG says new customers will still receive an investment match of £50.

The platform charges no commission or platform fees, meaning that it is one of the more competitive offerings, alongside the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity, which both don’t charge platform fees.

> Open a junior Isa with IG* 

To open an IG junior Isa account, children must be under the age of 13, and parents must already hold an IG investment account.

Junior Isa accounts can only be opened via IG’s website, but can be managed on its mobile app once open.

Parents can invest across 12,000 equities, funds and ETFs. IG says standard FX fees will be charged on international share purchases.

Other junior Isas can be opened by the parents or guardian of children under the age of 18. They offer an annual allowance of £9,000, and funds held in junior Isa accounts are free from tax.

While only parents can open junior Isa accounts, anyone can contribute once they are open, making them a great way for friends and family to help build a child’s pot.

Children gain control of where their money is held once they reach 16, but can only access the funds after their 18th birthday.

Saving into a junior Isa can set your child’s adulthood onto a great start, and holding the funds in stocks and shares could allow the pot to grow considerably more than if held in cash.

Many platforms offer junior cash Isas, but IG only offers a stocks and shares account.

The firm said £9,000 invested in a global equity tracker, like the MSCI World Index, over the past 18 years would have grown into a pot worth £569,000 in a zero-fee account.

In comparison, platform fees of just one per cent per year would reduce this figure by £33,461, to £504,283.

Fees of 0.75 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 0.25 per cent would reduce the pot to £519,716, £535,657 and £552,120 respectively.

IG said: ‘IG aims to make it easier for families to start investing for their child’s future at a time when rising living and childcare costs continue to put pressure on household budgets.’

The £250 match is equivalent to the average cost of a week’s childcare in the UK, the platform said.

Michael Healy, managing director UK at IG, said: ‘We recognise that many families face a range of financial pressures – from childcare and school costs to rising living expenses – which can make it difficult to plan for the years ahead. 

‘While this offer is a relatively small contribution, we hope it helps parents get off to the right start investing for their child’s future.

‘Our goal is to give customers the most comprehensive, low-cost investing experience in the UK. With the launch of our junior Isa, we can now deliver a tax-efficient solution from birth through to pension age via our Sipp, giving families a complete investment journey at every stage of life.’

> Find out more about IG’s junior Isa*