We are pleased to announce to our Shepherds Friendly ISA and Junior ISA members we are paying a 3% bonus on their investment plans.
Our Stocks and Shares ISA, which was launched by the Society in 2008, has paid an annual bonus for the past 11 consecutive years. The Junior ISA, which also provides a tax-efficient saving opportunity for children, has also rewarded an annual bonus since 2011.
In response to the announcement our CEO, Ann-Marie O’Dea, commented:
“2018 proved to be a challenging year for investments, with financial markets reacting to worldwide political uncertainty. Despite these challenges, we are pleased to confirm that we will be paying an annual bonus to our saving plan members for the 16th consecutive year, something we are able to achieve due to our prudent investment strategy.”
The Mutual Ethos and our investment strategy
Each of our savings plans are invested in our With-Profits fund, and we use a process known as ‘smoothing’ to protect our members money from poor market conditions. It is this approach to investing that has allowed us to continue to pay a bonus, even in difficult market conditions.
We are owned and run by our members and have no shareholders to pay dividends to, allowing for us to return more of the profits we make to plan holders, in the form of annual bonuses. As the value of what we pay depends on the performance of the With-Profits Fund where our members’ money is invested, we use a process known as ‘smoothing’ to try to minimise the effects of stock market fluctuations, in order to meet our aim of paying our members a bonus.
You can now view your bonus online by logging into Your Account here: https://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk/your-account/log-in. If you’ve not yet registered for online account access you can do so here: https://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk/your-account/register
To find out more information on our Stocks and Share ISA or Junior ISA you can visit our website here: https://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk/
If you already have an existing ISA or Junior ISA with another provider, you can transfer it over to us easily and quickly. More information on how you can do this and to download the form you can visit the following page:
Transfer an existing ISA: https://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk/stocks-ad-shares-isa/begin-transfer/
Transfer an existing Junior ISA: https://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk/junior-isa/transfer
PLEASE NOTE:
If you decide to close your plan and leave the Society or transfer your investment to another provider, a Market Value Reduction (MVR) may be applied. For more details please see the PPFM document available on our website.
*When you take out an investment product with us your capital is at risk and you may get back less than you have put in. Investment growth is by means of bonuses, the amount of which cannot be guaranteed throughout the term of the contract.*
Bonus update: Whilst the information in this article was correct at the time of publication, as of January 2024 we have updated the bonus payment schedule to every three months (quarterly) instead of once a year.
