Your child's Child Trust Fund (CTF) guide

Click on the question to reveal the answer. If there are any questions you can't find the answer to here, feel free to contact us.

What type of CTF account does my child have?

How are my child's savings invested?

Why invest in shares?

What is done to protect my child's investment?

Who manages my child's investment?

How is the value of my child's account calculated?

What might my child's account be worth in the future?

How will I know how much money is in the account?

Who can top-up my child's account?

How can I add to my child's account?

How much can I add to my child's account?

How much should I pay in?

How do I tell you about changes to my details?

What type of CTF account does my child have?

Your child's CTF is a Stakeholder account, which means it meets strict Government criteria, some of which are designed to reduce the risk associated with investing in the stock market.

Please remember that investments in stocks and shares may fall as well as rise so your child could get back less than paid in.

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How are my child's savings invested?

The Family Investments Child Trust Fund Account invests in shares. This is done with the aim of achieving long term capital growth, while maintaining some stability, by spreading risk across a range of assets. Primarily, these assets are stocks and shares of leading companies in the UK and worldwide, carefully balanced against holdings which are less subject to fluctuation such as fixed interest securities and cash deposits.

Our Ethical option invests in shares. It aims to achieve long-term growth of capital, whilst avoiding investments in companies which generate significant turnover from alcohol or tobacco; export of goods or services for military users; supplying ozone depleting chemicals; testing of cosmetics or toiletries on animals; using intensive farming methods; extracting or importing tropical hardwood; trade in prohibited pesticides; activities which significantly pollute waterways or company groups who have registered companies in a significant number of countries identified as violating human rights.

Please remember that investments in stocks and shares may fall as well as rise so your child could get back less than paid in.

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Why invest in shares?

We believe that, in the long term, investments in shares will usually produce a better rate of return than a protected interest bearing cash deposit account. However, investments in shares can go down as well as up and carry more risk than a cash deposit account. This is why one of the government rules for stakeholder CTFs require account providers to move the money in the later stages of the account, gradually into lower risk investments. This may include cash or fixed interest securities (see below for more details). Meeting the stakeholder rules does not mean performance is guaranteed nor that a stakeholder account is suitable for all.

Please remember that investments in stocks and shares may fall as well as rise so your child could get back less than paid in.

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What is done to protect my child's investment?

On or before your child's 13th birthday we start to move the investment into more secure holdings such as fixed interest and cash. This is a process which continues until the child's 18th birthday, and so during this period an ever larger proportion of your child's investment will be in these more secure holdings. This strategy is adopted to help protect your child's savings over the latter part of the investment period (although there can be no guarantee).

Please remember that investments in stocks and shares may fall as well as rise so your child could get back less than paid in.

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Who manages my child's investment?

All the Family Investments Child Trust Fund accounts (apart from the account we provide to Barclays) are managed by New Star Asset Management - one of the UK's leading Asset Management companies. Founded in 2000, New Star has built its funds under management to £23.1 billion* and is backed by some of the world's leading institutions and private investors.

*Source: New Star Asset Management, 31 December 2007

For more information on New Star visit www.newstaram.com.

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How is the value of my child's account calculated?

• Money added to a Family Investments Child Trust Fund Account goes into a unit trust called the Family Investments Child Trust Fund
• If you have chosen our Ethical option, money will instead go into a unit trust called the Family Charities Ethical Trust
• These contributions are pooled together with money from other investors and invested in carefully selected assets (for example shares, fixed interest securities, and/or cash)
• Our fund managers, New Star, then manage these assets on behalf of the investors
• Each contribution into the account will purchase “units”, which represent a share of the assets held by the trust
• The number of units in your child's account is shown on their CTF statement
• The value of each unit is based on the value of the assets held by the trust divided by the total number of units in issue

The value of your child's CTF account is calculated by multiplying the number of units by the value of each unit. Please note that the values can fall as well as rise. You can see today's unit price on the right hand side of this page.

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What might my child's account be worth in the future?

Every account is different, and the amount it will be worth will be dependent mainly upon how well the underlying investments perform together with how much you pay in.

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How will I know how much money is in the account?

Each year we will send your child a statement, 'care of' the Registered Contact on the account, approximately 6 weeks before their birthday. After your child is 16, we will send their statements directly to them. Alternatively, you can phone our Customer Services team on 0844 8 920 920 for a current valuation (calls may be recorded and monitored for training purposes).

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Who can top-up my child's account?

As long as they have access to your child's CTF account number and their date of birth, anyone can top-up your child's account at any time. For more information about topping-up, click here.

Any money placed into the account is a gift to the child. Only your child will be able to access it, and only when they turn 18.

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How can I add to my child's account?

Payments can be made regularly, or as a one-off - for example, as gifts for birthdays or other significant events. What's more, you can start or stop these payments at any time - there's no commitment. It's quick and easy to make both regular and one-off payments. But remember, the money in the account will remain there. Only the child will be able to access it, and only at age 18.

For more information on the ways to top-up, please click here.

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How much can I add to my child's account?

You, your family and friends can make additional contributions into your child's account, as often as you like, up to a combined maximum of £1,200 each year. This amount is set by the Government and does not include the Government payments.

The account year ends on the day before your child's birthday, so when you receive the statement it is the perfect time to consider whether you've used up all of your allowance for that year.

Any money placed into the account is a gift to the child. Only your child will be able to access it, and only when they turn 18.

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How much should I pay in?

There are a lot of expenses your child may face when they reach adult life. These include finding the money for a first car, a deposit on a home, funding further education, or perhaps financing a trip around the world.

Obviously, the more you save, the bigger the potential reward could be:

• An extra £10 per month might help towards travels around the globe
• An extra £20 per month might help finance your child's first car
• An extra £50 per month might help towards your child's further education or first home

If you have a particular savings goal, you can enter this amount into our savings calculator to get an indication of how much you may have to save.

Please remember that investments in stocks and shares may fall as well as rise so your child could get back less than paid in.

Any money placed into the account is a gift to the child. Only your child will be able to access it, and only when they turn 18.

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How do I tell you about changes to my details?

If your address has changed:

Please write to us at the address below quoting your name, old address, new address, new telephone number and CTF account number. Please sign and date the letter. For security reasons, we cannot accept notification of an address change via email.

If your name, or the child's name, has changed:

Please write to us at the address below specifying the new name, previous name, address and CTF account number. Please sign and date the letter with your new and old signatures and include an original or certified copy of the relevant document(s).

Please note: if you are sending copies, the certifier (not a relative) must write the following on each certified document, ‘I confirm that this is a true copy of the original document', and then sign, date and print their name, address and telephone number.

Please send any documents to:

Family Investments
FREEPOST BR2206
Brighton
BN1 2BR


For security reasons, we cannot accept notification of a name change via email.

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