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Would you put cash in a green ISA if it meant your allowance was raised?
Chris Marshall (Citywire)
Posted: 30 June 2010 15:34:57(UTC)
#1

Joined: 24/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 48

The ISA allowance could be raised by five grand - but only for those ISAs with a green or low carbon emphasis.

That was one of the suggestions in a government commissioned report from the Green Investment Bank Commission yesterday.

Increasing the ISA allowance by £5,000 above the current £10,200 combined limit for cash and stocks and shares ISAs would cost the Treasury £70 million.

UKSIF, the sustainable investment and finance association, says ‘this looks like an effective and low cost way to engage with the public, boost the bank's visibility, and help fund the new low carbon infrastructure we need for future economic success.’

But what do you think – is £70 million an insignificant drop in the deep ocean of public indebtedness and a price worth paying for a raised ISA allowance?

Would you be tempted into the world of green investment if it meant you could save more tax-free?

Or are the rates on ISAs so pitiful that you would have no interest?
Anonymous Post
Posted: 30 June 2010 16:36:15(UTC)
#2
Anonymous 1 needed this 'Off the Record'

Most of the UKs good listed green investments are on AIM. So for the policy to be sensible they would need to also scrap the rule preventing us holding AIM shares in ISAs!
Anonymous Post
Posted: 30 June 2010 16:53:45(UTC)
#3
Anonymous 2 needed this 'Off the Record'

If it s a bad investment then making it for tax reasons does not make it a better investment! No!
Chairman2
Posted: 30 June 2010 17:01:57(UTC)
#4

Joined: 26/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 11

Remember "Ethical" investment. "Green" investment is just a similar marketing
gimmick by those promoting 'investment' as a means of parting fools from their money.

The only people who will make money are brokers. Remember the famouse title:

"But where are all the clients' Yatchs?"
Tortoise1000
Posted: 30 June 2010 17:29:09(UTC)
#5

Joined: 03/10/2009(UTC)
Posts: 9

It isnt clear from what you say whether you mean ss or cash ISAs. Rates on cash ISA are pitiful yes. But I assumed by green you meant green company shares?

It will just end up a racket for 'green' unit trusts with high charges. Or is each company going to have a 'green' or 'not' label, for a self-select ISA?

Also, is this green tranche going to be trapped? So we cant move it about? The ISA rules are complicated enough anyway. I want control over my money, not to be trapped indefinitely in something that was once labelled green.

I think if a green company has something worth while to offer it will do fine. Give it some seed finance directly, eg as a government loan, if you like. But dont distort the secondary market, it doesnt work.
Anonymous Post
Posted: 30 June 2010 17:42:06(UTC)
#6
Anonymous 3 needed this 'Off the Record'

No
Anonymous Post
Posted: 30 June 2010 17:49:09(UTC)
#7
Anonymous 4 needed this 'Off the Record'

The answer is NO. Beware of crackpot solutions from government committees and the green wellie brigade.
Anonymous Post
Posted: 30 June 2010 19:20:18(UTC)
#8
Anonymous 5 needed this 'Off the Record'

The answer is a definite NO.

Apart from the AIM issue, what are we to think when some overpaid Director of some Renewables quango says that there is a shortage of hydroelectric power because of falling water levels and therefore the only answer is Wind !*!. The only answer is nuclear and this green prevarication is costing the country its energy securityt!
Roger Savage
Posted: 30 June 2010 21:27:59(UTC)
#9

Joined: 21/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 25

Definitely not. A trendy investment, similar to driving a Prius.

Like a Prius, whose touted environmental credentials ignore reality - i.e. start to finish environmental impact worse than a Hummer, partly due to disposal of battery packs - these investments are likely to focus on spin rather than genuine opportunity.

After all, the cult of climate change is a direct replacement for religion, with just as many zealots and extremists...
J
Posted: 01 July 2010 12:50:05(UTC)
#10

Joined: 10/06/2010(UTC)
Posts: 12

Definitely NOT.
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