Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)

What can the stocks & shares component of an ISA include?

The stocks and shares component of an ISA can include

• shares and corporate bonds issued by companies listed on a recognised stock exchange anywhere in the world

• gilt edged securities ('gilts'), similar securities issued by governments of other countries in the European Economic Area and 'strips' of all these securities

• units or shares in UK authorised unit trusts or open ended investment companies (OEICs) which invest in shares and securities (called securities schemes and warrant schemes) and fund of funds schemes which invest in them

• shares and securities in approved investment trusts (except property investment trusts)

• units or shares in Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds based elsewhere in the European Union (these are similar to the UK authorised unit trusts and OEICs listed above)

• any shares which have been transferred from an HMRC approved all-employee scheme under the special rules

• after 5 April 2005, life insurance policies that would previously have qualified for the separate life insurance ISA component

• after 5 April 2005, stakeholder medium-term products.

These investments must meet certain conditions to qualify for ISAs. ISA managers will be able to tell you which ones can be included in their own ISAs.