What Child Trust Fund?

[Phantaxus]

Where should I invest my daughters �250 pound voucher?

[january_bug]

Probably in an ISA or a high interest bond.  As you won't want to touch th emoney for years, you can take advantage of bonds, which of course have high penalties for removing th emoney early, but this is countered by generous interest rates. 

Just so I'm being honest, I'm going to "report" your question.  Not because there's anything wrong with it AT ALL. :-)  I just think you'll get a better answer in "money and finance", and one of the reporting options is to suggest that the question be moved to a better category.  I'm only doing it to try and help you get a better answer, so please don't be mad at me!! :-)

[Phantaxus]

Some Background:

The Child Trust Fund is a scheme run by the UK government. They issue a $250 pound voucer to the parents of every new born child this has to be invested in a Child Trust Fund account, most of the major banks and building societies have these set up but I dont know which is the best.

Yes I could have posted it in Money anf Finance as well but I did not want to cross post, and as It is a scheme aimed at new parents I thought I might get a better answer by posting here.

So if any new parents reading this have already invested their voucher. who did you use? and why?

[Proactivity]

Here's a page with lots of information about trust funds:

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/features/ctf.asp

..and another one for the best accounts to put it it:

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/savings/charts/savings_childtrust.htm

[louadams6]

i invested my daughters at Nationwide. I didnt want an account that messed with stocks and shares and not many places offered a straightforward savings account. Nationwide was one that did and at the time it offered one of the best interest rates.

[Hammer]

"Messing with stocks and shares" is not necessarily a bad thing. Don't discount it without fully understanding the benefits.

Whilst shares can be volatile from year to year, and deposit accounts are low risk, over longer time periods shares have consistently beaten the returns on cash. On analysing the rolling 10-year periods of performance for cash and equities since 1975 (using 1965 as a start point). Out of 30 data points, cash only outperformed UK equities four times.

Whilst past performance isn�t a guide to the future, the long-term data suggests that the odds are heavily in favour of shares. Whilst market research suggests many parents are concerned about the risks of investing their child�s CTF in shares, statistically they are the real �gamblers�.