AJ Bell plc

Moneysupermarket is introducing an investment platform that lets users open accounts and trade mutual funds and exchange traded funds. The move pits parent company Mony Group against major UK platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, and Interactive Investor. At launch, the platform will offer 40 mutual funds and ETFs, including Vanguard LifeStrategy products, S&P 500 tracker funds, and AI and robotics ETFs, with a platform fee of 0.34% and no dealing charges. Investments can be held in a stocks-and-shares Isa or a general investment account. CEO Peter Duffy said 70 per cent of UK adults do not invest and that the expansion is the next logical step to help customers, following the introduction of a savings platform in February.

Dame Meg Hillier, Labour chairman of the Treasury select committee, has warned that Rachel Reeves’s flagship reforms could destroy Britain’s most successful investment product, the Isa. She said the new rules, including a 22pc tax on formerly tax-free cash interest, a ban on transfers from non-cash Isas to cash Isas, and a 40pc cut in the annual cash Isa allowance for under-65s, risk causing serious confusion and are weakening the Isa brand. Tom Selby of AJ Bell called the reforms a dog’s breakfast, arguing they layer on unnecessary complexity. The Telegraph previously revealed a loophole allowing savers to circumvent the new cash Isa limit by using cash-like investments such as money market funds. Andrew Prosser of InvestEngine suggested the directives could be watered down before taking effect under a potential new chancellor.