Abundance made up majority of IFISAs in the last tax year
RENEWABLES and ethical investment peer-to-peer platform Abundance took the biggest slice of the Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) market in the last tax year, figures show.
HMRC data last week revealed that 2,000 IFISAs had been opened in the first tax year of the scheme, with £17m subscriptions.
Now Abundance has revealed that its customers opened 1,436 IFISA accounts last year, equating to total investment of £10.5m.
This means that Abundance made up 72 per cent of IFISA accounts in the 2016-17 tax year, representing 62 per cent of all money invested via the new wrapper.
Bruce Davis (pictured), co-founder of Abundance, predicted the platform’s share would soon be overtaken now that Zopa is in the IFISA market.
“Our ‘total domination’ of the IFISA market will obviously be short lived now that Zopa has launched its product, but Abundance’s success does underline the public’s increasing desire to invest in assets with important environmental benefits as well as a financial return,” Davis said.
“Abundance investors have now pumped more than £50m into productive ‘win win’ investments, with most new money now going in via our ISA wrapper so the financial returns are tax free.
“Abundance’s success is very much the good news part of the IFISA story to date.”
The platform – which specialises in ethical investments – was one of the first to launch the IFISA, having already gained the relevant regulatory approvals by April 2016.
Investors were initially only able to hold their IFISA money as cash, earning two per cent interest, until crowdfunded debt securities were allowed in the wrapper last November.
The IFISA has since funded green energy projects such as Upper Pitforthie Windgen, Monnow Valley Biomass, Swindon Chapel Farm Solar and the Thrive Renewables Bond.
Read more: IFISA uptake surpasses expectations