The government has reportedly scrapped plans to create a new dedicated individual savings account (Isa) for UK shares, over concerns that it would make the Isa landscape too complex for private investors. But another type of Isa that already exists is arguably way more complicated, and is proving less than popular.
Although it was always niche, the innovative finance Isa (Ifisa) had its time in the sun. Launched in 2016, at its peak popularity in 2019-20 there were almost £1bn-worth of assets in the product in total. Over the course of that year, some £434mn was paid into 34,000 Ifisa accounts, according to HMRC figures.
But just two years later, things looked different. In 2021-22, the latest year for which data is available, the total value held had almost halved to £563mn, and there was just £144mn-worth of subscriptions made across 17,000 accounts.