IFISA market breaks £1bn barrier after Funding Circle confirms intake
THE INNOVATIVE Finance ISA (IFISA) market is officially worth more than £1bn, after Funding Circle confirmed that it has attracted £250m into its tax wrapper.
Earlier this year, the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (Tisa) told Peer2Peer Finance News that the overall value of IFISA inflows had grown to £764m by May 2019. However, this figure did not include Funding Circle’s data.
The publicly-listed peer-to-peer lender said on Tuesday that it has £250m in IFISA funds under management, coming from 19,000 accounts.
The figures were released after the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) revealed that its member platforms had received £588m in IFISA investments by 30 June 2019.
P2PFA member Funding Circle’s share of the IFISA market represents 43 per cent of P2PFA members’ IFISA inflows and 47 per cent of their IFISA accounts.
“The IFISA has been a major landmark in the development of the UK alternative finance landscape,” said P2PFA chair Paul Smee, commenting on the trade body’s latest data. “All member platforms have launched their own offering for retail investors giving consumers the opportunity to access tax-free interest on P2P lending investments.”
This puts Funding Circle just behind RateSetter in terms of inflows. RateSetter – which is not part of the P2PFA – confirmed to Peer2Peer Finance News that £265m has now been invested into its product.
The IFISA product officially launched in April 2016, but it got off to a slow start, with just £36m invested over the first year. For the 2017/2018 tax year, £290m was invested across 31,000 IFISA accounts.