Simonne says you can put ISA funds on hold

A client of Simonne's was keen to invest in a stocks and shares ISA before 6 April but didn’t want to be pressurised into making the investment choice by then. (She’s got some other money to invest and will be getting investment advice later on in the year but she’s not ready just yet). Simonne told her how she could get around this by investing the £7,000 in a Maxi stocks and shares ISA with a discount broker like Hargreaves Lansdown (http://www.h-l.co.uk/our_services/isa.hl) and temporarily holding the funds in cash. They let you do this while you choose a fund for your ISA. If you then get advice about which fund to choose you can switch funds with them or transfer, free of charge, to another ISA provider of your choice. It’s a bit cheeky if you intend to transfer elsewhere but it’s a good way of holding open £7,000 in an ISA wrapper which you would otherwise lose if you don’t invest by 5 April.