London-listed broker IG Group has partnered with ex-tennis player Pat Cash as part of its recently launched campaign to reinvigorate the UK stock market.
Last week the broker launched a new marketing campaign called ‘SOS’ – or Save Our Stock Market.
As part of that campaign, the broker released four different recommendations for regulators and other market participants, with the goal being to get more people in the UK investing in local equities.
One of those recommendations was to scrap Cash ISAs. These are tax efficient accounts that let people in the UK hold cash and fixed rate products, without having to pay any tax on the gains they accrue.
A major critique of cash ISAs is that they are low risk and don’t contribute to the economic growth that a stock market can help foster. The returns they offer have, over the long-term, also been far, far poorer than investments held in Stocks and Shares ISAs – equivalent tax wrapper products that let you invest in equities.
The new campaign with Cash includes a video that plays on these themes, with the central idea being that cash returns are poor and highlighting the fact that, since 1999, UK investors in stocks have seen 7x higher returns than those holding cash.
IG Group has been making more of a push into investing over the last six months. It’s plausible this is partly in response to other firms, like Trading 212 and eToro, who have managed to onboard more customers via a stock trading offering.
Marketing investment products is also easier and carries less of a regulatory burden than leveraged products does.
