Think back to those fuzzy new born baby days. Specifically, those of us whose babies were born between
1st Sept 2002 and 2nd January 2011. We all got a bounty bag full of samples of nappy cream, wipes and
general junk but also a very important leaflet telling us that the Government had given us £250 to start
off our children’s saving life.
I have two children born into this time frame (my third was born in 2012 so sadly missed out) so have
two Child Trust Funds (“ CTF ”) out there with that initial £250 investment.
My question is, what did you do with this money? It was free money and most likely you would have had
marketing material from a CTF company asking you to invest the money with them. I remember
thinking, free money, great, I shall take advantage of this. I did very little investigation and simply used
the company whose details were in the bounty bag! I blame the new born baby brain as it might not
have been the best investment at the time. I set up my CTF accounts with Foresters and set up a direct
debit to add £10 per month into the account.
But many did nothing with the £250
But many people did nothing with the £250. Fear not, this money didn’t then disappear, the
Government invested that money in your child’s name.
2018 marks the year that the children who first received this money turn 16
When a child turns 16, they can take control of that money and decide what to do with it, as in move it
to a different child trust fund provider. And then at the age of 18 they can access the money. Up until
the age of 16 the parent is responsible for the money and all communications will go to them.
What if I have no idea where my Child Trust Fund Money is?
TwoZeroEighty can help you to locate that missing money. TwoZeroEighty is on a mission to educate
young people and their parents about their child trust fund and reunite them with their money that they
might not even know about or forgotten they had!
TwoZeroEighty was set up by Karina Lo Dico, an ex-city actuary with five children. She recognised that
this was a huge issue, potentially affecting huge number of children as they turn 16 through to 18 and
wanted to do something to help.
How do TwoZeroEighty find the money?
Firstly, you need to set up an account with TwoZeroEighty, with an email and password. A few more
details are required, your details and those of your children, plus your national insurance number. A
digital signature is needed to validate the application, all actioned electronically using the Yoti ID
verification.
If you know where your child trust fund is held this is also the point where you tell TwoZeroEighty. Of
course, this process is going to be quicker as your current provider can be contacted and the transfer is
arranged, this process should take a maximum of 28 days to process, dependent on your current CTF
provider.
In the situation of not knowing where your money is, or you did nothing with the money HMRC will need
to be contacted to locate the money. They have 30 days to find the money and report back to
TwoZeroEighty who are doing all the transfer work for you. Whilst you wait you can set your goals and
chose your investment preference, chose from digital futures, fashionista, good UK and gender equality.
And within 56 days, hopefully quicker your money is located, and the account is set up.
Fees
There is a fee for using this service and an ongoing fee of 1% per annum of the value of your portfolio.
This may be higher due to indicative investment product fees, please see here for more details.
Take Action!
Hopefully this has triggered a thought and you have a look into your child trust funds and your free
money. It’s so worth taking action and investigating where that money is. For more information from
TwoZeroEighty click here.
Please be aware that the value of investments can go up and down and capital is at risk. You may want
to consider advice from a qualified IFA. Just make sure they are authorised by the Financial Conduct
Authority and are recommended by a trusted friend and check their investment levels as some will only
work with clients with an investment level of at least £150k.
This post was written in collaboration with TwoZeroEighty. Capital at Risk and fees apply.
This communication has been approved by Met Facilities LLP. TwoZeroEighty Limited is an Appointed
Representative (FRN: 815904) of Met Facilities LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority (FRN: 587084). TwoZeroEighty Limited is registered in England with registered number
11316230 and the registered office at 17B Kensington High Street, London W8 5NP.
