Kevin Brown

The Scottish Friendly Investor Index tracks sales of adult investment ISA policies and the total value of these new policies among its UK-wide customer base.

The value of new policies opened by women in the final quarter of 2021 is up 23% on Q4 2019 when the global pandemic began and 4% higher than in Q4 2020. In contrast, the value of new stocks and shares ISA policies opened by men has remained flat increasing by just 1.5% since Q4 2019.

New policy sales figures for all customers during Q4 2021 are up 13% on Q4 2019, with the values of those new policies increasing by 10% since Q4 2019.

Meanwhile, the value of new investment across all 18-64 age groups was higher in the final quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2019. The sharpest rise (9%) is seen in the 18-34 years age band, followed by 8% in the 50-64 years age band and 1% in 35-49-year-olds.

Scottish Friendly’s Investor Index also includes sales data for its junior stocks and shares ISAs (JISAs) and it reveals demand from customers continues to grow. The number of newly opened JISA policies has been rising every quarter since the end of 2019 and Q4 2021 is up 70% on Q4 2019. Parents are also investing more into JISA savings with new policy value up 33% over the same period.

Kevin Brown, savings specialist at Scottish Friendly, said: “The dash of spare cash into ISAs that started during the pandemic seems to be continuing as our numbers show. Women in particular are putting more money aside and parents remain undeterred from saving for their children via JISAs which is always encouraging to see. However, there are new headwinds on the horizon that may see a slowing in these numbers in the near future.

“Many people will have been saving for a rainy day during the pandemic and that storm is now on the horizon. The sharp rise in the cost of living and growing economic uncertainty presents potentially a problematic picture in the short-term and people may need to rely on the buffers they have built to stay above the rising waters.”