Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund

CTF calculator A great start in life

Our Child Trust Fund savings calculator shows you how much you might need to pay into the Child Trust Fund account each month for 18 years to help achieve different savings goals.

The Children's Mutual Baby Bond® is our popular stakeholder Child Trust Fund (CTF). It features all the government's safeguards for stakeholder accounts which are designed to provide a good financial outcome for your child's investment. 

Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund is our non-stakeholder, shares-based Child Trust Fund (CTF) account that offers a range of investment fund choices.

Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund has certain features in common with our other Child Trust Fund accounts, such as:

  • A built in feature to limit the risk of losing value should share prices fall as your child’s 18th birthday approaches
  • Tax efficient investment growth and payout at 18

But, Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund differs in that:

  • You can choose where your child’s money is invested – there’s a choice of 11 funds from four leading fund managers. (Both Baby Bond® and Shariah Baby Bond® Child Trust Funds offer investment in just one fund)
  • This choice allows you to select your preference for investment fund aims - including balancing long-term growth and risk

This means that you can tailor a Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund account with the help of your Financial Adviser, to your own investment preferences and attitude to risk.

Please remember that because Baby Bond® Choice investment is linked to shares the value of the account could fall as well as rise, and your child may get back less than has been invested. No-one can access the money except your child, and not until age 18.


Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund learn more

Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund offers you access to 11 funds from four different fund managers.

This means that, with the help of your Financial Adviser, you can choose an investment strategy to suit your needs, and change that strategy from time to time to take advantage of changing investment conditions.

A choice of investment options

Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund allows you to choose from 11 funds from the following fund managers:

  • Gartmore Group
  • Insight Investment
  • INVESCO PERPETUAL
  • UBS Global Asset Management

You can find out more about the funds in the investment funds section. 

Tax-free lump for your child

The aim of Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund is to build up a lump sum, free from personal taxes, for your child when they reach 18. This can be then used for whatever they choose – maybe to help fund further education, buy their first car, or to travel the world.

And, to take advantage of the potential for greater growth offered by shares, we'll invest all money in your choice of one or more shares-based funds, until your child is 13. From 13 we gradually move money into a less volatile fund.

A choice of fund aims

Most of the funds offered through Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund aim to achieve long-term capital growth by investing mainly in shares. However:

  • Gartmore Cautious Managed Fund – aims to provide both income and long-term growth and invests no more than 60% of your child’s money in shares – which is a more cautious approach than investing only in shares
  • UK Government All Maturities Bond Fund - aims to limit the risk of overall loss to an investor by investing mainly in government bonds. This is a strategy that could appeal to cautious investors.

Aiming for a great return on your investment

The Children’s Mutual, like the government, believes that shares should produce better returns in the long-term than cash deposit accounts. That’s why our Baby Bond® Choice CTF, which runs for 18 years, is based on investment linked to shares for most of that time. However, past performance is not a guide to the future and your child could get back less than has been paid in.

Choose an investment strategy to suit the needs of you and your child

Because Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund offers you flexibility with its choice of funds and investment aims, we recommend that if you’re not sure which ones to choose, you should seek the help of a Financial Adviser. They can help you by considering your current financial situation, what you want for your child and the level of risk you’re comfortable with. If you don't have an Adviser you can visit Unbiased.co.uk here for a list of advisers in your area. Whilst this service is free, you may be charged for any advice given.

And, if the price of shares is lower in the early years, any money that you add to your child’s CTF account will be able to buy more shares in the fund – meaning that the account should have a better potential for growth when share prices start to rise.

The Children’s Mutual will gradually move the money in your child’s Baby Bond® Choice to lower risk investments (such as government bonds and cash) from your child’s 13th birthday. You can opt out of this if you wish.

Tax-free investment

Under current regulations all investment growth is free from personal taxes, as is the lump sum at age 18 (provided the child is resident in the UK).

Charges

Charges for Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund depend on the fund(s) that you choose. That means that they could be higher than those that apply to our other Child Trust Fund accounts. For more information on the funds and their charges please see the document below.

Find out more and apply for Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund

For more information and an Application pack, please complete our request form or you can contact us.

Important information about Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund PDF
PDF, 972KB (opens a new window)

  How to get the most from your child’s CTF

 

 

Gartmore Group

Gartmore Group is owned by Hellman & Friedman LLC (one of the world's leading private equity firms), together with members of Gartmore's senior fund management and executive team. It's committed to delivering maximum investment returns through a range of products designed to meet investors' needs. At 30 September 2009 it had £21.8 billion under management. Source: Gartmore Group

Funds from Gartmore Investment Management
Cautious Managed Fund aims to provide income and long-term growth from a portfolio of shares, bonds and cash – a more cautious approach then investing only in shares
European Selected Opportunities Fund aims to provide long-term growth from a portfolio of Continental investments  
US Growth Fund   aims to provide long-term growth by investing in North American shares  

Please see the document below for further fund information.

Important information about Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund
PDF, 972KB (opens in a new window)

Insight Investment

Insight Investment is owned by Lloyds Banking Group. As at 30 September 2009 it had £83.1 billion in assets under management and is one of the UK’s largest investment managers. Source: Insight Investment Funds Management Limited.

Funds from Insight Investment  
Foundation Growth aims to achieve long-term growth by tracking the FTSE All-Share Index
Evergreen is a global fund that is ‘negatively screened’, meaning that it avoids investing in companies that provide certain ‘restricted’ products and services such as tobacco, gambling and pornography 

it also invests in ‘positive impact’ stocks – companies whose products and/or services provide a particularly beneficial social or environmental product or service to society (e.g. renewable energy, environmental technologies, affordable mortgages, healthcare, water purification)
UK Government All Maturities Bond Fund aims to limit the risk of overall loss to an investor by investing mainly in government bonds. This is a strategy that could appeal to cautious investors

Please see the document below for further fund information.

Important information about Baby Bond® Choice
PDF, 972KB (opens a new window)

"FTSE" is a trade mark of the London Stock Exchange Plc and The Financial Times Limited and is used by FTSE International Limited ("FTSE") under licence. All-Share is a trade mark of FTSE.

INVESCO PERPETUAL

INVESCO PERPETUAL is part of the global AMVESCAP Group, one of the world's largest fund managers, with over £250 billion of assets under management at 30 September 2009. Source: INVESCO PERPETUAL

Funds from INVESCO PERPETUAL  
Income Fund   designed to be an 'all weather' fund investing mostly in established UK companies to achieve good long-term growth
Managed Growth Fund aims to achieve growth by investing in an actively managed selection of the 'best of best' INVESCO PERPETUAL funds
UK Smaller Companies Equity Fund looks for growth opportunities from a wide-ranging portfolio of UK smaller companies

Please see the document below for further fund information.

Important information about Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund
PDF, 972KB (opens a new window)

UBS Global Asset Management

Among the world's largest asset managers, UBS Global Asset Management has a wealth of investment management experience and aims to provide investors with superior investment returns. UBS Global Asset Management managed £352 billion worldwide at 30 September 2009. Source: UBS Global Asset Management

Funds from UBS Global Asset Management  
Global Allocation Fund (UK)       aims to achieve long-term growth through active management of a diversified portfolio of sharesinvests mainly in UK and international shares and bonds  
UK Select Fund   aims to achieve long-term growth through active management of a diversified portfolio of shares   invests mainly in UK shares

Important information about Baby Bond® Choice Child Trust Fund
PDF, 972KB (opens a new window)

If you’re not sure which funds to choose, you should seek the help of a Financial Adviser who will help you by considering your current financial situation, what you want for your child and the level of risk you are comfortable with.