This CoreData Research report delves into the Stocks & Shares ISA market.

The study, based on a survey of 370 UK retail investors, looks at the makeup of ISA investors in terms of age, gender and wealth and the reasons for investing in Stocks & Shares ISAs. The report also reveals how investors rate their ISA providers on different metrics.

Individual savings accounts (ISAs) were born in 1999 when they replaced personal equity plans (PEPs) as tax-efficient savings vehicles. As ISAs celebrate their 21st birthday, they have become an established part of the UK savings landscape. Indeed, the 2017/18 tax year saw 10.8 million adults in the UK make £69 billion in ISA contributions. And according to UK government statistics, the total value of the ISA market was estimated to be £608 billion at the end of the 2017/18 tax year.

Tax-efficiency is at the heart of the ISA success story: interest and dividends received, and capital gains made, are tax-free. Increases in the amount people can save into an ISA — the current annual contribution limit stands at £20,000 a year — has also fuelled ISA flows. Alongside these strong flows, the ISA itself has evolved into several different mutations including the Lifetime ISA, Help to Buy ISA and Innovative Finance ISA.