More information on the CTF...

The Schoolteachers Friendly Child Trust Fund....

is a Stakeholder Account, which in effect, means that the maximum annual management charge cannot be more than 1½% of the value of the funds in the Account. Our CTF Account will hold a Schoolteachers Friendly Society life policy which invests in one or more of the Schoolteachers Friendly unit-linked life funds. The money from the Government contribution, as well as that from any additional subscriptions donated by family and friends, will be wholly invested in units of an Equity Tracker Fund for the first 13 years. Click here for the latest Unit Price. However, as with all Stock Market investments, there is a risk that the value of the account can go down as well as up. This type of investment has the potential to do well when money is invested for a long time, because poor performance of the Stock Market in some years can be made up by good performance in others, and over a longish time period the Stock Market's value tends to rise more than it falls.

After the child's 13th birthday we will gradually move the money in the Account to units in a Fixed Interest Tracker Fund, thus avoiding any potentially large downward swings in the stock market when approaching the the repayment date at age 18. This process is called 'Lifestyling'.

There are other types of Child Trust Fund Accounts such as Cash Accounts, some of which are 'non-stakeholder accounts' where the annual management charges can be higher than our Stakeholder limit of 1½%.

Can money be added to the Account?

YES - by any member or friend of the family. Mum, Dad, Grandparents and other friends and relatives can all make money gifts to the child's Account. The total allowed each year (from birthday to birthday) is £1,200, and payment can be made by cheque or Direct Debit - a form for this will be enclosed with our information pack or can be downloaded by clicking here. Many families have chosen to have the Child Benefit paid directly into the Account. It is important to remember that once the money is lodged, it is the child's and can only be accessed by them on reaching age 18.

Don't worry if the £1,200 limit per year is accidentally exceeded; we will return the excess to the sender (or parent/guardian if we cannot identify who sent it).

     Want an Application form for the CTF?  Just 'click' on the picture to download

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