There are three types of accounts - Stakeholder, Shares and Savings.
Stakeholder
During the early years a Stakeholder Child Trust Fund invests in shares but from age 13 onwards the fund normally automatically shifts to lower risk investments in order to lock in previous growth. If the Government opens the child's Child Trust Fund then they open a Stakeholder account.
Here is a complete list of Stakeholder Child Trust Fund Providers
* If a parent doesn't open a CTF by the child's first birthday then the government deposits the voucher randomly with one of these Providers
Shares
Share Child Trust Fund accounts invest in stocks, such as shares and bonds, whose value can go down as well as up. As such, they are riskier over the short term if you need the money. However, over 10 years or more, stocks almost always perform better than savings accounts.
Here is a complete list of Share Child Trust Fund Providers
Savings
Savings Child Trust Fund accounts works in the same way as a bank or building society savings account. The money paid in grows steadily as tax-free interest is added to it. Your money can never go down, but over a period of 10 years savings accounts almost always return less than shares.
Here is a complete list of Savings Child Trust Fund Providers
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