Ready-Made Investments

Ready-Made Investments

Investing made easy from just £50 a month.

For customers who opened an account before 20th February 2023 (accounts beginning with IB) you can review your account by Logging in or view your charges on our Online Investments page

Why should I invest?

Why should I invest?

 

 

  • Investing is a way of helping you progress towards a specific financial goal.

 

 

 

  • Investing is a way of making your money work harder, especially during periods of high inflation.

 
 
  • Whilst cash savings could offer steady and secure growth, investments tend to perform better in the long term. 

 

How inflation may affect your savings

If your returns are lower than the inflation rate, your money may be worth less in the future.

 

Inflation makes things more expensive over time.

Please remember that the value of investments and income from them can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invest. If you’re not sure about investing, seek financial advice. There will normally be a charge for that advice. Tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.

How Ready-Made Investments work

  • You pick your risk level – Decide what option is right for you.

  • Choose how much to invest – Minimum deposit of £50, or a £500 lump sum.
  • Review your account – Matched to your chosen risk and managed by us.
  • Track your performance – Adjust, track and top up using Internet Banking or our app, just like with your everyday banking.

Get Started

Our investment accounts

Get started on your Ready-Made Investment journey

Investment ISA

Investment ISA

A tax-efficient account that lets you contribute up to £20,000 across your ISAs each tax year.

General Investment Account

General Investment Account

This account may be suitable if you’ve already used your ISA allowance for the current tax year.

  • Benefits

    Investment ISA

    General Investment Account

    Benefits

    Gains free from tax

    Investment ISA

    Yes (within ISA allowance)

    General Investment Account

    No

    Benefits

    Current contribution limit per tax year

    Investment ISA

    £20,000 (subject to change)

    General Investment Account

    No limit

    Benefits

    Lifetime limit

    Investment ISA

    No limit

    General Investment Account

    No limit

    Benefits

    Withdrawals at any time

    Investment ISA

    Yes

    General Investment Account

    Yes

Why invest with Bank of Scotland?

  • No investment experience necessary
    Our funds are ready-made by experts, so you don’t have to pick your own stocks and shares.
  • Simple and affordable
    Start from £50 a month or £500 as a lump sum.
  • Competitive fees
    Our flat-rate £36 annual fee could help you keep more of your money.
  • Flexible
    Although investing is a long-term strategy (5+ years), you can access your money if needed.
  • No hassle, no paperwork
    Our platform keeps everything in one place and can be accessed 24/7.

What about the risks?

Investing and understanding risk comes hand in hand. But don’t let that word put you off. Learn what we mean by risk, the different types and how you can spread it by reading the article ‘Understanding risk’.

What is your risk level?

Cautious

Our Cautious fund is dominated by lower risk assets such as government bonds and high quality corporate bonds but additionally may include small exposures to high-yield bonds. Our Cautious fund may also have some exposure to shares (UK and International), property and other riskier assets which have the potential for higher returns than bonds.

Lower risk

Managed Growth Fund 2

Our lowest risk fund. Your investments could still go down as well as up, but are generally more stable.

Charges:

Account fee: £3 a month

Ongoing charge: 0.25%

Transaction costs: 0.08%

Key documents

Managed Growth Fund 2 KIID (PDF, 111KB)
Factsheet (PDF, 138KB)

Balanced

Medium Risk

Managed Growth Fund 4

Our medium risk fund. You want your investment to grow steadily, and accept that there may be come ups and downs.

Charges:

Account fee: £3 a month

Ongoing charge: 0.24%

Transaction costs: 0.11%

Key documents

Managed Growth Fund 4 KIID (PDF, 114KB)
Factsheet (PDF, 138KB)

Progressive

Medium-high Risk

Managed Growth Fund 6

Our highest risk fund. You’re willing to accept a higher level of risk in return for the chance of higher returns.

Charges:

Account fee: £3 a month

Ongoing charge: 0.24%

Transaction costs: 0.14%

Key documents

Managed Growth Fund 6 KIID (PDF, 114KB)
Factsheet (PDF, 138KB)

 

For more information about the three funds, you can read Our fund range and investments (PDF, 254KB) guide. It contains details of how the funds are managed, their objectives and risks, and a detailed breakdown of the charges.

Investments are sold at a minimum value of £10. All remaining sales proceeds, after the £3 fee has been paid, will be held as cash in your account and will be used to contribute to future monthly fees.

  • There is a flat-rate service fee of £3 a month.
    Ongoing charge and Transaction costs are calculated on an ongoing basis and built into the value of the fund.

    If your investment was worth

    Progressive

    Managed Growth
    Fund 2

    (£3 monthly + 0.33%)

    Balanced

    Managed Growth
    Fund 4

    (£3 monthly + 0.35%)

    Progressive

    Managed Growth
    Fund 6

    (£3 monthly + 0.38%)

    If your investment was worth

    £1,000

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 2(£3 monthly + 0.33%)

    £39.30

    BalancedManaged GrowthFund 4(£3 monthly + 0.35%)

    £39.50

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 6(£3 monthly + 0.38%)

    £39.80

    If your investment was worth

    £5,000

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 2(£3 monthly + 0.33%)

    £52.50

    BalancedManaged GrowthFund 4(£3 monthly + 0.35%)

    £53.50

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 6(£3 monthly + 0.38%)

    £55.00

    If your investment was worth

    £10,000

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 2(£3 monthly + 0.33%)

    £69.00

    BalancedManaged GrowthFund 4(£3 monthly + 0.35%)

    £71.00

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 6(£3 monthly + 0.38%)

    £74.00

    If your investment was worth

    £20,000

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 2(£3 monthly + 0.33%)

    £102.00

    BalancedManaged GrowthFund 4(£3 monthly + 0.35%)

    £106.00

    ProgressiveManaged GrowthFund 6(£3 monthly + 0.38%)

    £112.00

  • What is a fund?

    A fund is a collection of assets created by investment experts (Fund Managers). These can be made up of shares, bonds, property or even cash.

    Investing in a fund with a wide range of assets could offer potential growth over time, while also helping to reduce any risk.

    Types of funds.

Our funds' past performance

The data in the below table and performance chart refer to the past, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The performance data includes the ongoing charge and all transaction costs within the fund, but does not include the £36 account fee.

Source of data: FE Fundinfo

The above graph shows the percentage change of the funds since launch. This is to help you understand how the funds have performed over the longer term.

Please remember that the data in the above performance graph and the below table refer to the past, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

The Last Available Price for each fund is shown below the graph and this is usually the price from the previous trading day. If you decide to invest in one of our funds, your trade will be sent to the Fund Manager and you will get the price given on the next available valuation point for this fund, which could be higher or lower than the price shown above.

Date

Cautious

 

Managed Growth Fund 2

Balanced

 

Managed Growth Fund 4

Progressive

 

Managed Growth Fund 6

Date

31st Dec 2021 – 31st Dec 2022

Cautious Managed Growth Fund 2

-12.3%

Balanced Managed Growth Fund 4

-8.9%

Progressive Managed Growth Fund 6

-7.0%

Date

31st Dec 2020 – 31st Dec 2021

Cautious Managed Growth Fund 2

3.5%

Balanced Managed Growth Fund 4

8.2%

Progressive Managed Growth Fund 6

12.5%

Date

31st Dec 2019 – 31st Dec 2020

Cautious Managed Growth Fund 2

4.0%

Balanced Managed Growth Fund 4

2.3%

Progressive Managed Growth Fund 6

1.9%

Date

Date

31st Dec 2018 – 31st Dec 2019

Our funds weren’t launched until 16th September 2019.

Date

31st Dec 2017 – 31st Dec 2018

Our funds weren’t launched until 16th September 2019.

Bank of Scotland Ready-Made Investments are provided by Embark Investments Services Limited (‘Embark’) and invest in assets managed by Scottish Widows Unit Trust Managers Limited. If you choose to invest, we will share your details with Embark. This is to help us during the application process. 

Can I apply?

To apply for a Ready-Made Investment, you’ll need to be:

  • An existing Online Banking customer
  • At least 18 years old 
  • You must live in the UK 
  • You must not be a US citizen 
  • If you are applying for an Investment ISA, you must not have subscribed to another Stocks and Shares ISA this tax year, and not have exceeded the over £20,000 ISA limit

Terms and Conditions (PDF, 385KB) 

How do I apply?

Applying by desktop or mobile

  • Log on to Internet Banking below to apply.

Applying via the mobile app

  • Log into your account via the banking app.
  • Select ‘Apply’ in the bottom navigation bar.
  • Select ‘Savings and Investments’.
  • Select the ‘Ready-Made Investments’ tab to apply.
Log in to apply

More investment support

Other investment options 

Learn more about investing

FSCS protected logo

Investments with Bank of Scotland Share Dealing are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This limit is applied to the aggregated total of any stock or cash held across the following brands that we administer.

This is in addition to any other savings deposits you may hold across Lloyds Banking Group.