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City chiefs urge chancellor to tackle ‘downward spiral of investment’ and reform ISAs and pensions

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Jeremy Hunt branded inheritance tax “profoundly anti-Conservative”, but did not say whether death tax cuts would be on the table.
Jeremy Hunt branded inheritance tax “profoundly anti-Conservative”, but did not say whether death tax cuts would be on the table.

A group of City chiefs have written an open letter to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, calling for ISA reform at next week’s Autumn Statement. 

The group called on the chancellor to tackle the “downward spiral of investment” that had taken hold in the UK and led to companies being taken private or looking to international markets. 

The letter, published in The Times, argued that reforming ISAs would help reverse this dynamic by putting the £68 billion a year invested into ISAs to work “on behalf of the UK economy.”

“A major oddity of the present ISA regime is that it offers the same incentives for savers to invest in overseas as domestic businesses. A new British Isa or ‘Brisa’ would, from next year, give taxpayers the chance to invest their full £20,000 allowance in the growing economy and supporting British companies,” the letter read.

The letter had 82 signatures, including from the CEOs of Liontrust Asset Management, Fevertree Drinks, Premier Miton Investors and First Group.

This follows a report from Sky News on Tuesday which revealed a leading group of City figures are urging the chancellor to accelerate pension reform. 

In a letter seen by Sky News, the Capital Markets Industry Taskforce warned that British companies were being starved of domestic investment.

The CMIT was established last year to strengthen the competitive position of the UK’s capital markets amid concerns that fast-growing companies are increasingly being tempted to list overseas. It is chaired by London Stock Exchange CEO Julia Hoggett.

The letter said that the UK now saw far lower domestic investment by UK-based pension funds in domestic capital markets than other G7 countries.

One member of CMIT told Sky News that the situation had become “urgent” and required immediate attention from the Treasury to build on the pension reforms unveiled by the chancellor in his Mansion House speech earlier this year. 

The letter also encouraged the establishment of a ‘British ISA’ that would incentivise investment into UK-based companies.