Junior Stocks & Shares ISA FAQs

ISA and tax rules apply.

A Junior Stocks & Shares ISA, often called a JISA, is an investment account for a child. Money in the account can be invested in funds and ETFs. There is no UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to pay on income or investment gains made within the Junior ISA.

The money belongs to the child and, in most cases, cannot be taken out until they turn 18.

At this time, you can open one if:

*Junior ISA rules allow some 16- and 17-year-olds to open and manage their own account. We’re working to offer this option soon.

For now, members can open a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA for a child under 16. We’re working to offer this option for 16- and 17-year-olds soon.

Not unless they have parental responsibility for the child.

You’ll need to give us information about you and your child. This may include:

Because you must already be a Prosper member, we’ll normally have completed your own identity checks.

Yes, you can open a separate Junior Stocks & Shares ISA for each eligible child for whom you have parental responsibility. Each child has their own account and their own annual Junior ISA allowance.

The child does. As soon as money is paid into the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA, it belongs to them. Although a parent or guardian manages the account while the child is younger, the money is not theirs to take back. In most cases, money can’t be withdrawn once it’s been added.

The Junior ISA allowance is £9,000 per tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. That £9,000 limit covers all Junior ISAs (including Cash and Stocks & Shares) held by the child.

No. Your child’s Junior ISA allowance is completely separate from your personal ISA allowance. Any money you pay into their Junior ISA counts towards their £9,000 allowance, not yours.

Yes, although Prosper currently only offers a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA.

A child can have:

The £9,000 annual allowance is shared between the two. For example, if £2,000 is paid into their Junior Cash ISA, up to £7,000 could be paid into their Junior Stocks & Shares ISA.

No, a child can only have one Junior Stocks & Shares ISA at a time. If they already have one with another provider, you’d need to transfer that account to Prosper rather than open a second one.

No, Prosper doesn’t require any minimum lump sums or monthly payments. You can pay in different amounts at different times – or stop contributing for a while – as long as the annual Junior ISA allowance isn’t exceeded.

Money paid into the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA can be invested in the range of funds and Exchange-Traded-Funds (ETFs) available through Prosper. You decide what to invest and can manage those investments directly in the app.

A Junior Stocks & Shares ISA is designed for long-term investing, but returns aren’t guaranteed. The value of investments may rise or fall, so your child could receive less than was originally invested.

Prosper offers a selected range of more than 200 index, mutual, portfolio funds and ETFs across different markets and types of investment. You can choose investments yourself or use the Prosper Standard Fund.

You can see the investments currently available, including their charges and risk information, here and in the Prosper app.

No. You can leave money as cash inside the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA while you decide what to invest in. However, Prosper doesn’t pay interest on cash left uninvested in the Junior ISA, so if the money sits as cash, it won’t earn a return.

Yes. The person managing the account can buy and sell investments within the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA. If you sell an investment, the money stays inside the JISA as cash until you invest it again. Prosper doesn’t pay interest on that uninvested cash.

No. The value of investments may rise or fall and there isn’t any guarantee your child will get back everything that was invested.

Having many years to invest can give markets more time to recover from falls, but it doesn’t remove the risk.

Prosper charges:

The investments you choose can still have their own charges. For example, a fund manager may charge an ongoing fee for running a fund. This is separate from Prosper’s platform fee.

You should check the cost of an investment before choosing it.

One way Prosper makes money is by keeping the interest earned on cash left uninvested in investment accounts and in the Prosper wallet.

That’s why you don’t receive interest on uninvested cash in the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA.

Prosper also makes money from other products and services, but this doesn’t change the 0% Prosper platform fee on the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA.

When comparing providers, you may want to look at features such as:

Bear in mind that your existing provider may charge you to leave and if your investments can’t be transferred across directly, they may need to be sold first. This means your money could be out of the market for a period.

Yes, if your child already has a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA elsewhere, you can transfer it to Prosper. Because a child can’t have two Junior Stocks & Shares ISAs at the same time, the existing account needs to be moved rather than leaving both accounts open.

Always use the official ISA transfer process. Don’t withdraw the money yourself and try to pay it back in.

For now, you can transfer in an existing Junior Stocks & Shares ISA. Junior Cash ISA and Child Trust Fund transfers are coming soon.

Prosper supports two types of transfers: cash transfers and in-specie transfers.

Cash transfers

Your existing investments are sold first. The cash is then transferred to Prosper, where you can invest it again. You can normally start a full cash transfer through the Prosper app.

In-specie transfers

Your existing investments are moved to Prosper without selling them first. These transfers need to be arranged through Prosper Support (support@prosper.co.uk) and are only possible if:

If you’re transferring one Junior Stocks & Shares ISA to another, the whole account must move. You can’t leave part of it behind because that would result in the child having two Junior Stocks & Shares ISAs.

With a cash transfer, your investments are sold first and the cash is sent to Prosper. You then choose how to invest it again. This can be simpler, but your money may be out of the market during the transfer. Markets could move between the time you sell and the time you invest again.

With an in-specie transfer, your investments move across without being sold. This can reduce the time you’re out of the market, but it’s only possible where both providers can transfer the exact investments involved. It can also require more manual processing.

Transfers involving a Stocks & Shares Junior ISA should be completed within a reasonable business period. Under HMRC rules, these types of Junior ISA transfer should generally take no more than 30 days. The actual time can vary depending on the type of transfer and how quickly your existing provider responds.

No, an official ISA transfer simply moves money that is already inside a Junior ISA. It doesn’t count as a new contribution. This is another reason to use the official transfer process rather than withdrawing the money yourself.

No, Prosper doesn’t charge a fee to transfer an investment account in or out. Your existing provider may charge a fee, so check with them before starting.

Yes, a Junior ISA can be transferred to another provider before the child turns 18. You’d normally start the transfer with the new provider, which then contacts Prosper. The usual Junior ISA rules still apply, including the rule that a child can’t have more than one JISA of the same type.

Normally, no. Money paid into a Junior ISA belongs to the child and is usually locked away until they turn 18. There are a small number of exceptions. For example, HMRC can allow early access if a child is terminally ill.

If the child dies, the Junior ISA is closed and its assets become part of their estate. You can’t withdraw money because your circumstances have changed or you’d prefer to use it for something else.

They still can’t withdraw the money. However, from age 16, the child can apply to become the person responsible for managing their Junior ISA. This person is officially known as the registered contact. If the child doesn’t take over, the existing registered contact can continue managing the account.

The Junior Stocks & Shares ISA automatically becomes an adult ISA and your child takes full control of the account. They can manage the investments themselves and can withdraw money if they want to.

Normally, no. A Junior ISA is designed to stay in place until the child turns 18. If you no longer want the account to stay with Prosper, you can transfer it to another provider instead. There are limited exceptions to the normal rules, including terminal illness or the death of the child.

Yes, Prosper Savings Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under registration number 991710. The company is registered in England and Wales with company number 11923629.

Prosper uses Seccl Custody Limited to hold investments on behalf of customers. The investments are kept separate from Prosper’s own assets. This is designed to provide protection if something happens to Prosper or the custodian.

Seccl is an FCA Authorised and Regulated third-party custodian that holds £800-million worth of assets for over 130,000 clients. It is wholly owned by Octopus Group, within which sit other companies such as Octopus Investments, Octopus Energy and Octopus Ventures.

Eligible investments may be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), subject to their rules and eligibility requirements.

The stated investment-protection limit is up to £85,000 per person, per authorised firm.

This protection doesn’t cover normal investment losses. If an investment falls in value because markets fall, the FSCS will not compensate you for that loss. Eligible uninvested cash is protected up to the applicable cash-deposit FSCS limit, currently £120,000 per person, per authorised firm.