Stocks and Shares ISA

You can open a Stocks and Shares ISA if you’re over the age of 18 and UK resident for tax purposes. You should also be:

• Comfortable choosing your own investments in an ISA

• Confident making long-term investment decisions

• Free from significant debt (other than a mortgage)

• Clear on our charges

Investments fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you put in. If you’re not sure which investments are right for your Stocks and Shares ISA, please ask us about financial advice.

It’s easy to open a Stocks and Shares ISA and most people can do it online in just a few minutes. Here's what you will need:

Personal details - Your name, address, date of birth, and email address.

National Insurance number - This confirms your eligibility and allows your Stocks and Shares ISA account to be registered.

UK bank account - So you can top up your Stocks and Shares ISA and set up one-off or regular contributions. This will also be the account you can withdraw your money to.

Investment choices (optional) -You don’t need to decide straight away, but you can choose from ready-made investment options or build your own portfolio with individual shares, funds, or ETFs.

Be eligible - You must be a UK resident, aged 18+, and stay within the ISA allowance (£20,000 for the 2025/26 tax year).

You can open and contribute to multiple Stocks and Shares ISAs within the same tax year, provided they do not exceed the annual ISA allowance of £20,000.

This means you have more flexibility to diversify your holdings or transfer a Stocks and Shares ISA without losing tax advantages.

Can you have a Cash ISA and a Stocks and Shares ISA?

Yes you can have a Cash ISA and a Stocks and Shares ISA. The total contributions across all your ISAs must not exceed £20,000 in one tax year.

Yes, you can.

Although Stocks and Shares ISAs are designed for long-term investing, you can withdraw cash at any time.

We don’t charge you for withdrawals or for selling funds. Dealing charges apply to shares and other investments.

If you withdraw money from the HL Stocks and Shares ISA, you’ll lose that portion of your ISA allowance.

Yes, you can transfer a Cash ISA to a Stocks and Shares ISA. This allows you to invest your cash, giving it a chance to get better returns over the long term that you'd get from interest.

If I transfer my Cash ISA or Stocks and Shares ISA, will it affect my ISA allowance?

No. As all you're doing is moving what you've already contributed, it won't affect your allowance. Anything you add after that though, will reduce your allowance for that tax year.

Before you transfer, it's also worth checking if your Cash ISA is fixed term and whether you'll incur any early withdrawal penalties. You should also be comfortable that investments go up and down in value so returns aren't guaranteed like they are with interest on cash.

Transferring a Cash ISA to a Stocks and Shares ISA is easy. Get started using our simple online transfer application.

Start by opening an HL Stocks and Shares ISA. It only takes a few minutes.

Once your account is open, you can manage in online, through our award winning app or via our Investment Helpdesk.

You can add a lump sum in as cash then invest it or you can set up regular top ups via direct debit and place an instruction to automatically invest it for you. You can also transfer an ISA from another provider.

You can choose your own investments or choose one of our ready-made investment options.

You can leave your money in your Stocks and Shares ISA as cash. You will earn interest on this but not as much as you would through a cash ISA. If you leave your money as cash, you could miss out on potential investment gains.

This tax year (6 April to 5 April), you can invest up to £20,000 and get:

• Tax-free growth (no Capital Gains Tax on profits)

• No tax on dividends

• Flexibility (you can withdraw money at any time)

The value of investments can go up or down. To reduce the risk of loss, it’s best to use a Stocks and Shares ISA for long-term goals — typically five years or more — to smooth out market volatility.