UK ISA wrapper · medium-high risk · age 18+ · FSCS protected

Stocks & Shares ISA

Stocks & Shares ISA for the 2026/27 tax year: £20,000 annual subscription allowance, 5.1% typical return, and FSCS protection up to £85,000 per banking authorisation.

HMRC wrapper passport

ISA Managers Guidance S&S EQUITY WRAP

#3/5 · £20,000 · market risk

According to gov.uk Individual Savings Accounts guidance and HMRC ISA Manager Guidance Notes (2026/27 tax year). See methodology for full sourcing.

  • SETTLE T+2
  • CAP 100%
  • BOOK 5 wraps
  • PHOTO Cash

Nearest allowance peer: Cash (£20,000)

According to PlainISA's HMRC ISA wrappers corpus, Stocks & Shares ISA ranks #3 of 5 HMRC ISA wrappers by annual subscription allowance (highest GBP = #1) and #5 of 5 by HMRC government bonus value (highest bonus_cap_gbp, £0 when none = #1). This wrapper uses 100% of the £20,000 combined adult allowance. Best fit: Long-term goals (5y+), retirement, wealth building. Not ideal for: Emergency fund, sub-5y goals. How we place wrappers → · Verify with HMRC →

S&S in the allowance neighbourhood

Annual subscription limit among this wrapper and nearest nationwide peers

1. S&S (this)20.0K2. Cash20.0K3. IFISA20.0K4. JISA9,0005. LISA4,000
Source: HMRC ISA Manager Guidance

S&S long-run performance

Annualised return by holding period, inflation-adjusted

0% 5yr+4.2%10yr+4.2%20yr+4.6%30yr+5%

Real (inflation-adjusted) annualised return over each trailing period, not a forecast. Past performance does not predict future returns. A negative value means the return trailed inflation over that period.

S&S vs the other wrapper we track, by horizon

Across every horizon we track for both wrappers, the lowest real return is UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 5y at -0.5% per year, and the highest is FTSE All-Share Total Return · 30y at 5% per year.

Across every horizon we track for both wrappers, the lowest real return is UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 5y at -0.5% per year, and the highest is FTSE All-Share Total Return · 30y at 5% per year. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 8 entities by Holding period (years) (X) and Real annualised return (%) (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Long horizon, above avgShort horizon, above avgLong horizon, below avgShort horizon, below avg 0y10y20y30y40y -2%0%2%4%6% Holding period (years) Real annualised return (%) FTSE All-Share Total Return · 30yFTSE All-Share Total Return · 20yFTSE All-Share Total Return · 10yFTSE All-Share Total Return · 5yUK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 30yUK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 20yUK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 10yUK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 5y
Across every horizon we track for both wrappers, the lowest real return is UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 5y at -0.5% per year, and the highest is FTSE All-Share Total Return · 30y at 5% per year.

Real annualised return by holding period, both wrappers: FTSE All-Share Total Return · 30y, 30 years, 5% real annualised return. FTSE All-Share Total Return · 20y, 20 years, 4.6% real annualised return. FTSE All-Share Total Return · 10y, 10 years, 4.2% real annualised return. FTSE All-Share Total Return · 5y, 5 years, 4.2% real annualised return. UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 30y, 30 years, 0.4% real annualised return. UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 20y, 20 years, 0.3% real annualised return. UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 10y, 10 years, 0.1% real annualised return. UK Cash ISA (real, proxy) · 5y, 5 years, -0.5% real annualised return.

Rules at a glance

Attribute Stocks & Shares ISA Source
Annual allowance£20,000gov.uk ISAs
Government bonusNoneHMRC ISA Manual
Age eligibility18+HMRC ISA Manager Guidance
Risk bandmedium-highFCA Conduct of Business
Typical return5.1%FTSE All-Share TR Index 1985-2024 real
FSCS protectionProtected up to £85,000 per banking authorisationFSCS
Withdrawal rulesWithdraw any time (sell + T+2 settlement).HMRC ISA Manual
Transfer rulesIn-specie or cash transfer permitted.HMRC ISA Manual
Tax treatmentInterest, dividends, capital gains exempt from UK Income Tax and CGTIncome Tax Act 2007 s.694

Table sources: gov.uk Individual Savings Accounts, HMRC ISA Managers Guidance Notes, Income Tax Act 2007 s.694.

Mid-band wrappers near Stocks & Shares ISA

Stocks & Shares ISA is FSCS-eligible deposit territory at allowance rank #3/5. Peer sets below split annual-limit neighbours from zero-bonus wrappers.

Similar annual allowance

Nearest wrappers by £20,000 subscription limit.

Similar HMRC bonus cap

Nearest wrappers by government bonus cap value (no HMRC bonus here).

Peers are nearest-neighbor matches across all 5 HMRC ISA wrappers in this database; corpus ranks above sort the full set.

Not financial advice - methodology · compare wrappers · HMRC source.

Data currency: ISA rules and the £20,000 annual allowance reflect the 2026/27 UK tax year; provider rates and figures were last updated May 2026. See our methodology for sources and refresh cadence. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a correction.