What is the ‘CAT’ standard?
CAT stands for Cost, Access and Terms.
The government introduced some standards for ISAs to help investors choose their investments. There is no requirement for every ISA to meet the standards. Meeting the standards is not an indication that a particular investment will be good or bad, but simply that it has a certain level of charges and access, and a low minimum investment.
The stocks and shares component of the CAT standards has been devised more with managed funds and tracker funds rather than self select ISAs in mind. CAT Standards are:
- NOT a Government endorsement of a product
- NOT a guarantee
- NOT an indication of a superior product – a CAT Standard product may do better or worse than a non-CAT Standard product
- NOT necessarily an indication of good investment performance – many of the best performing and most popular funds may not be to CAT Standard.
- NOT a specific recommendation that a product is right for you
- NOT a substitute for advice from a qualified adviser
This is a voluntary standard. Many providers may offer both a CAT ISA and a non-CAT ISA. It is a benchmark to ensure that an ISA represents decent value for money.