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It’s home time for this year’s Stocks and Shares ISA grant, with the 5th April deadline fast approaching. Thankfully, the annual limit is £20,000 for next year 2026/27 again.
Here, I want to see how well the standard ISA is likely to do so far in 2025/26. In other words, how much would one have now on a £20k investment made on 7th April 2025?
The key market
Now, I should start by saying that I would have chosen April 6th, but that was a Sunday so the markets weren’t open. So, I think someone might have put their entire £20k on Sunday but didn’t invest it until the next day.
Furthermore, there will naturally be more variety in stock selection, making it difficult to define a ‘typical’ ISA. Some focus only on blue-chip dividend stocks, others on US growth stocks. Many ISAs are hybrid, while many investors buy passive index trackers.
But an experienced stock picker bought the shares Fresnillo, Airtel Africa again Rolls-Roycethey will be patting themselves on the back because last year they increased by 324%, 141% and 70%, respectively.
Indeed, four different FTSE 100 stocks produced triple-digit gains last year, while another 19 delivered gains between 40% and 95%. Note, none of these numbers take benefits into account.
I should also mention that April 7, 2025 was a good time to buy shares. In the past days, President Trump had shaken the global markets with his tax policy, lowering many stocks by 15%-25% almost immediately.
But as Warren Buffett’s advice goes: “Fear when others are greedy and greed when others are afraid“.
UK investors who profit from greedy high quality stocks during that period are likely to have strong returns since (even if a few popular stocks such as Diageo again Taylor Wimpey he didn’t do well).
Cracking effect
What about the investor who put his £20k into the FTSE 100 tracker on 7th April? However, they would have done very well again, with the index up nearly 33% since then.
Adding in the dividends, I calculate they will now have over £27k. The result of a crack, or be a little lucky given the time of the cost.
Looking ahead
I can’t imagine another 12 months like that but I still see attractive opportunities in the FTSE 100 today. One is Legal & General (LSE:LGEN), is down about 12.5% in the past month.
A big part of this came this week, as the health insurer reported results that lowered the City. The problem seems to be that core operating profit of £1.62bn and a Solvency II coverage ratio of 210% came in below market expectations.
However, the core operating profit per share growth of 9% was higher where the management guided (6%–9%). And the massive £1.2bn share buyback announced was the biggest in the company’s history.
That said, the report was a mixed bag, and the risk now is that markets are headed south due to the protracted Iran conflict and oil and gas embargo. The firm’s assets under management may decrease.
But the main attraction is still the blockbuster dividend yield, which is now over 9% looking ahead. Given the level of income on offer, I think this FTSE 100 stock should be considered for the 2026/27 ISA year.
