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Cash interest explained |
You will receive interest on balances in your platform cash account at the prevailing rate.
Embark Investment Services Limited acts as the custodian for investments on the Willis Owen platform and is one of our strategic partners that provides our Willis Owen ISA, GIA, Junior ISA and SIPP.
Embark places cash with a number of banking partners for safekeeping and to provide the potential for you to earn interest on money in your platform cash account. By managing cash in this way, it aims to provide better protection and a higher overall level of interest than if all funds were placed with a single bank.
The rates of interest paid by banks will vary. Embark retains a portion of the interest earned to cover its costs in managing platform cash.
Current Interest Rate
The table below shows the current customer interest rate payable on cash balances along with the amount of interest retained by Embark. The customer interest rate shown is that after accounting for interest retained by Embark:
| Date From | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 25th March 2024 | 2.46% | 1.75% - 2.00% |
Embark can change the rate of interest at any time and it reviews the position at least quarterly. Interest is calculated and accrued daily and is credited to your account on the first of each month. If you transfer out, accrued interest is applied at the point of transfer. We will inform you if and when the interest rate changes as soon as is practicable.
Interest retained
The table below shows the yearly equivalent rates of interest Embark expects to pay based on a range of possible yearly interest rates it may earn.
| Interest Embark expects to earn | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1% | 0 – 0.46% | 0 – 0.54% |
| 1-2% | 0.46% – 0.94% | 0.54% – 1.06% |
| 2-3% | 0.94% – 1.46% | 1.06% – 1.54% |
| 3-4% | 1.46% – 2.02% | 1.54% – 1.98% |
| 4-5% | 2.02% – 2.61% | 1.98% – 2.39% |
| 5%+ | 2.61%+ | 2.39%+ |
Historic Interest Rates
To see details of historic customer interest rates, along with the amount of interest retained by Embark, click here.
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Tax-efficient investing, up to £20,000 a year Take a look at our ISA |
Investing doesn’t need to be complicated or difficult, but there are a few fundamentals worth remembering that may help you stay on track to achieve your goals. It is worth reviewing these even if you are an experienced investor. Remember, however disciplined you are, investing involves risk, and you could still get back less than you put in.
Here are our 10 golden rules that we believe every investor needs to know:
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Set your goals - Knowing what your goals are, how much money you need to save and when you need it may help you make the right investment decisions. For example, if you have been investing for your retirement and this is approaching, it may make sense to reduce the amount of risk you are taking with your investments. Or, you may wish to start looking at investments that produce an income. |
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The bigger the potential returns, the higher the level of risk - The prospect of higher returns may be appealing, but it is often accompanied by a greater risk of losing your money. Think carefully about how much risk you want to take but also how much you can afford to take. You may be more comfortable opting for less risky investments, even if returns are likely to be lower. |
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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket - This rule is particularly important. Spreading your money across a range of different assets and geographical areas means you won’t be depending too heavily on one kind of investment or region. So, if some perform badly, other investments might make up for these losses, although there are no guarantees. |
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Invest for the long term - Investing should never be considered a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. We suggest you should invest for at least five years, preferably longer. The longer you invest, the greater chance you are giving your money to grow. |
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Don’t just follow the herd - It can be tempting and easy to just put all your money into the best performing investments of the moment. But while these might be ‘on trend’, they might not be suitable for your risk preferences, or objectives. Falling into this trap can lead to a portfolio that isn’t well diversified or becomes potentially overexposed to one investment style, sector or country. It is important to have a broad range of investments, as predicting where markets will move next is difficult. |
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Don’t invest in something you don’t understand - Before you put your money into any investment, take time to research it thoroughly, so you understand exactly what’s involved and what the risks are. Funds, for example, issue a Key Investor Information Document (KIID), which explains the fund‘s key features and charges. You should read this before you invest. If you’re investing in shares, make sure you know what the company does and how it plans to make money in the future. |
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Don’t overdiversify - Diversification is an important aspect of investing, but you can have too much of a good thing. If you hold too many funds, you reduce the impact any one single investment will have on the performance of your portfolio. Take this to the extreme and you could end up paying a lot in fees just to track an index. We believe you can make a suitably diversified portfolio of between 10 and 20 investment vehicles, but that will largely depend on where each of them invests. Ten funds that all invest in UK mega caps for income, for example, may not offer much in the way of diversification. |
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Reinvesting income can help boost overall returns - If you don’t need an income from your investments, you may want to consider reinvesting it to buy additional units or shares, which will potentially grow in value and boost your overall returns. In simple terms, you can earn income and growth on any income reinvested. This is known as compounding, which we’ve talked about elsewhere on the website. |
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Don’t try to time the market - In an ideal world, you would buy investments just before they increase in value and sell at their peak. However, no one knows which way stock markets will move, so trying to predict the market's ups and downs could mean that you end up buying or selling at just the wrong time. Buying and holding investments can help you remain committed for the long term, avoiding panic decisions when markets are volatile, and regularly drip-feeding smaller amounts into your investments – known as pound cost averaging – can reduce the risk of getting the timing ‘wrong’. |
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Review your portfolio - Too much tinkering with your investments isn’t usually a good idea, but you shouldn’t just forget about them altogether. Your investments will change in value over time which may mean your asset allocation (how you choose to split your money between different assets, such as shares, bonds, cash and property) moves out of line with your investment objectives. That means you may need to rebalance your portfolio from time to time to make sure you’re still on track to meet your goals. |
