| My favourite pages |
| Support topics
Need help in something? Take a look at our support area for your answer. Find out more |
Session Timeout
You have been inactive for 0 mins.
Stay logged in or you will be logged off in 60 seconds.
Quick content survey
As your feedback helps us improve our content and services, we'd appreciate it if you can spare a few moments to respond to the following statements.
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.
|
Ready to invest?
Take control of your retirement plans today Check out our SIPP |
A SIPP, or Self Invested Personal Pension, is a tax-efficient pension scheme designed to help you grow your retirement pot, with the aim of providing you with an income in retirement. You can choose from a wide range of funds, investment trusts, shares and exchanged traded funds (ETFs).
One of its main features is that you can get tax relief on your contributions. How much you get will depend on the level of your income. SIPP providers reclaim basic rate tax relief (currently 20%) on your contributions and automatically add this to your SIPP. If you pay tax at higher than the UK basic rate, you can claim additional tax relief from HM Revenue & Customs, reducing your tax bill for the year.
There are limits to the amount that you can pay into pensions each year, while still benefiting from tax breaks. If you exceed these, you’ll usually have to pay tax charges. For most people, the annual allowance is currently £60,000 per year, but for a small group, the annual allowance can be reduced (see Tapered or Money Purchase annual allowance below). In some cases you can carry forward unused allowances from previous years.
As well as limits on how much you can pay in with the benefit of tax relief, there are limits on the amount of tax-free cash you can take from pensions as well as on the level of lump sum benefits which can be paid when a pension scheme member dies.
Although normally you can take up to 25% of your pension pot as tax-free cash once you reach age 55 (57 from 2028), there is an overall limit to the amount of tax-free cash you can receive which, for most people is £268,275. This limit is called the ‘Lump Sum Allowance’ and it replaced previous ‘Lifetime Allowance’ rules which existed prior to 6th April 2024. If you’ve previously taken benefits from a pension prior to this date, you will already have used up a deemed amount of your Lump Sum Allowance. If you’ve taken less tax-free cash than the deemed amount, you may be able to apply for a transitional tax-free amount certificate which reflects the amount you’ve actually taken.
In addition to the limit on how much tax-free cash you can take, there’s also a limit on the amount of aggregate tax-free lump sums which can be paid out from pensions to beneficiaries on your death. The standard allowance is £1,073,100 but the available allowance is reduced by certain lump sums (including tax-free cash lump sums) which you might have taken during your life as well an amount reflecting the value of any pensions that were already in payment prior to 6 April 2006.
Benefits can currently be drawn from a SIPP from the age of 55 although this is expected to rise to 57 in 2028. There are a number of options for drawing your pension benefits. You can, for example:
