Britain’s second-biggest retail investment platform has dealt a fresh blow to Rachel Reeves’s hopes of stimulating a stock market splurge by pulling out of a government-backed marketing campaign.
Sky News has learnt that Interactive Investor (II), which is owned by London-listed asset manager Aberdeen, has become the latest prominent name to pull out of the initiative.
The industry-led campaign «to explain the benefits of investing», which is being coordinated by the Investment Association, was hailed by the chancellor in July as a key plank of her so-called Leeds Reforms to «rewire the financial system».
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Among the companies which agreed to help fund the marketing push were Barclays, Hargreaves Lansdown, London Stock Exchange Group, NatWest and Schroders.
Since that announcement, however, some of the named backers, including AJ Bell, Freetrade and Trading212, have been reported to have withdrawn.
The loss of II is a major blow to the campaign given its presence in the retail investment market, and is said to have been driven by the cost implications of participating.
The advertising agency M&C Saatchi has been picked to oversee the marketing drive, which will go live next year.
It will come amid likely reforms to cash ISAs which will see the annual limit reduced from £20,000, with Ms Reeves expected to unveil further details in next week’s Budget.
Her ISA reforms have drawn strong opposition from building societies, which have warned that they will impact mortgage lending, and investment industry executives who have complained that they will add complexity to the system and deter savers.
Aberdeen and II both declined to comment.