This document is for you, a potential Beach customer, and is to give you an overview of the most important details of a Beach General Investment Account (GIA), which we call a 'standard account' and is held within your ‘easy access pot’.
Hopefully you'll find it easy to read and understand, and it’s here to help you make an informed decision.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is a financial services regulator, asks that Beach provide you with this document – it’s important, so please read it carefully and ensure you understand everything about our standard account (GIA) before opening an account.
We encourage you to keep a copy yourself, and we’ll keep a copy of it on our website (beach.org) for you to refer back to whenever you like. If there’s any questions, get in touch with our friendly team via [email protected].
If you are unsure about the risks involved investing within a standard account (GIA), and have questions, contact our friendly team via [email protected].
A General Investment Account (GIA) is an account to buy investments within, you could think of it as a ‘standard investing account’.
There’s no tax-efficient benefits like there are with an ISA (tax-free) and a pension (tax relief from the government on your contributions, and it grows tax-free).
However, there are no limits with a GIA, so you can save and invest as much as you like (there are annual contribution limits and other restrictions with an ISA and pension).
But, your money and investments will be subject to tax, which means you might have to pay tax if your investments grow in value (or if they provide an income).
You’d typically pay tax in the tax year you sell your investments, and this is typically done on a Self Assessment tax return.
If you have investments that provide an income, rather than grow in value, this would be taxed as income and so taxed each tax year. The investment plan Beach offers does not provide an income, only the potential for capital gains (increase in value).
If you’re unsure about tax, it’s always a good idea to speak to a suitable advisor (such as a tax advisor or personal accountant).
Nope, in the UK you are able to earn £3,000 in profit from your investment growth each tax year (April 6th to April 5th the following year). This is called your Capital Gains Tax allowance.
This only typically applies in the tax year you sell your investments (meaning, it doesn’t build up each year if you don’t use it).
The amount of tax you’ll pay (the tax rate) depends on your income.
This isn’t tax advice, and the tax rules can change in the future.
Beach does not report any tax you may owe to HMRC. You are responsible for determining any tax you might have to pay, and this can be done on a Self Assessment tax return.
With Beach, within your standard account (GIA), your money is invested so it has the opportunity to grow larger over time (the investment plan is covered below).
A Beach standard account (GIA) is for people who want to save for their future in a straightforward way. And, making decisions themselves from a single investment plan option (investment range) designed for long term investing.
You’ll need to be over the age of 18, and be a UK tax resident.
No, we cannot offer you advice based on your personal circumstances, which includes investment, tax and any money related matters. You will need to make your own decisions. If you think you’d benefit from advice, you should speak to a suitably qualified financial advisor.
You’ll pay an annual fee to Beach of 0.75% of the value of your standard account (GIA) balance per year.
A minimum fee applies across the total balance of your Beach account (for instance if you also have money in a pension pot or an ISA, this is included, which reduces the likelihood of this fee being applied). This is £4.99 per month.
You will either pay 0.75% or the minimum fee of £4.99 per month, not both, depending on the balance across your whole Beach account.
This covers all the costs associated with your standard account (GIA), such as payments (adding money), trading (buying the investments on your behalf) and custody (holding your investments safely and securely). Plus lots of admin behind the scenes.
This will be collected from your account in monthly instalments, based on the daily value of your balance.
As an example, if you have a total Beach balance of £10,000, you’d pay 0.75% of the value across the course of a year, which is £6.25 per month (£75 per year). If instead, you had a total Beach balance of £5,000, your monthly fee would be £3.13 per month (£37.50 per year), and so you would instead pay the minimum fee of £4.99 per month.
You will also pay a fee within the investment itself, within your standard account (called an investment fund), which is 0.17% per year of your investment value. This is a fee to the investment fund manager, and is taken automatically from the fund itself. Although unlikely, this fee could vary slightly.
Beach (Beach Finance Ltd) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which means we’ve been reviewed against strict criteria, and approved to arrange your standard account (GIA) and investments, ensuring that your money is safe and secure, and we are continually reviewed.
Your investment plan is managed by BlackRock, the largest investment company in the world, with your standard account (GIA) held all in your name, and can only be returned to you. Nobody, not even us, can access your money within your account. Should anything happen to BlackRock themselves, or Beach (such as going out of business), your standard account (GIA) and money would still exist, and would be returned to you (or transferred to a new provider).
For added security, you are also protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which provides compensation up to £85,000 should any money not be returned to you. You can learn more about this on the FSCS website.
However, it’s important to understand your standard account (GIA) can fall in value as well as rise due to investment performance. This is part of how investments work over time and ups and downs should be expected.
For your standard account (GIA), the investment plan (investment option) available to you is the investment fund ‘MyMap 5 Select ESG’.
As a summary, this is an investment designed for long term, continual growth over time, in a risk-managed way, and consists of a wide range of underlying investments (assets) from around the world.
The plan also has a focus on improving the world where possible, such as fighting climate change through lower carbon emissions (alongside long term growth).
It is managed by expert investors, the largest investment company in the world, BlackRock.
The investment manager is authorised by The Financial Conduct Authority, and will manage the investments in line with the objectives of the fund (to grow your savings over time in a suitably risk-managed way).
We have provided information on the investment plan within the app during the sign up process (such as a factsheet and other documents and information provided by the investment manager), please ensure you review and understand these as it is your responsibility to decide if the plan is right for you. These documents will be saved within your account to review at any time too.
To check the value of your account, you can log into the app at any time to get an up-to-date overview of your balance.
As this is a standard account (GIA) just for you, only you can pay into your account.
Yes. Each time you top up your account, it will need to be a minimum of £25.
No, you can add as much money as you like to your standard account (GIA).
Yes, you can withdraw from your standard account (GIA) whenever you want to. You can do this within the app.
You can withdraw as little as £1, or as much as you like – although bear in mind, the more money you withdraw, the less your standard account (GIA) could be worth in the future.
When you withdraw, part of your investment plan will be sold to cover the amount you’re withdrawing. This means that it may take around 10 days to receive the money into your bank account.
No, at this time you are not able to transfer in an existing GIA to Beach.
You are able to sell your existing investments with your existing provider (fees may apply), withdraw the money, and then deposit and invest the money within your Beach standard account (GIA).
Any investment growth you may have had when selling existing investments would likely be subject to tax.
No, at this time you are not able to transfer your Beach standard account (GIA) to another provider.
If you would like to use another provider, you will need to withdraw your money from your Beach standard account (GIA) and then deposit it with your new provider.
Any investment growth you may have when selling investments (to withdraw money from Beach) would likely be subject to tax.
Yes absolutely. We’ll be sorry to see you go, but you can cancel your account within 30 days of opening your standard account (GIA), which you can do within the app, or contact us at [email protected]. No fees will be charged.
Any money you have added will be returned to you, this may involve selling your investments, which could have a different value than when you initially added money and invested. Meaning you may get back more or less than you added.
We pride ourselves on providing the best service possible, and your satisfaction is incredibly important to us – so if you’re not happy with any aspect of Beach, please get in touch with us at [email protected] and we’ll aim to put things right as soon as we can.
(within the app go to Settings > Contact us > Message us)
(within the app go to Settings > Contact us > Arrange a call back)
We aim to resolve most complaints within 3 working days where possible. If it’s a bit more complicated that requires a bit more investigation and time, we’ll let you know.
If you’re not happy with the outcome of our investigation, you can make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free service to resolve complaints fairly. Here’s how to contact them:
Online: financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
Letter: The Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
Phone: 0800 023 4 567 (free), weekdays from 8:00am–8:00pm, and on Saturday from 9:00am–1:00pm
You’ll have 6 months to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service after you’ve received the outcome of our own investigation.
You can find further information about making a complaint with our guide to making a complaint.
The information provided in this key features document is based on our understanding of the current law, practice and taxation, which may be subject to change. The law of England and Wales will apply in all legal disputes.
© 2023-2025 Beach Finance Ltd.
When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you put in. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances, and could change in the future. You should seek financial advice if you are unsure about investing.
Beach®️ is a registered trademark owned by Beach Finance Ltd.
Beach (Beach Finance Ltd) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (1010244), and registered in England and Wales (14969609).
