Low interest rates boost share plan savings – ProShare

Employees saved an additional £60 million a month through the two most popular tax-advantaged employee share plans in 2015, according to research by ProShare, the membership organisation for the employee share ownership industry. SAYE is the most popular form of share plan, with nearly 1.5 million accounts in the UK and an average monthly saving amount of £156 per employee. SIP, introduced in 2000, had just over a million participants last year, with an average monthly saving per employee of £89.

Gabbi Stop, head of employee share ownership at ProShare, said:

‘The findings from the SIP and SAYE survey once again show that despite the broad array of savings choices available to consumers, be it auto-enrolment pensions, the introduction of lifetime ISAs, help to save and help to buy, and in many cases low returns, employee share plans remain a very effective means in which to save.’

The research from the SIP & SAYE survey was compiled throughout 2015 from the principal share plan administrators in the UK, who are all members of ProShare and who between them administer almost 1,000 SAYE and SIP share schemes. Additional analysis was carried out by Dr David McConville from National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan. For more information, please visit: www.proshare.org