Although the savings market remains challenging and highly competitive rates remain elusive, there is some hope for savers, as some providers have started to increase rates and launch chart-topping rate this week. In the fixed rate bond chart, savers looking to get the best rate will have to look at depositing funds into a challenger bank, while National Savings & Investments (NS&I) continues to top the easy access chart this week.

Mortgage borrowers will be pleased to see that mortgage rates in the remortgage and moving home charts remained competitively low this week. Saying this, there is some indication that rates on lower loan-to-value (LTV) deals may start to rise, so borrowers should act quickly to secure the best deal possible.

When considering which mortgage deal is best, borrowers should take into consideration a number of factors and not just the rate, as this will reflect the true cost of the deal. For example, factors like product fee, incentives and flexible features should be included in the decision-making process. Those uncertain of which deal is best should consider speaking to a mortgage broker.

Coventry Building Society has launched chart-topping four and five year fixed rate ISAs today.

Its new five year ISA –Fixed Rate ISA (117) 30.11.2025 – pays 1.25% gross yearly and its Fixed Rate ISA (116) 30.11.24 pays 1.15% gross yearly. Both these ISAs require just a £1 minimum deposit to open and accept transfers in. These ISAs can be both opened and managed online, by phone and by post.

As well as now having the best rates in the five and four year fixed rate ISA charts, Coventry Building Society also continues to offer the best one year fixed ISA rate. Its Fixed Rate ISA (114) 30.11.21 pays 0.77% gross yearly. This ISA has the same terms and conditions as the four and five-year options.

Commenting on the launch of these ISAs, Ian Biggs, head of product performance at Coventry Building Society, said: “Fixed rates offer savers some certainty in these uncertain times so we expect these new products will be very popular. Many people will be looking for a top interest rate and the peace of mind that a fixed rate provides, and, as a mutual, we want to offer the best rates we can afford. We now have a range of ISAs for savers looking to fix their returns for one, two, three, four or five years, all at rates that are among the very best available.

“We’ve made it as straightforward as possible for people to open these accounts and to transfer any other ISAs they may have. It can all be done online, over the phone, by post or in branch.”

At the start of August, investment in equities of companies involved in the mining and gold-related industries dominated the top-performing ISA investment unit trusts over the short-term (12 months), with only one of the top five investing in equities. Over the same period, the best-performing ISA investment trusts consisted of those investing in equities and securities, with the top two funds focussing on Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan). Investment focussed in European companies and assets only featured once in the short-term top five performing investment trusts.
The flight to funds focussing on investments in the mining and gold/precious metals industries started in April 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and has seen most funds grow up to 1 August 2020. However, prior to April 2020, those funds investing in gold listed in our current top five best unit trust performers over 12 months all had negative growth. Investors will need to keep an eye on whether returns from gold will reach a peak, as results published this week by Interactive Investor have seen the returns on these funds start to drop.
Funds investing in technology firms feature in the top five performers over five years across both types of investment fund.
We summarise below the top five performing ISA investment funds for a £1,000 investment over the past 12 months and five years.