Three out of five investors are planning to take advantage of the increased ISA allowance when it comes into force on 6 April, according to The Share Centre.

With ISA season in full swing, the retail stockbroker has revealed that 75 per cent of investors have already made use of their current ISA allowance, with a further 60 per cent planning to use their increased allowance in the 2010/11 tax year.

However, despite a significant proportion of investors looking to use their new entitlement in the forthcoming months, just over a third of investors have actually used their entire allowance for this tax year, although one in five investors do plans to invest more before the end of the current tax year.

Meanwhile, although the increased ISA limit is already available to over 50s, allowing up to £10,200 to be invested tax efficiently, The Share Centre has found that only one in five investors aged 50 or over has actually made use of the new limit since it was introduced in October last year.

Commenting, Graham Spooner, investment adviser at The Share Centre, believes investors should not waste the opportunity to shelter an additional £3,000 from the taxman.

“With interest rates at historic lows, its vital investors take advantage of the increased allowance and protect what they can from the taxman,” he said.

Encouraging investors to consider investing in equities rather than cash, Mr Spooner added: “While see-sawing markets have left some wary of investing in equities, it is worth bearing in mind that returns from equities have consistently outperformed cash, decade-on-decade over the last century, apart from the 2000’s. This underperformance could be excused when you consider the stock market was extremely volatile during this decade.”

© Fair Investment Company Ltd