Spotlight On: L&G's £100 ISA cashback

The deal

Legal & General will give you £100 if you transfer an existing stocks and shares ISA to the company during September.

Good points

You get £100, although not until December 2011.

Bad points

Almost too many to mention. For starters you need a minimum £10,000 to transfer, then the transfer will take around 14 days to complete – during which you won't benefit from any rise in the markets. Also, your existing ISA firm may charge you to transfer out, and you have to keep the cash in the same L&G ISA fund until October 2011 to qualify for the cashback, risking being stuck in a poor fund.

Conclusion

You should never choose a stocks and shares ISA – or any investment – on the basis of a firm giving you cash. L&G is a respected name in the ISA world – it manages £6bn-worth of customers' money – but you would get more flexibility and choice at a fund supermarket, such as Fidelity's FundsNetwork.