they just introduced an annual fee of GBP30, which will eat away at the most funds--really unacceptable, and will move my daughter's money to another provider which doesn't have an annual charge

F&C's Child Trust Fund will not be for everyone as there is no 'risk free' option. What there is is a choice of stakeholder or shares accounts, with the shares account giving access to a range of investment trusts. For those thinking of investing their child's fund in the stockmarket, investment trusts give greater choice of markets than the stakeholder options, and some of them have lower costs too. Although F&C only offers its own trusts, the range is quite wide and includes everything from global to Asian and private equity trusts. Yes, the value of these investments can fall as well as rise, but if they do rise, they have more growth potential than a 'safe' deposit-based CTF.

As far as F&C's service goes, the website is pretty good (although a few less PDFs would be nice) and the staff on the phone are friendly and helpful. There aren't any freebies or gimmicks, but I'd rather pay a management fee of less than 1% a year than get a few quid's worth of vouchers.