Disgusted with HSBC CTF. We chose the "cautious" risk level, preferring stability over growth. Paid more than £30,000 into it over 10 years, the current level is £26K, so factoring in inflation we have lost about a third of our money over 12 years. Absolute mismanagement. I know that investments can go down as well as up but over the last 12 years all the other funds have shown returns or at least break even! Asleep at the wheel.

Having always banked with HSBC i was happy to hand over my daughters CTF voucher with them and open an account in her name. What a mistake. After making regular payments for the first few years i stopped having seen no increase in the funds overall value. The total has been falling away ever since, i would estimate that i have lost approx. £500 through this fund. Its as though nobody from HSBC is managing their CTF portfolio. A poor show from an otherwise trustworthy bank. I appreciate this is a long term investment (18 years) however you soon lose confidence when initial performance is so poor.

No recognition/acceptance of poor performance.

This is an investment over the long term. You cannot expect it to
guarantee a return. Perfomance has been much better
over the last 12 months - I am staying with it for now

The overall service offered by HSBC Child Trust Fund is OK. Worth significantly less money than initially put in. Would mind if it at least broke even - we're aware that funds can go down as well as up.
Switching out of HSBC

I would question if there are any benefits in saving money for children this way. No return. It is better to put the money into company pension scheme.