More than half of the UK’s financial advisers believe that increasing the ISA allowance above its current £20,000 limit would significantly boost investment in stocks and shares ISAs.

Some 58% of IFAs, (nearly six in 10) believe that a higher ISA annual limit would encourage more investment, one of the government’s goals.

According to Opinium’s latest IFA Barometer, which tracks adviser views on issues affecting them and their clients, most said that a higher ISA allowance would be the government's most effective way to boost investment in Stocks and Shares ISAs.

Some 58% said that increasing the annual ISA allowance beyond £20k would work, while 29% think removing the tax benefits of cash ISAs would help nudge consumers towards investing.

The survey was carried out before markets tumbled over the past few days in the wake of US President Donald Trump's new tariffs.

A quarter of advisers (26%) think that more access to advice or education is needed to help promote investment while 18% think stocks and shares ISAs need to be simplified and 16% feel that removing stamp duty on UK shares would incentivise people to start or invest more.

There have been recent suggestions that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering cutting back substantially on the cash ISA limit of £20,000 per annum to encourage more people to invest and make their savings work harder at the same time.

Opinium’s survey reveals that 49% of Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) believe a reduction or removal of the current cash ISA allowance would prompt clients to move more money into investments. About one in five (17%) IFAs think their clients would be less likely to move money into investments if the rumours came true.

Alexa Nightingale, global head of Financial Services research at Opinium, said: “The mooted shake-up of cash ISAs was not announced in the recent Spring Statement, but the Chancellor is said to still be considering this move, in order to boost investing among UK savers. With almost half of IFAs agreeing that such a policy change could boost investing, all eyes will be on the Autumn Budget to see if this change comes to fruition.”

• Opinium carried out an online survey of 200 UK Independent Financial Advisers between the 6 and 17 March.