pep - acronym Also written P.E.P. or
pep (Business
World ) Short for personal equity plan, an investment scheme intended to extend share ownership in the UK, under which investors are allowed to acquire shares up to a given value in UK companies without paying tax on dividends or capital gains. Etymology: The initial letters of Personal Equity Plan; the acronym might well have been chosen with the resulting 'word' in mind, suggesting that
this initiative would
pep up the market in
UK shares. History and Usage: The
PEP was an innovation introduced in the mid eighties by the
then Chancellor of the
Exchequer Nigel Lawson as a deliberate incentive to widespread share ownership in the UK; the scheme coincided with the beginning of the government's privatization programme which, it hoped, would result in a large proportion of the
British population owning and controlling their own service industries. The scheme presupposed long-term investment, so the tax advantage could only be earned if the investment remained in the Plan for a minimum period.
Many high-street banks and other financial institutions introduced their own
PEPs, many of which included the services of a
PEP manager to make the investment decisions if the investor did not wish to manage his or her own portfolio. There was also provision for a
particular preference or bias to be put on the investments--the investor might request
ethical investment or even a green
PEP (
one concentrating on environmentally sound investment), for example.
PEPS--Personal
Equity Plans--are Mr Lawson's subtle persuaders which will, he hopes, turn us into a nation of shareholders. Estates Gazette 9 Aug. 1986, p.
555 Your mortgage can be repaid by an endowment linked to an Ethical Fund or indeed by a Green P.E.P.
Green Magazine Dec. 1989, p. 55
