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