Abrdn’s Interactive Investor (ii) — the UK’s second-largest platform for private investors — said it has unlocked retail investor access to the UK Treasury Bill Market for its customers.

Powered by PrimaryBid, Interactive Investor customers will now be able to participate in UK T-Bill tenders.

“These short-term instruments are issued by the UK’s Debt Management Office (DMO), designed to help finance the UK government’s operations, and typically bought by banks and financial institutions, until now,” said Interactive Investor.

“As interest rates have risen, so has the rate of return that UK T-Bills offer to prospective buyers, with these short-term notes currently offering 5%+ annualised return, acting as a viable option for savers and investors alike.

“UK T-Bills are ‘zero coupon’ discount notes, with the investment returns created at the point the T-Bill matures, rather than via any coupon payments.

“The investment return comes solely from the difference between the price the government sells to investors at (less than £100) and the redemption price the government pays back (£100).

“One key advantage of T-Bills is their short-term maturity and frequency of issuance, versus gilts which have a longer-term investment profile and fewer offerings. Selected UK T-Bill issues are being offered to ii customers.”

Sam Benstead, Fixed Income Lead at Interactive investor, said: “We are proud to continue our strategic objective of unlocking investor access to investments which have typically been for the use of the wholesale market only.

“UK T-Bills offer ii customers a greater choice of short-term investments, and we are delighted with the success and demand of this new offering, which we have been trialling over the last three months. Working with strategic partners like PrimaryBid, we are broadening and strengthening our investment offering to ii customers.”

Stacey Parsons, Head of Fixed Income at PrimaryBid, said: “We are delighted to have worked with ii, and other partners, seamlessly integrating investor access to wholesale primary capital markets.

“PrimaryBid’s smart technology platform, alongside our deep capital market expertise, enables partner access to a broader range of investment products and returns for their clients.

“PrimaryBid remains focused on delivering investor inclusion across regulated equity and debt capital markets, supporting issuers, banks, advisers and partners in securing investor access to UK wholesale markets.”