Savers could boost their pots by thousands of pounds more by investing their full stocks and shares ISA allowance at the start of the year instead of waiting until the end, new data shows. An analysis from wealth management firm St James’s Place found that making annual £20,000 investments in global equities at the beginning of each tax year would have turned a £200,000 total investment into £338,333 over a decade, Mail Online reports.

By contrast, delaying those same investments until the end of each tax year would have yielded just £306,476 – a difference of £31,857. The figures, which are based on the MSCI World Index, highlight the financial advantage of investing as early as possible in the financial year.

Claire Trott, divisional director for retirement and holistic planning at St James’s Place, said many investors focus on topping up their ISA allowance just before the April deadline and then overlook investment opportunities for the rest of the year. This habit can lead to missed gains from nearly a full year’s worth of potential growth.

While not everyone is in a position to deposit £20,000 in one go, Ms Trott suggested that regular contributions throughout the year are also effective.

SJP’s figures showed that someone investing £20,000 through regular deposits over the year would have seen returns of £314,453 over the course of 10 years – still higher than the lump-sum end-of-year investor.

Ms Trott also noted that spreading investments helps mitigate short-term market risks and can still outperform last-minute lump-sum investing. This approach, often referred to as “pound-cost averaging,” allows investors to benefit from market dips while steadily building their portfolios.

Ms Trott added: “While the most important thing is to use your allowance at some point in the tax year, it does pay off to do this as early as possible if your circumstances allow.”