UK govt savings fund plans buoy Hargreaves Lansdown, St James's Place

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.L - news) and wealth manager St James's Place rose sharply on Wednesday after the British government announced fresh changes to the savings system.

As part of the annual Budget, finance minister George Osborne said savers would now have the flexibility to remove money from their tax-free Individual Savings Account and replace it within the same year without losing out on the tax break.

"With a fully flexible ISA, people have complete freedom to take money out and put money in later in the year without losing any of their tax-free entitlement," Osborne said.

In response, shares in Hargreaves Lansdown rose to be among the top FTSE 100 gainers, up 4.3 percent, while those for St James's Place were up 3.3 percent in a 0.9 percent blue-chip index.

Without giving detail, Osborne also said he would expand the range of investments which are eligible to be included in an ISA, which has a limit of just over 15,000 pounds ($21,992) a year.

In addition, Osborne announced a new ISA to help people buy their first home. For every 200 pounds someone saves within the wrapper, the government will top it up with an extra 50 pounds. ($1 = 0.6821 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Sinead Cruise)