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Always remember that investments can go down as well as up in value, so you could get back less than you put in. A rule of thumb is to hang on to your investments for at least five years to give them the best chance of providing the returns you want.
The best Stocks and Shares ISAs for beginners in the UK are Moneybox, InvestEngine, and Wealthify.
All three platforms are designed with beginners in mind and offer a slick and easy-to-use mobile experience available on Android and iOS devices. They also provide ready-made portfolios, which are diverse baskets of investments prepared by money managers and financial experts tailored to your personal preferences and attitude to risk. Ready-made portfolios are especially good for beginners or those who need help putting together an investment portfolio.
In addition to the above, Moneybox and InvestEngine offer fractional investing into a Stocks and Shares ISA, which allows you to buy and sell bits and pieces of a stock or ETF. With fractional investing, you can invest in expensive stocks like Apple ($AAPL), which typically costs over £150, with as little as £2 because you are buying a fraction of the stock instead of the whole.
Here is a detailed breakdown of our top five Stocks and Shares ISA for beginners:
Account Type: DIY & Ready-made
Dealing Fee: £0 (+ 0.45% FX fee on US Stocks)
Annual Platform Fee: 0.45% (Plus £1/month subscription fee)
Minimum Deposit: £1
Flexible: No
Moneybox is a UK investment app that allows you to invest in a range of tracker funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and US stocks. Moneybox offers two forms of investing depending on your investing savviness, investing strategy and attitude to risk. Beginner investors or those who prefer a ready-made portfolio can choose from the three ready-made portfolios on offer - Cautious (lower risk), Balanced (medium risk) and Adventurous (higher risk). Advanced or more confident investors can pick from the range of tracker funds, ETFs, ETCs and US stocks available and build their portfolios themselves.
The Moneybox app also empowers you to invest your spare change by rounding up your card transactions to the nearest pound and investing the difference on your behalf. For example, if you spend £2.30 on a snack, Moneybox will invest 70p for you. You can also instruct the app to make weekly or one-off deposits into your investment portfolio as it rounds up your spare change.
You can start investing with Moneybox with as little as £1. Moneybox offers commission-free trading on US stocks. However, fund management fees apply to other types of investments, ranging from 0.12% to 0.61% per annum. A currency conversion fee of 0.45% also applies to US stocks. Moneybox’s suite of products includes a Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, Personal Pension, and General Investment Account. The Moneybox Stocks and Shares ISA is not flexible.
Capital at risk.
Visit: Moneybox
Account Type: DIY & Ready-made
Dealing Fee: £0
Annual Platform Fee: 0% - 0.25%
Minimum Deposit: £100
Flexible: No
InvestEngine is a low-cost ETF-only investment platform that provides a choice of managed portfolios tailored to you and commission-free DIY investing to help you build long-term wealth. Users can invest in over 500 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from leading global asset managers.
With InvestEngine, you can invest in two ways depending on your tolerance for risk and savviness as an investor: beginner investors or those who prefer a ready-made investment portfolio can select from one of the Managed Portfolios on offer, where the team of experts at InvestEngine will take care of the day-to-day investment decisions for you. These portfolios are a selection of ETFs based on your preferences and risk tolerance. Once you’ve selected one, you do not have to do anything else besides monitor the performance of your investments. Advanced or more confident investors can choose from 500+ commission-free ETFs and build their portfolios themselves. InvestEngine also offers fractional investing, which allows you to buy bits and pieces of an ETF with as little as £1. This enhances your ability to build a diversified portfolio even if you have a small amount of money to invest. With the DIY Portfolio, there are no platform fees. All InvestEngine portfolios are free of set-up fees, dealing fees, ISA fees or withdrawal fees.
InvestEngine stands out amongst its competitors as one of the cheapest Stocks and Shares ISAs in the UK because it charges no platform or management fees on its DIY Portfolio and just 0.25% a year on its Managed Portfolio. You can also start investing with as little as £100. InvestEngine’s suite of products includes a Stocks and Shares ISA, Personal Account and Business Account. The InvestEngine Stocks and Shares ISA is not flexible.
Capital at risk.
Visit: InvestEngine
Account Type: Ready-made
Annual Fund Management Fee: 0.16% - 0.70%
Annual Platform Fee: 0.60%
Minimum Deposit: £1
Flexible: No
Wealthify is a UK robo advisor that allows you to choose from five investment plans based on your attitude to risk. These investment plans are named Cautious, Tentative, Confident, Ambitious and Adventurous and allow you to choose a risk level that best suits your needs. If you are conscious about the environment or would simply like to invest in line with your values, Wealthify’s five portfolios are also available as ethical investment plans, so you can stay true to your values while potentially growing your money.
With Wealthify, the minimum investment is £1, and you can withdraw your money anytime. There is an annual platform fee of 0.60%, and fund management fees range from 0.16% to 0.70% per year, depending on your chosen investment theme. Once you complete the signup process, you can start investing with a lump sum of £1, which you can top up as frequently as you want.
Wealthify’s suite of products includes a General Investment Account, Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA and SIPP in both Original and Ethical themes. The Wealthify Stocks and Shares ISA is not flexible.
Capital at risk.
Visit: Wealthify
Account Type: Ready-made
Annual Fund Management Fee: 0.20%
Annual Platform Fee: 0.75% - 0.35%
Minimum Deposit: £500
Flexible: Yes
Moneyfarm is a UK robo advisor that provides you with a personalised investment plan based on your risk preferences and goals. It also offers one of the best fully-managed stocks and shares ISAs in the UK. With Moneyfarm, you can invest in one of seven risk-rated portfolios recommended to you based on the result of an online assessment. Each portfolio comprises a mix of cost-efficient exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other passive index trackers. Moneyfarm also offers ethical or ESG investment options for those who want to invest in line with their values.
Moneyfarm’s customers benefit from free and personalised digital financial advice from Moneyfarm’s investment consultants, and you can chat, phone, email, or meet your consultant in person. To get started, you will be asked to complete a short survey so that Moneyfarm can better understand how you approach your finances before matching you to your investment portfolio and consultant.
You can start investing with Moneyfarm with as little as £500. Moneyfarm charges an annual management fee depending on how you choose to invest, ranging from 0.75% to 0.35% on the total value of your portfolio. An annual fund management fee of 0.20% (average) also applies to all portfolios. This is built into the cost of the ETF or tracker fund on any given day, so you will not see fund charges being deducted from your portfolio directly. Moneyfarm’s suite of products includes a Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA, General Investment Account, and Personal Pension. The Moneyfarm Stocks and Shares ISA is flexible.
Capital at risk.
Visit: Moneyfarm
Account Type: DIY & Ready-made
Dealing Fee: £0
Annual Platform Fee: 0.15% (max £375/year)
Minimum Deposit: £500 lump sum or £100/month
Flexible: Yes
Vanguard is a low-cost investment platform with over 75 own-brand funds, including ETFs, active funds and index funds. Vanguard does not offer stocks and shares but provides a variety of ETFs for those interested in exchange-traded securities.
The Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA allows you to build an investment portfolio in two ways depending on your investing savviness. If you are a beginner investor or someone who prefers ready-made investments, you can build your portfolio by selecting one of Vanguard’s ready-made investments, which give you access to thousands of bonds and shares in a single investment. Advanced or more confident investors can choose from over 75 individual Vanguard funds and ETFs and build their portfolios themselves.
To open a Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA, you need at least £100 a month or a lump sum of £500. There is a yearly management fee of 0.15% (capped at £375) per year. Some of the funds on offer have separate charges, so please check these before investing. Vanguard’s suite of products includes a Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA, General Account and SIPP. The Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA is flexible.
Capital at risk.
Visit: Vanguard
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