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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 are hoping for.
Below, we compare two of the best investment platforms in the UK - Interactive Investor and eToro.
Interactive Investor provides DIY investors with the choice of over 40,000 investments, including UK and overseas shares, funds and ETFs, whilst eToro’s multi-asset trading platform provides access to over 2,000 stocks, cryptocurrencies, CFDs and other instruments. eToro does not offer ISA or SIPP.
Use the tabs below to learn more about the similarities and differences between Interactive Investor and eToro.
Interactive Investor is the UK’s leading flat-fee investment platform, providing award-winning investment services and financial information since 1995.
Its key mission is to give DIY investors the tools and support they need to make informed investment decisions.
With Interactive Investor, you can open a range of investment accounts, including a Stocks and Shares ISA, General Trading Account, and Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP).
If you choose to invest with Interactive Investor, you’ll gain access to the largest number of UK investment options in the market. You can invest in over 40,000 equities across the world's leading exchanges in multiple currencies, and the widest range of funds, investment trusts, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
For more information, visit Interactive Investor.
With Interactive Investor, you can invest as follows:
Stocks and Shares ISA
Click here to learn more about the Interactive Investor Stocks and Shares ISA.
Junior ISA
Click here to learn more about the Interactive Investor Junior ISA.
Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
Special offer: Open a SIPP and pay no monthly fee for 6 months. Terms apply.
Click here for more information on the Interactive Investor SIPP.
Trading Account
Click here for more information on the Interactive Investor Trading Account.
Quick Start Funds
Quick Start Funds is designed to make investing easy through ready-made portfolios. You can choose from six competitively charged funds provided by investment firms Vanguard and BMO, depending on your risk appetite.
This includes three passively managed funds (Vanguard) that aim to return the market's performance over time, and three actively managed funds (BMO) that aim to deliver better returns than the market.
Click here to find out more about Quick Start Funds and what one might be right for you.
Model Portfolios
Interactive Investor has five model portfolios to help you reach your investment goals. This includes growth and income options, as well as an ethical portfolio.
As the names suggest, the growth portfolios focus on helping you grow your money over a more extended period of time, the income portfolios are designed for those looking to draw a regular income from their investments, and the ethical portfolio demonstrates how you can align your principles and values to your investments
Click here to learn more about Interactive Investor Model Portfolios.
Free Research Account
When you open a free research account with Interactive Investor, you gain access to additional insights, watchlists, a virtual portfolio and email updates.
Ethical Investing: ACE & ACE 40
For those who prefer to invest ethically, Interactive Investor have created three ethical investment styles called ‘ACE’. These represent ‘Avoid’, ‘Considers’ and ‘Embraces’ - each containing carefully selected funds that take into account strict environmental and social governance criteria.
Interactive Investor also offers a useful resource called ACE 40 - a list of over 140 ethical investment options to help you identify the environmentally and socially responsible funds, trusts and ETFs that best reflect your values.
Company Account
An Interactive Investor Company Account gives you the option to trade in the name of a UK limited company. You can invest in funds, ETFs, investment trusts, and both UK and international equities.
Pension Trading Account
Use your Interactive Investor Pension Trading Account to buy a range of shares, funds, ETFs and investment trusts. You can set the account up to link with an existing SIPP or SSAS run by your preferred pension provider.
It can then be used to manage your pension, but your provider will handle any queries relating to paying contributions or updating your details as normal.
ii Super 60
The ii Super 60 is Interactive Investor’s rated list of quality investment options, sorted into asset groups and investment categories.
With a range of active and passive funds, ETFs and investment trusts, it’s a great tool to track the market environment and find exactly what assets are best suited to your investment needs.
When you sign up to an Interactive Investor trading account, you gain access to over 40,000 investments, including UK and overseas shares, funds, investment trusts, and ETFs. You can invest through an ISA, SIPP and more, with access to a free research account for additional insights.
The trading account offers a history of documents and transactions relating to your investments, to give you a clearer view of your personal investment history. There is also an option to create watchlists as part of a Virtual Portfolio so that you can track a portfolio of shares, ETFs, investment trusts and more.
In essence, the platform allows you to manage all of your investment needs in one place via the web, tablet or app.
Click here to learn more.
Interactive Investor has three subscription plans to choose from:
Investor Plan (£9.99 per month): All the basics. This plan gives you access to a trading account, ISA, and as many Junior ISAs as you have children. It also comes with one free trade (funds or shares), free regular investing, and for an extra £10, you can add a SIPP. Additional trades are £5.99 per trade.
Pension Builder (£12.99 per month): A simple, low-cost SIPP. This plan gives you access to a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) and the same full range of investment options as the Investor plan. The plan also comes with free regular investing, but there is no free trade. Trades are £5.99 per trade.
Super Investor (£19.99 per month): Lowest trading fees. This plan gives you access to a trading account, ISA, and as many Junior ISAs as you have children. It also comes with two free trades (funds or shares), free regular investing, and free Friends and Family (which allows you to invite others to invest through your plan without paying a monthly fee). Additional trades are £5.99 per trade, and for an extra £10, you can add a SIPP.
Regular Investing Service: No charge
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of rates and charges.
Interactive Investor offers a simple and transparent flat-fee that starts at £9.99 and increases depending on what additional features you wish to use. It doesn’t charge percentage-based fees like other investment platforms do, which means you can keep more of your investments as they grow. There are also no leaving or joining fees, making the process of moving your money quick and easy.
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of rates and charges.
You can also use our investment platform or stock broker comparison table to see how Interactive Investor compares to other investment platforms in the UK.
Interactive Investor’s platform is designed to give DIY investors, including beginners and experts, the tools and support to make informed investment decisions.
It aims to provide useful financial information to help simplify the investment process and offers a wide range of investment options so that you can choose what’s best for you.
Interactive Investor offers its customers Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection, which means that your assets are protected up to £85,000 per person.
This means you can get your money back if Interactive Investor were to go bust. Keep in mind that the FSCS does not cover losses arising from the performance of any of your investments.
Yes, Interactive Investor is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Have a look at their permissions on the FCA Register.
No.
eToro is a multi-asset trading platform that helps make traditional money management more accessible to the average person.
As a social trading platform, eToro offers users a unique trading experience which allows you to follow the financial activity of other top users and copy their investment choices in real-time.
The platform currently provides 15+ million users in over 140 countries easy access to more than 2,500 products, a host of engaging features and a collaborative trading community.
eToro users can access over 2,000 stocks, cryptocurrencies, CFDs, commodities and copyPortfolios, as well as copy trading. eToro does not offer ISA or SIPP.
With eToro, you can gain access to a variety of trading opportunities, including:
eToro Stocks - 0% commission
eToro CFDs
eToro Crypto
eToro CopyPortfolios
eToro’s CopyPortfolio allows users to follow the financial activity of other top users and copy their investment choices in real-time. There are three CopyPortfolios to choose from:
Social Trading
eToro boasts one of the largest social trading communities in the world, enabling over 15+ million users worldwide to share their thoughts, experiences and knowledge of trading and financial markets with one another.
CopyTrader
eToro’s most popular feature CopyTrader is excellent for beginners or those who simply don’t have time to watch the markets frequently. It allows users to automatically copy top-performing traders, with the option to fine-tune their needs by stopping or pausing the copy, or adding and removing funds at any time. Users can choose up to 100 traders to copy simultaneously.
eToro News Feed
eToro’s News Feed works as a personalised social network feed to keep traders connected. You can follow your favourite traders, financial events and interact with members of the eToro community.
Popular Investor Program
If you qualify for eToro’s Popular Investment Program, you can build your own investment business and receive up to 2% of Assets Under Management (AUM) when copied by users. To qualify, you must be a responsible trader with low-risk scores and a minimum investment track record.
eToro Demo Account
All registered eToro users receive a US$100,000 demo account for free, which gives you the chance to practice your investment strategies before investing real money. The account helps broaden your understanding of how the markets work, and gives you the opportunity to see how your investments would perform in real-time. This feature is great for beginners who may be reluctant to invest larger amounts right away.
eToro Insights
To keep its users informed on the markets, eToro offers daily blog content and notifications about the current state of the markets.
When you sign up with eToro, you’ll gain access to over 2,000 stocks, most major cryptocurrencies, CFDs, CopyPortfolios and copy trading. The process involves a quick and straightforward online form, followed by a short questionnaire to gauge your level of experience and to tailor the platform to your investment needs.
You’ll need to deposit a minimum amount of US$10 to get started with eToro. Once you make your first deposit, you can start investing in stocks, ETFs, crypto and other instruments.
You can also practice with eToro’s virtual demo account or copy other traders or investors based on their gain, success and risk scores.
Signing up with eToro and accessing a US$100,000 demo account is free, but a minimum deposit of US$10 is required to start investing.
Here are the key eToro fees and charges:
Currency conversion (FX) fee: 0.5% on every deposit.
Withdrawal fee: US$5 for every withdrawal.
The minimum withdrawal amount is US$30. Long (BUY), non-leveraged stock and ETF positions are not executed as CFDs and do not incur commission (they do incur conversion and withdrawal fees).
Inactivity fee: US$10 every month after an inactivity period of a year.
eToro users don’t pay any annual platform fees. After depositing a minimum amount of US$10 to start trading with eToro, you can then choose how much you want to invest into the platform according to your spending preferences. Please note that withdrawals incur a fee of US$5, and FX rates apply to non USD deposits and withdrawals.
With a variety of unique instruments and trading tools on offer, along with knowledge from the eToro community, the platform is suitable for various users ranging from beginners to more experienced traders.
eToro's CopyPortfolios is a particularly good feature for beginners as it allows you to copy the investment choices of top users on the platform in real-time.
eToro’s low minimum deposits, investment variety and fractional shares make it a great choice for those just starting out in their investment journeys.
With eToro, your money is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to a maximum of £85,000.
This means you can get your money back if eToro were to go bust. Note that the FSCS does not cover losses arising from the performance of any of your investments.
Yes, eToro is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Have a look at their permissions on the FCA Register.
Yes. Please visit eToro to learn more.
Visit eToro’s website here*.
*DISCLAIMER
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 80 - 90% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Past performance is not an indication of future results.
Copy trading is a portfolio management service, provided by eToro (Europe) Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilising publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.
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