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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.
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We’ve compiled a list of some of the best investment apps in the UK, divided into three categories - investment platforms, robo advisors (automated investing) and trading apps.
Compare our top ten investment apps below. Every app listed here is available on Android and iOS.
Capital at risk. Other charges apply.
Interactive Investor has more than 40,000 investments to choose from, including UK and overseas shares, funds, investment trusts, and ETFs. You get a free trade every month, which you can use to buy or sell any investment. It is free to top up your ISA each month, and there are no trading fees with its regular investing service. It also has several ready-made funds and expert ideas to make it easy to choose investments. Interactive Investor’s products include Trading Account, Stocks and Shares ISA, SIPP, and Junior ISA.
AJ Bell Youinvest has thousands of investments for you to choose from, including shares, funds, investment trusts, and ETFs. And you can manage them online or with its mobile app. If you need help choosing, it has four ready-made portfolios and other investment ideas. AJ Bell Youinvest offers Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, Dealing Account, and SIPP.
Kickstart your investing with an award-winning ISA. Hargreaves Lansdown has thousands of investments to choose from, including UK and overseas shares, funds, investment trusts, and ETFs. Choose your own investments with expert research and ideas to help you, or simply pick a ready-made portfolio. Manage via website, app or phone. Hargreaves Lansdown's services include Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, Fund and Share Account, and SIPP. These services are intended for investors happy at making their own decisions. Capital at risk. Other charges apply.
InvestEngine is a UK investment platform providing ready-made and commission-free DIY investments. Users can invest in ETFs through a Stocks and Shares ISA, personal account or business account. With InvestEngine, there are no setup fees, dealing fees, ISA fees or withdrawal fees. If you choose the DIY Portfolio, you can invest in ETFs commission-free.
Promo: £50 welcome bonus. Terms and conditions apply.
Moneyfarm has seven risk-rated portfolios that are recommended to you based on your online investor profile. You also 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. Moneyfarm’s products include Stocks and Shares ISA, General Investment Account, and Personal Pension. Moneyfarm recently introduced the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment style to its portfolios.
When you subscribe to Plum Plus or Plum Pro (from £1 a month), you can choose to invest your money in a variety of funds. Plum calculates how much you can afford to set aside and automatically invests that amount for you. You choose your investments based on what matters to you. For example, you could choose to invest in emerging markets, technology, ethical companies, etc. Plum offers Stocks and Shares ISA, SIPP, and other money management tools.
Nutmeg allows you to invest in a variety of funds based on your risk preference and values. It has four investment portfolios to choose from - Fixed Allocation (cheapest), Fully Managed, Smart Alpha, and Socially Responsible. Nutmeg’s products include Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, and Personal Pension. Formal financial advice is also available.
Wealthify allows you to choose from five investment themes based on your attitude to risk - cautious, tentative, confident, ambitious or adventurous. Then it builds an investment plan to match your risk preference. Wealthify’s products include environmentally and socially responsible investments, Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA, and SIPP.
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and crypto assets, as well as trading CFDs. It is entirely free to open an account with eToro, and all registered users receive a $100,000 demo account for free. You also do not pay trading or platform fees with eToro. Withdrawals incur a fee of US$5, and FX rates apply to non-USD deposits and withdrawals. eToro has an interesting feature called CopyPortfolios, which allows you to copy the investment portfolios of top traders on the platform. eToro does not offer ISA or SIPP.
Stake is a global commission-free brokerage that gives you access to 4,500 US stocks and ETFs via a mobile app and web interface. You can choose to upgrade to Stake Black to access more sophisticated features for US$9/month (or US$90 a year). Stake Free gives you access to all assets on the platform, unlimited commission-free trades, advance order types, and fractional trading. Stake Black gives you access to analyst ratings, price targets, full company financials, and trading on unsettled funds. FX rates apply to non-USD deposits and withdrawals. Stake does not offer ISA or SIPP.
Promo: Promo code: KOODY. Stake offers a free stock (Nike, GoPro, Dropbox or a mystery stock) for each new user that opens an account and funds it with at least £50 within 24 hours of opening the account.
To make sense of these charges, use our full robo advisor, investment platform, or share dealing comparison tables.
You can invest as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. Most investment platforms and robo advisors will allow you to start investing with as little as £25 a month. Some even accept £1.
The best ways to start investing with little money:
Here are some of the best apps for beginners in the UK:
Here are few investment ideas for beginner investors:
There are two ways to buy stocks and shares. You can either buy individual company shares directly (through a stock broker or investment platform) or invest in a fund (which pools money from you and other investors to buy lots of shares).
Funds tend to be a cheaper and less risky way to invest in shares as you'll be spreading the costs and risks with other investors within the fund.
Most investment platforms and stock brokers are online and will allow you to invest in stocks and shares regularly (e.g. £25 a month) or occasionally (e.g. a lump sum of £1,000).
Whether you choose to go online or offline, you need the services of a stock broker or share dealing platform to buy shares. Stock brokers offer three types of services - execution-only, advisory or discretionary.
Here are some of the best stock trading sites for beginners in the UK:
Robo advisors are technology companies that provide automated financial planning with little or no human supervision. They use their algorithms to calculate your risk level and present you with a set of ready-made investments based on your risk profile. Many established investment platforms and fintech startups offer robo-advisor services.
In the UK, robo advisors are also called do-it-for-me investment platforms.
A ready-made investment portfolio is a diverse mix of investments created by fund managers to help reduce the burden of choosing individual shares or funds. With one ready-made portfolio, you could have access to hundreds of investments.
Here are some of the best websites for stock research and investment ideas in the UK:
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