In today’s digital age, investing has never been easier. There’s no need to visit a broker or decipher complicated financial documents physically. With a few taps on a smartphone, anyone can start building their financial future.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the best investment apps UK, examining their features, fees, user experience, and more.
What to Consider when Choosing an Investment App?
When selecting an investment app, it’s important to consider the following:
Investment Options: Does the app provide access to the type of assets you wish to invest in stocks, bonds, and ETFs?
Fees: How much does the app charge in terms of trading fees, account fees, or other hidden charges?
User Interface: Is the app easy to navigate? Does it offer a pleasant user experience?
Customer Service: How responsive and helpful is the app’s customer support team?
Educational Resources: Does the app provide learning materials for beginners to help you understand investing?
Now, let’s take a look at some of the top investment apps in the UK:
1. eToro
Features: eToro is a social trading platform that allows you to follow and copy trades made by successful investors. The app offers a variety of assets, including stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.
Fees: eToro is commission-free when buying stocks and ETFs outright, but there is a withdrawal fee of $5 and a $10 inactivity fee after 12 months of inactivity.
User Experience: The app’s interface is user-friendly, providing real-time data, social feeds, and various trading tools.
Customer Service: eToro provides customer support via a help centre, live chat, and a ticketing system.
2. Trading 212
Features: Trading 212 is popular for its broad selection of assets, including stocks, forex, indices, commodities, and ETFs. The app allows fractional share trading and offers a practice account with virtual money.
Fees: Trading 212 is a commission-free platform. There are no charges for depositing or withdrawing funds and no inactivity fees.
User Experience: The app is straightforward to use, with a clean design and features like price alerts, customisable charts, and more.
Customer Service: Customer support is available 24/7 via email and live chat.
3. Nutmeg
Features: Nutmeg is a robo-advisor app that offers stocks and shares ISAs, Junior ISAs, pensions, and general investment accounts. Users can choose between fully managed, fixed allocation, or socially responsible portfolios.
Fees: Nutmeg’s fees range from 0.45% to 0.75% per annum, depending on the investment amount and portfolio type.
User Experience: The app is well-designed, with a simple interface and easy-to-understand insights into your investments.
Customer Service: Nutmeg offers customer support via phone and email.
4. Wealthify
Features: Wealthify is another robo-advisor that provides investment ISAs, Junior ISAs, general investment accounts, and pensions. It creates a personalised portfolio based on your risk level.
Fees: Wealthify charges an annual management fee of 0.6%, plus an average of 0.22% fund provider cost.
User Experience: The user-friendly app provides a clear view of your investments and projections.
Customer Service: Wealthify offers customer support through live chat, email, and phone.
5. Freetrade
Features: Freetrade offers access to UK and US stocks and ETFs. The platform is designed to simplify investing in the stock market, even for beginners.
Fees: Freetrade operates on a freemium model. Basic trades are free, but there is a £1 fee for instant trades. There’s also a Freetrade Plus subscription that offers more features for £9.99/month.
User Experience: The app is intuitive, with a clean design and easy-to-understand information about each company.
Customer Service: Customer support is available through an in-app chat feature.
Conclusion
Choosing the right investment app depends on your investing style, knowledge level, and the types of assets you want to invest in. Each app has unique features and fee structures, so it’s crucial to understand these before deciding.
Remember, investing always carries risk, and it’s important to do your research before making any investment decisions. You should consider seeking advice from a financial advisor or doing extensive self-learning before investing.
Your best investment app should align with your financial goals, investing style, and risk management.
