Holly's View
These guys are in growth phase, acquiring and integrating others and they’re now a big fish. The costs are super low for larger accounts and this service suits more affluent, engaged investors today. However, the website and design needs a serious overhaul and the whole service feels dated. There are very rich seams of content which are not properly exploited and the forums remain very stock-focussed and geeky.
Our Rating
How our ratings work
We score each provider on about 20 different criteria including cost, service, website, functionality, customer feedback and our experience of the service. All overseen by our PhD gonk!
Recommended For
Confident Investor
In a nutshell
Low cost for large portfolios
Wide range of investments
Nice new app
You Say
Your overall rating
How Your Ratings Work
Don’t want to take our word for it? We ask existing customers and investors to rate their experience with the company – based on value for money, overall service and the website. We need at least 20 customer reviews before we add anyone to our Best Buys list.
Based on 88 reviews
Your Reviews
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Good service generally, but Website is a bit complicated. They are good on foreign investments. Secure email works well, and free changing of a foreign currency is also good into £'s. Charges are honest as fixed rather than % (the latter a rip off for portfolios >£50k in value). A professional setup and platform is reliable.
15/02/2019
II is going through a growth phase, and are updating systems, taking the best from those acquired businesses. IF you have pot larger than £50k, then the set £22.50 a quarter charge is pretty cheap as it includes dealing credits which roll over. I have used several platforms over the course of my investing and I have found II the best so far. There are no plans to move my funds in the near term.
15/02/2019
Fixed fees make this very cheap, excellent range of markets available. Not the most intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it is fine.
03/01/2019
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low charges. better research part to their site
19/12/2018
Simple to use
19/12/2018
Good value, wide range of investments, detailed info if you want it (and understand it). Simplify website
19/12/2018
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Range of funds - USA etc - fixed fees.
19/12/2018
Charges are kept low as possible but still provide good technology and service. Provide a telephone help service. Good sometimes just to speak.
19/12/2018
Competitive flat rate platform charge and trading credits. The website/phone app can sometimes be slow, but not very often
19/12/2018
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dividend reinvestment needs to be speeded up
19/12/2018
Good on analytical info. A touch expensive - unless you trade regularly.
19/12/2018
Generally OK. Don't re-vamp whole site like last time - a right mess.
19/12/2018
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19/12/2018
Like the low commission, but would like more of web functionality on app. Eg buy history
19/12/2018
Very early days, as I only kicked off the transfer of our 6 accounts to Interactive Investor from The Share Centre yesterday. But so far very impressed with the helpfulness of the staff (Amy and I think, Kyle), the website and the transfer process - time will tell! Only problems so far have been of my own making! The one negative for me is the inability to manage both my own and my wife's accounts under a single login - it's a pain having to login and out several times a day. Something for the future maybe?
30/11/2018
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No comment.
24/11/2018
Very extensive service: good range of stocks/shares and bonds, fees at £22.50/quarter can be used to pay for new trades, for shares purchase at £10/trade. Fair fees at flat rate are good, because % fee alternative for small portfolios is very poor value for a 'fixed' service from other providers. The direct debit set up for fee payment and changing banks for any reason is very poor and difficult to operate: (IWeb's fee payment and alterations is very easy in comparison). I was attracted by their website, good customer service, and cost/value for money.
07/11/2018
Having been a long-term user of II as a research tool, making the switch to a trading account turned out to be a real pain. Bureaucratic and opaque in the extreme, without any in-built "sign-posting" to re-direct you when duplicating/updating data already held on II's database. HOWEVER a very pleasant and helpful lady by the name of Natalie took me by the electronic hand and guided me through the process. I much prefer dealing with the Natalie's of this world, instead of having "computer says no" experiences without any helpful explanation as to why.
31/08/2018
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Like some others, I have been with II for years. During this time I have enjoyed a good simple website and support when required from humans in Glasgow and very low flat fees. More recently and especially since they took over TD, the website has become clunky, 'old' data has been lost, human service seems to have dropped off, and the fees have increased (although they now can be offset against trades). Not yet determined to switch provider but there have been days.....
08/06/2018
I started the transfer out of a TD Direct ISA in December 2017. Whilst the shareholdings were transferred out swiftly, I am getting nowhere with transferring out a USD amount. No replies to secure messages so have had to lodge an official complaint early May, and i'm now waiting for an answer. TD Direct used to be so good, but stay well clear of Interactive Investor as customer service does not seem to exist.
30/05/2018
I've been with Interactive Investor for 7 years and a year ago, i would have rated them as highly as AJ Bell. Great site, very low cost, simple, efficient. Then, they took over TD Waterhouse. Their trading platform took 5 steps back, their customer service fell apart and they've now done something to me I would never have expected. I did 2 transactions in foreign equities and the in-and-out forex fees will be £1,500!! Not a typo, £1,500! Fees not spelt out in any way but disguised by stating, during the 15 seconds you have to "place order", an "indicative FX rate" quoted to 6 decimal places that was simply way off reality. But can you spot this, figure this out, see the impact in those 15 seconds? No, of course not. Only after you've done the transaction do they spell out the cost. When companies start taking stealth fees like this, be warned.
27/04/2018
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Great value for larger portfolios, but the new website really takes some getting used to, as it's certainly not intuitive or engaging. On the plus side, they clearly listened to feedback after their first iteration of the site following the TD tie-up, as the portfolio valuation page is much clearer and more informative now. And they've introduced a raft of great shareholder services to allow voting, etc. They're not the most responsive to questions emailed to them, but what can you expect for the price? On balance, for fees vs service, I'll live with that.
23/03/2018
Excellent value. Moved from TD and Trustnet Direct. Trustnet Direct had excellent range of web apps which I miss.
30/01/2018
Too expensive, poor customer service.
30/01/2018
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Another low cost provider I would use if it were not so costly and problematic to switch ISAs.They appear to give better customer service than Alliance Trust Savings.
30/01/2018
The new merger with TD has been to the detriment of a couple of key app features (e.g. can�t see cash dividends). Some nice features, but Hargreaves Lansdown is slicker.
30/01/2018
More people manning the phones so the wait isn�t so long. It's early days with them for me as they�ve taken over TD.
30/01/2018
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Value for money. Rubbish new website. Unable to login and the website is being made up as they go along. Nobody answers the phones or responds to emails. It took 4 weeks to respond to my letter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
30/01/2018
This was TD Waterhouse so I was very familiar with its website which I found extremely easy to deal with, I have not got used to the new layout, so not so keen. I like their new charging structure, which is structured to keep you with them. I like the lower charges on SIPPs which I was concerned about being expensive, but as thier website was so easy to use it was worth it.
30/01/2018
Prices fair. Customer service diabolical.
30/01/2018
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I'm not sure yet what I think about the charging system - I know you get 'trading credits' but �90 a year for being able to trade shares seems a little high to me, but I don't have experience of many other charging systems.
30/01/2018
Transfers from TD Direct and ETrade managed ok.
30/01/2018
I opened this account to have a practical comparison with Hargreaves Lansdown, what I like are their investment suggestions. The new website is better than the previous one, but not a patch on Hargreaves Lansdown.
30/01/2018
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New trading fees structure is very appealing to small investors.
30/01/2018
I was with TD direct until it took it over. Used to pay zero fees because my investments were in ITs, but now I pay �22.50 a quarter although I can offset most of these fees with free trading.
30/01/2018
Ease of use.
30/01/2018
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Once logged in they have a relatively clear website. Improvements could be quicker reinvestment of dividends, respond to questions faster and making it clear as to what investments are no longer eligible for dividend reinvestment. Since they bought TD Waterhouse I can no longer get dividend reinvestment for some of my ETFs despite having it before the amalgamation. It seems an arbritary decision.
30/01/2018
Like the costs and website.
30/01/2018
Excellent service and website. Full marks for flat fees on investments over �50k. Why pay % fees for larger investments?
30/01/2018
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I was profoundly disappointed by the online experience with this company. I found the website challenging and difficult to find information. Significantly less functionality than Trustnet Direct. Disinvested as soon as I possibly could!
30/01/2018
Good customer service via its telephone and online message support. The website isn't as intuitive as it could be with regard to navigation. Some transactions can only be done by post rather than online.
30/01/2018
For larger accounts, the charges are among the best as there is a fixed fee and no asset-based charge. The recent acquisition of TD Direct has led to a vastly improved website and more investment options.
30/01/2018
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Cost base is good for me. Customer service very slow since recent merger.
30/01/2018
Cheap but poor customer services, it took me over 2 months to transfer to a new provider.
30/01/2018
Excellent website and good value.
30/01/2018
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Used to be acceptable service at a good price. Since December 2017 when they changed platform and took in TD service it has collapsed and the platform is not fit for use.
30/01/2018
Very bad customer service. Glad I transferred out. Took them 3 months to do this as they blamed my new broker for the delays. All lies, then slap a £22.50 on me at the end when closed. I wouldn't trust them to run a bath, lick a stamp or to put the cat out. I would give my experience a minus, but there's no minus on here. Since Interactive Investor took over TD Direct Investing the service has gone down the pan. Takes them hours to answer the phone and they don't phone you back when promised to do so. It's like dealing with NHS Direct, waiting hours, then told to attend your local A&E. My advice to people stuck with them: get out while you can and cut your losses. I feel much better health-wise now and can sleep soundly at night with my new broker.
17/01/2018
Good value, website not very easy to use.
29/10/2017
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They don't know what they are doing. Poor response times.
20/10/2017
Acceptance of international investors. I'm a UK citizen living abroad. Very cost efficient. Good fund choices.
26/09/2017
Low cost, good range of investments, active user forums. The website is not very user-friendly and customer service could be better.
26/09/2017
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Like: fixed-cost broking that makes sense for investors above a certain threshold of investable assets. Needs to improve: constant admin errors - sending out message to all customers to pay their quarterly fee even when they are on a different charge-basis, slow to respond to messages, messed up a drawn-out ISA and SIPP transfer, slow to add widely available securities already available on their technology provider FNZ.
26/09/2017
Good value for larger portfolios and a reasonable website and app. ISA and trading accounts both work smoothly but their SIPP is a disaster. SIPP is subcontracted to SAS Hartley so anything you post to II is sent on to SAS, any message you send to II is sent on by II to SAS and then a reply works it way backwards. Communication is slow and errors creep in, account numbers get messed up, paperwork gets lost. I have one SIPP which has been 7 months in transfer and is still not complete. I would rate II as 5 stars for everything except the SIPP where they rate 1 star at most. This makes giving II an overall combined rating difficult.
07/07/2017
A bit basic but good value for money. Poor website.
04/07/2017
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It is inexpensive for me as I have a large pot of money. They offer a no frills service which suits me fine. However, you have to send everything to them in paper format. Nothing is seamless. Lagging behind with technology in my opinion.
04/07/2017
Positive that the cost of providing service is fixed, not based on a percentage of money invested. Need more investment tools online.
04/07/2017
Simple and efficient. Could do with handling their SIPP in-house rather than using a 3rd party.
04/07/2017
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Like the flat rate charges and able to trade with quarterly fee if required. Would like to be able to reset the profit/loss percentages on spreadsheets so an easy track of annual profit/loss can be observed rather than from inception.
04/07/2017
Glasgow staff are very good. Sack Hartley SAS. They are hopeless and the communication chain with them is very poor.
04/07/2017
Not too much bull**** or hard selling. The website: it's unattractive and difficult. Comparing it with Hargreaves Lansdown where I transferred from it is very much less entertaining. Buying and selling is easiest done by phone.
04/07/2017
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It's too complicated and I hate the website, which isn't as flash as you think it's going to be.
04/07/2017
I wanted to try them out before I committed more funds to Hargreaves Lansdown, just to see what the competition offered. They are nowhere near as good.
04/07/2017
Good value, but clunky to use.
04/07/2017
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Easy access to review and trade. Do not like the �20 quarterly charge, unless I am investing in which case it can be offset.
04/07/2017
Very cost-effective way to hold a rarely-traded SIPP.
04/07/2017
Low fixed fee for holding funds. Website is basic and can be hard to use.
04/07/2017
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Relatively low costs and a wider range of investments than many others. I think the admin could be improved as its flakey sometimes but mostly ok.
04/07/2017
Low quarterly flat-rate fee (nil for my wife) is ideal for my wife and me as we don't trade often and its lots cheaper than competitors with a fee based on a percentage of the account value.
04/07/2017
Best for price but the web interface could be better.
04/07/2017
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Cheap fees, easy to deal and a wide choice of investments. I don't like the 'dual login' process.
04/07/2017
They have been open and fair, also they understand what they are doing. Open trades should be displayed at all times not disappear after 30 days but are still open.
M
04/07/2017
Monthly dealing can be used for money held on account (not just direct debit). Good dealing options (beyond basic stop loss) and ability to buy portfolios cheaply. The website is rather basic.
04/07/2017
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Ongoing fees for limited changes in fund holdings. Comparison tools on website seem to only allow comparison of fund with index rather than with other funds.
04/07/2017
Generally slick email responses
A
04/07/2017
I like the portfolio tools, needs better customer contact facilities.
04/07/2017
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Good pricing and they respond quickly to queries. Mobile app needs some work.
04/07/2017
Very cheap and cheerful for larger fund portfolios. Needs a much better website with much more detailed portfolio information.
04/07/2017
Low(ish) fees and a good platform. Sometimes a little difficult to extract historical transaction data.
04/07/2017
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Cost and access good. Customer service => shite
04/07/2017
Good website, research is easy and low costs.
04/07/2017
Platform is intuitive, a wider range of markets would be good.
04/07/2017
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Cheap offers but the telephone service could be better.
E
04/07/2017
Very easy - I signed up my technophobic father and he uses all the functions without help. Very happy with everything.
A
04/07/2017
To be fair I have only just transferred in from AJ Bell after the latter massively increased their charges. I like the low charges and the fact you can control more things yourself through the online account.
S
04/07/2017
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Good price.
04/07/2017
Cheapest one out there but needs more trading deals.
04/07/2017
Its good value. The accuracy of the content on the website could be improved.
04/07/2017
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Easy to read website but would benefit from quicker reinvestment of dividends and the production of the annual tax statement
04/07/2017
What to Expect
- Ease of use
- Mobile & App
- Behind the scenes
- Customer opinion
The site is pretty text heavy and full of jargon so prepare yourself for that! The dropdown menu alone will put off all but the most seasoned investor.
The portfolio display page online lacks some of the good information available on many – it all works OK, but it’s flat and dry. Behind the scenes it all works OK but the links from research to portfolio view to trade are not as smooth as with some.
The mobile app is cleaner and easier to use than the desktop site.
Users are able to research, trade and add money to their portfolio which is not common across apps - there's good depth.
There are features to appeal to those who trade regularly such as watchlists and in-depth market research. OK to use for the average retail investor, but would appeal more to experienced investors.
The fund research is outsourced to Morningstar which is fine if undistinguished. It’s been coded and designed by a linear thinker and is bare but functional which some will like.
Trading is straightforward enough and a nice feature is that a graph and key data is shown to the right of the screen as you enter the share’s name and trade instruction. This service is still more comfortable with shares than funds.
This word cloud has been created from customer reviews of Interactive Investor.
Pink is positive and grey is negative.
The size of the word indicates the frequency of mentions.
Investment Choice
Products
Stocks and Shares ISA
Junior ISA
Investment Account
Pension
Investments available
Funds from other groups
Stocks and shares
Investment help
Includes a shortlist of investments
Pick your own funds
Pick your own shares
The 'Geeky' Details
Provider details
Interactive Investor is one of the few groups that has a fixed £ fee, rather than a %. An ISA is £90 per year, which also includes some transactions. This makes it much cheaper for larger portfolios, but expensive for smaller. If you have more than about £60,000 or you regularly buy and sell shares, the costs advantage will usually kick in.
They recently bought another stockbroker, TD Direct Investing, making them one of the largest groups in the market.
If you know what you're doing, have a larger portfolio and don't really give a toss about bells and whistles, it's worth a look. Having said that the new(ish) app they released is really nice.
There is a wide range of investments from which to choose. It's likely to suit more confident investors and those more interested in share dealing.
Important Facts & Figures
| Provider Size: | The second-largest platform for investors, administering £20bn of investments |
| Minimum amounts: | £20 minimum monthly amount £0 minimum initial amount |
Your Questions
"I’m new to investing and in my late 30's. I'm actually stuck in a dilemma whether to invest using DIY platforms like Interactive Investor, A J Bell or Hargreaves Lansdown OR invest using robo advisors like Nutmeg, Moneyfarm or Pensionbee. I have compared the fees and they are not significantly different. Do robo advisers have a better return rate? I can dedicate some time to DIY investing but not a significant amount of time. Please advise. Thank you."
Victor , Kent
14/01/2019
Read our replyYour question
I’m new to investing and in my late 30's. I'm actually stuck in a dilemma whether to invest using DIY platforms like Interactive Investor, A J Bell or Hargreaves Lansdown OR invest using robo advisors like Nutmeg, Moneyfarm or Pensionbee. I have compared the fees and they are not significantly different. Do robo advisers have a better return rate? I can dedicate some time to DIY investing but not a significant amount of time. Please advise. Thank you.
Victor , Kent
14/01/2019
This is a question that a lot of people ask when they decide that they'd like to begin investing.
Traditional platform or robo adviser?
If you don't have much time to spare but you want to get into DIY investing, both a robo adviser and an online investment platform offer some great simple options.
Robo advisers are currently very popular, and have recently been gaining new customers faster that the bigger online investment platforms. We found out that in the online DIY investment market almost 1 in 3 new DIY investment accounts is now opened with a robo adviser.
The robos first came about as a nice in-between product which wasn't full-blown advice, but which also wasn't so go-it-alone as DIY investing.
As a bit of quick background, a robo adviser is an online investment service which asks you around 10-15 simple questions, and then puts together a suggested suitable basket of investments from your answers. Once you've got your basket, your robo adviser will then manage this for you on an ongoing basis, rather like a portfolio manager of a traditional investment platform.
A huge benefit for new investors is that by asking you 10-15 questions and essentially providing digital advice, robo advisers are able to choose all the individual investments for you, meaning you don't need to make any of these confusing decisions yourself.
If you're looking for a newbie-friendly DIY investing option from a traditional investment platform, which won't require too much involvement - then we'd suggest you take a look at Vanguard Lifestrategy. This is a low-cost ready-made product offering investors 5 ‘multi-asset’ passive index funds to choose from. These options include differing proportions of assets such as equities and bonds, to cater to the investor's risk appetite. All investors need to do is pick the risk level they'd like.
Some of the jargon surrounding this product can sound a bit bewildering, but this is what they mean for Vanguard LifeStrategy;
- Multi-asset: This refers to Vanguard LifeStrategy's offering of five different levels of risk and potential return. They do this by using differing blends of equities and bonds across their five portfolio options.
- Passive Index Funds: An 'index fund' is a fund where, rather than a fund manager picking shares in the fund, the fund simply replicates an index such as the FTSE 100. So if HSBC makes up 2% of the FTSE 100 today, then 2% of the passive UK stocks in your portfolio will be made up of HSBC. Just be aware that index funds can masquerade under many names, including 'passive', 'exchange traded funds (ETFs)', and 'trackers'. But they all mean the same thing.
Drilling further down into the differences, here are the main pros and cons that we think distinguish robos from traditional platforms.
Robo advisers vs passive index funds at traditional investment platforms;
- At traditional investment platforms, fund managers will choose the different markets to invest in - some passive funds or ETFs often require you to decide where you want to invest – country, sector, etc.
- Robos guide you to a portfolio option, while traditional platforms rely on you to choose your own option depending on your risk appetite.
- Traditional platforms can differ in how quickly you can choose how much risk you'd like. Some such as Vanguard LifeStrategy offer a quick and simple choice, while others require you to be more involved in choosing the specific weightings within your passive funds blend.
- If you want to use passive funds or ETFs, beware that some platforms offer more simplicity than others. There can be a lot of decisions involved in using passive funds or ETFs, however offerings such as Vanguard LifeStrategy take some of these decisions off your hands.
- Both traditional passive funds and robo advisers are relatively low cost - however once you pick specific providers, all-in Vanguard LifeStrategy is cheaper than a robo adviser such as Nutmeg.
As for which gives a better rate of return...
This is pretty difficult to say definitively without giving the new robo adviser market a little more time to grow. For example, the most established robo Nutmeg, has only been around since 2011.
However, we have done some early research into this which might help:
In November 2018 we did our quarterly analysis of nine of the UK’s leading robo advisers - which you can read more on here: performance comparison of the major robo advisers. We found that higher risk investment portfolios at seven of these nine robos outperformed the FTSE 100 (and therefore passive index tracker funds) over that past 12-month and 24-month periods.
Over that 24 month period, we found that from a starting £5,000 investment, higher risk portfolios at the average robo adviser returned £5,895 (17.9%) compared to the FTSE 100 which grew to £5,862 (17.2%). However on average, medium risk robo portfolios returned 10.2% over the two years analysed, while low risk portfolios returned 2.3% - the same as a leading easy access cash ISA.
Through this research, we found that the level of risk which investors are exposed to in terms of volatility is significantly reduced in comparison to the FTSE 100, if assessed in terms of monthly swings in valuations, or monthly drawdowns.
Meanwhile, we've also done a research project for Quilter, about the effect of DIY investors' bad habits.
We found that investors who build their own portfolios can suffer from seven bad habits, which can lead them to miss out on 11.3% of potential gains a year. Our research showed that the typical unadvised investor takes a huge amount of investment risk and gets very little back for it.
These are the seven habits we identified which can reduce a DIY investors' investment return or increase their risk:
- Holding too few shares, or being ‘undiversified’.
- A bias towards the UK, ignoring the opportunities in overseas markets.
- Lack of asset allocation, using only shares when other assets could help.
- Overtrading, fiddling around the margins of their portfolios.
- Panic selling, ditching all their holdings at the first sign of trouble.
- Not rebalancing, losing out on the proven ‘Rebalancing Bonus’ returns.
- Lack of pound cost averaging - Pound cost averaging is a technique where you make investments on a regular basis and therefore average the price you pay for the total investment over time.
Ultimately as a new investor, it may be wisest to start out with a robo adviser to get a feel for things.
However if you're sure you know what's what and fancy a bit more control over your investments, we'd suggest starting with a Vanguard LifeStrategy portfolio which should be a good introduction to your DIY investing journey.
Hope this helps!
Phoebe
