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The Share Centre Review

as of 23/01/2019 at 2:23 pm

Holly's View

This service has progressively dated compared to peers until it feels a little left behind and dated. Built for a share dealing enthusiast, there is little guide or help for those needing to start from the basics. To be fair, this is a well-priced option for larger accounts held by people who broadly know what they’re up to. For traditional well-off investing enthusiasts.

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Recommended For

Confident Investor

In a nutshell

Low cost for large portfolios

Very dry

Own-brand funds pricey

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What to Expect

  1. Award Winner
  2. Ease of use
  3. Behind the scenes
  4. Customer opinion

Best Customer Service

Winner: The Share Centre - a clear-cut winner from the popular vote at our 2018 Consumer Investment Awards, proving that investors still want the human touch.

“Share Centre is a great little company that treats you as a person.”

Begging the question: what do most other firms treat you as!? You demanding lot!

The Share Centre fell down on a few fronts during our testing. The product set and charging structure are both detailed and overly complex - which probably has good intentions but is confusing.

The site looks dated and there is little to engage or enthuse anyone but the most die-hard hobbyist. The focus is mostly on share tips and there is a tendency to descend into long text-heavy analysis and blogs but there is good content for those interested in share tips and market updates.

We fell behind on testing as the account became blocked so we had to request a verification code. Which took more than 3 working days to arrive. What we do know is that once logged-in and trading, the site looks very different to the glossier non-secure pages.

The screens are hard to read, there seems to be an unnecessary level of detail included (four decimal points on the number of units being sold?) and abbreviated fund names which all shout complexity and jargon.

This wordcloud has been created from customer reviews of The Share Centre.

Pink is positive and grey is negative. The size of the word indicates the frequency of mentions.

The website is clearly called out as needing an upgrade. 

Investment Choice

Products

Stocks and Shares ISA

Junior ISA

Lifetime ISA

Investment Account

Pension

Investments available

Own brand funds

Funds from other groups

Stocks and shares

Investment help

Robo advice / ready-made portfolios

Includes a shortlist of investments

Pick your own funds

Pick your own shares

The 'Geeky' Details

Provider details

The Share Centre is one of the few groups that gives its charges as a fixed £ fee, rather than as a %. This makes it relatively cheap for larger portfolios (we're talking £80,000 plus), but expensive for smaller accounts. An ISA costs £4.80 per month. There is a charge for fund transactions, so it can be expensive for those looking to make small, regular investments into multiple funds. Loads of funds and shares are available.

There is quite a lot of helpful content on the site, along with share and fund tips. These guys know their shares as well as their funds. There is also a set of ready-made funds, though they are a bit more expensive than other providers' which is a shame. Their 'Platinum 120' list showcases their preferred funds and is a helpful filter. Suited to more experienced investors with larger portfolios.

Important Facts & Figures

Provider Size:

Mid-sized investment platform administering around £4bn
Minimum amounts:
£0 minimum initial investment – investments will have their own minimums
12 month indicative performance:

A medium risk fund returned 14.2% in 2017, excluding platform charges.

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