Our methodology
Investors have a huge number of options when choosing where to invest and which products to buy. Our annual Best Buy Awards were established in 2018 to help them see the wood for the trees and choose the best home for their money.
What are the Boring Money Best Buy Awards?
For seven years, the Boring Money Best Buy Awards have been recognising the best investment providers in the UK.
Our awards are the result of months of independent research, including 40+ live accounts, of hours of call centre testing, rigorous cost analysis from our team of in-house analysts, and over 22,000 real customer reviews - all to determine the very best providers on the market.
Featured in ads on the tube, on brand homepages and even in national press, our Best Buy Awards are recognised by the industry and investors alike as a badge of honour for the providers who win our hard-won seal of approval.
How do we choose our winners?
The Boring Money Best Buy Awards take our in-house team of 8 analysts over 2 months to research and collate to recognise all-round excellence.
They are compiled using a range of criteria which we believe represent a comprehensive customer experience. These include:
Over 22,000 customer reviews
Website analysis and logged-in testing from our live test accounts
Feature testing across a wide range of criteria
Detailed cost analysis for different portfolio sizes and trading assumptions
Customer service testing for call centres and support
The view of our Founder & CEO and investment expert Holly Mackay
Customer ratings on value, service, and website/app experience
Size and longevity of the platform in the market
Our rating criteria illustrated
The image below illustrates how the different criteria are used in different weightings to judge the winners of our Best Buy Awards.
Additional rating criteria by category
Our Best Buy awards are judged with relevant criteria that differ based on the wrapper and award. Some of the adjustments and specific factors we've considered for our awards can be found below:
Detailed cost analysis that covers over 20 scenarios across 7 different portfolio sizes, ranging from £1,000 - £300,000. Scenarios include share trading analysis, funds, and ready-made investment solutions
Providers need at least 100 reviews to be awarded a Best Buy in this category.
Cost scenarios were based on larger portfolios as average pension pots are larger than ISAs
Detailed cost analysis that covers 18 scenarios across 9 different portfolio sizes, ranging from £1,000 - £750,000. Scenarios include platform administration charges and an all-in cost of investing with a ready-made investment option
Other factors considered included drawdown capability, the presence of any additional pension charges, consolidation functionality and support, as well as plan/wrapper administration.
Detailed cost analysis that covers 10 scenarios across 5 different portfolio sizes, ranging from £1,000 - £50,000. Scenarios include platform administration charges and an all-in cost of investing with a ready-made investment option. Guidance and information for less experienced investors was also considered.
Detailed cost analysis that covers 10 scenarios across 5 different portfolio sizes, ranging from £1,000 - £100,000. Scenarios include platform administration charges and an all-in cost of investing with a ready-made investment option
We also incorporate a custom JISA score, which is based on factors like:
Streamlined account management
Ease of gifting
Non-guardian contributions
Guidance and information support
Factors considered include subjective Boring Money UX testing, feature analysis, App Store/Google Play reviews, and scores from customer reviews on app experience across 2024.
Website, app and feature testing with a focus on beginner needs
Detailed cost analysis that covers 10 scenarios across 5 different portfolio sizes, ranging from £1,000 - £50,000. Scenarios include platform administration charges and an all-in cost of investing with a ready-made investment option
Increased weighting on guidance and UX
Minimum investment sizes and onboarding journeys factored into the process.
This award is more subjective and does not formally incorporate customer reviews. We looked to recognise those platforms which combine features and charges to offer a compelling platform for share traders.
Boring Money researchers reviewed features and functionality with a focus on share trading. 7 different portfolios were assessed for costs, across different sizes and trading patterns. The costs were modelled on listed securities only.
We also considered:
Dealing fees
Choice and range of listed securities available
Access to international markets
Analysis tools available on specific shares
This award is assessed with several factors which include input and scores from thousands of customers as well as in-house research by Boring Money, including:
Scores from 10,000 users about their last interaction with their platform
9 calls to each provider at different times and on different days
Call centre answer & opening times
Customer ratings on service
Customer recommendation scores
Feature analysis including webchat, FAQ sections & secure messaging functionality
Price, range, investment-specific research, shortlists, proxy voting capabilities, filtering tools, and front/back-end detail were all considered, amongst other factors.
Feature testing, investment analysis and tools functionality, quality and range of content, breadth and detail of market updates, innovative features, and back-end research capabilities were all considered, amongst other factors.
This award is purely focused on cost and does not factor in customer reviews or feedback, nor Boring Money feature testing.
Different portfolios were assessed across a variety of sizes, taking into account both platform charges and the total cost of investing in a ready-made solution.
This award is purely focused on cost and does not factor in customer reviews or feedback, nor Boring Money feature testing.
Different portfolios were assessed across a variety of sizes, taking into account platform charges on portfolios invested in funds and shares.
Providers included must offer a decent range of mutual funds and direct access to shares.
This award is purely focused on cost and does not factor in customer reviews or feedback, nor Boring Money feature testing.
Different portfolios were assessed across a variety of sizes, taking into account both platform charges and the total cost of investing in a ready-made solution. We modelled costs for:
£1,000
£5,000
£10,000
£20,000
£50,000
This award is purely focused on cost and does not factor in customer reviews or feedback, nor Boring Money feature testing.
Different portfolios were assessed across a variety of sizes, taking into account both platform charges and the total cost of investing in a ready-made solution. We modelled costs for:
£50,000
£100,000
£250,000
£500,000
£750,000
NB: Providers with NO drawdown functionality were not eligible to win an award.
The Value For Money category relies entirely on the customer perspective, acknowledging the complex and subjective nature of value. This award is voted by platform users and is not scored or judged by Boring Money. Throughout 2024, we collected a rating from 11,266 platform customers who were asked to score the platform they used for Value For Money out of 10.
This award was voted for by Boring Money readers. We asked readers to nominate their favourite investment platform and also asked about satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the service, so assessing both nominations but also strength of conviction. The award reflects our readers’ opinion and preferences.