Is Bestinvest good for investing?
Bestinvest review by Boring Money
Written by Boring Money
1 Jan, 2025
Investment expert's opinion
Bestinvest offers free online investment coaching with a real-life human (!), which will be a big draw for most nervous self-starters who want to check they're not doing anything too nuts! The fees are on the higher side, but not crazy high - if you pick the in-house ready-made investment funds, it becomes a lot cheaper. The website is clear to navigate, and there is a lot of helpful research.
*This is the view of investment expert Holly Mackay based on her first-hand customer experience as a test account holder. This does not constitute regulated advice. You can read more about Holly's investments here.
Who is Bestinvest?
Bestinvest was founded in London in 1986 with the core aim to make investing “affordable and accessible” to everyday investors. Since 2022, Bestinvest has been backed by its parent company Evelyn Partners, one of the UK’s largest wealth managers, which has almost 200 years’ experience in financial planning and investment advice. Beyond its investment services, Bestinvest also offers financial coaching to support customers and help them achieve their goals. It states its purpose is to “help you plan and track your investments, and help you go on to achieve what matters most to you.”
Who is Bestinvest good for?
Bestinvest is helpful for less confident investors who want a human being available on the phone to take questions and guide them. The content and research will also support those who want to learn and develop their investment confidence. However, it’s not the best for seasoned traders who value low charges and familiar trading interfaces.
Pros and cons
Investments
You can invest in a range of products on Bestinvest, including:
Ready-made portfolios |
UK Shares |
US Shares |
Funds |
Investment trusts |
ETFs |
Sustainable investing options |
These options are all supported by a fair bit of technical information and research.
The ready-made portfolios are made up of a range of investments specially selected by expert fund managers at Bestinvest’s parent company, Evelyn Partners. They’re designed to save you time on researching and building a portfolio by yourself.
There are three ranges to choose from: Expert, Smart and Direct. The Expert portfolios focus on maximising returns for the risk you take, the Smart portfolios focus on cost-efficiency and the Direct portfolios focus on individual investments.
The tables below show the full range of ready-made portfolios available on Bestinvest.
Bestinvest Smart portfolios
Portfolio name | What is the fund made up of? | Annual management fee |
Smart Cautious | Funds based on a blend of low-cost investments, fixed income and gold | 0.29% |
Smart Balanced | Funds based on low-cost investments, shares and fixed interest. | 0.30% |
Smart Growth | Funds based on low-cost investments and shares. | 0.31% |
Smart Adventurous | Funds based on low-cost investments and shares with exposure to overseas markets. | 0.33% |
Smart Maximum Growth | Funds based on low-cost investments and shares with significant exposure to overseas markets. | 0.35% |
Bestinvest Expert portfolios
Portfolio name | What is the fund made up of? | Annual management fee |
Income Clean | Funds investing in equities, bonds and alternative assets. | 1.23% |
Sustainable Cautious Clean | Funds which invests in ESG products. | 1.23% |
Defensive Clean | Funds with a bias to defensive assets such as bonds and absolute return funds. | 1.30% |
Conservative Clean | Funds which use a mixture of products and asset classes to enhance capital in real terms. | 1.36% |
Cautious Clean | Funds investing in equity, fixed income and alternative assets. | 1.38% |
Balanced Clean | Funds with a bias to equities and fixed interest. | 1.43% |
Growth Clean | Funds with a bias to equities. | 1.44% |
Adventurous Clean | Funds with a bias to equities including significant exposure to overseas equities. | 1.47% |
Maximum Growth Clean | Funds with a bias to equities including significant exposure to overseas equities. | 1.51% |
Sustainable Adventurous Clean | Funds investing in ESG products with a bias to equities. | 1.53% |
Bestinvest Direct portfolios
Portfolio name | What is the fund made up of? | Annual management fee |
Multi-Asset Balanced Clean | Fund with a bias to equities and fixed interest. | 0.78% |
Multi-Asset Growth Clean | Fund with a bias to equities. | 0.78% |
Multi-Asset Adventurous Clean | Fund with a bias to equities including significant exposure to overseas equities. | 0.78% |
Multi-Asset Maximum Growth Clean | Fund, with a bias to equities including significant exposure to overseas equities. | 0.78% |
Bestinvest financial coaching
Bestinvest also offers financial coaching with a free initial session as well as a fixed-fee investment advice package, the Portfolio Health Check - £495 inc. VAT
Accounts
Stocks & Shares ISA | Pension (SIPP) | General Investment Account (GIA) | Lifetime ISA | Junior ISA |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | X | ✔ |
Fees and charges
The cost of investing with Bestinvest depends on how much you have invested and what you’re invested in. Fees are broken down into two groups of investments and you are charged according to which you have in your account:
Ready-made portfolios and US shares
Other investments (e.g. Funds, ETFs and Investment Trusts)
Ready-made portfolios and US shares
Account value | Annual fee |
Up to £250,000 | 0.2% |
£250,000 - £500,000 | 0.2% |
£500,000 - £1 million | 0.1% |
Over £1 million | No charge |
Other investments
Account value | Annual fee |
Up to £250,000 | 0.4% |
£250,000 - £500,000 | 0.2% |
£500,000 - £1 million | 0.1% |
Over £1 million | No charge |
In addition to the fee for holding an account with Bestinvest, there are additional charges for the management of the products you invest in. These differ but are typically around 0.30%.
On top of this, there may be transactional costs involved in the purchase or sale of investments. We would expect these to be around 0.07%.
Altogether, the annual charge for someone with a portfolio of £250k or less investing in funds would be around 0.77% per year. That includes the 0.40% Bestinvest fee, plus a typical 0.30% management charge for a fund and 0.07% in transaction fees.
See how much it would cost you
Use the handy calculator below to calculate the cost of an account. Just select which type of account you want to use, type in the amount you want to invest and - hey presto! - our calculator will give you an estimate of how much it costs. Please note estimated fees are calculated excluding promotional offers.
Step 1. Select account type.
Step 2. Enter the amount you are looking to invest.
Estimated fees:
£4.00
+ Investment fees
Cost shown is the administration fee only. There may be additional third-party investment or fund fees, which depend entirely on what you pick. Expect these to add about 0.25% to 1% a year to the total cost.
The boring disclaimer bit
This is a free resource for our readers. We’ve tried really hard to ensure that these calculations are correct and can promise you there’s no monkey business or favouritism going on. But please don’t rely on these calculations without double checking yourself. If you do think you have seen an error please contact community@boringmoney.co.uk and help us to make this better. More information on the assumptions we've used to calculate these investment fees can be found here.
Customer reviews
Customers generally like the range and quality of products on offer, including the ready-made portfolios, as well as the “professional” and “knowledgable” guidance from Bestinvest’s team of in-house coaches. However, more negative feedback includes the higher fees, in particular the trading charge.
Your opinion matters!
Leave a review for Bestinvest
05 December 2025
The website is easy to follow and instructions/details are clear and concise.
04 December 2025
Affordable, provides what I need and makes feel reassured
04 December 2025
Needs to be more clear to the consumer
Most asked questions
What is financial coaching?
Financial coaching is a service provided by a financial or investment expert designed to help you reach your financial goals. Sometimes financial coaching is compared to having "a personal trainer for your money", assessing your current financial situation and suggesting options you have to improve it and achieve whatever financial goal you are aiming for - e.g. buying a house or saving for retirement.
Coaching is not the same as fully-fledged financial advice, which is only provided by qualified financial advisers or planners who have undertaken specific training and are registered with the UK's regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You can read more about financial advice and other forms of money help, such as financial guidance, in our article How to know if you need financial advice.
You can also watch highlights from a webinar Boring Money hosted with Bestinvest where the topic is discussed in more detail.
Is Bestinvest safe?
Cash savings with Bestinvest are covered by the UK government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which guarantees reimbursement up to the value of £85,000 for accounts held with Bestinvest. Investments by their very nature can and will go up or down in value and you can get back less than you invest.
Who owns Bestinvest?
Bestinvest was originally founded in 1986 by John Spiers. Since 2022, its parent company has been Evelyn Partners – one of the largest wealth management firms in the UK.
What are Bestinvest’s ISA transfer costs?
Bestinvest doesn’t charge any fees to transfer funds into an ISA. They will also cover up to £500 in exit fees when you leave your existing provider.
Glossary
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Discover jargon-free definitions of the most common words and technical terms used in the world of investing.
