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IG Review

as of 06/03/2020 at 10:20 am

Holly's View

For those who want someone else to do the heavy lifting, IG is actually not a bad option. Charges are a bit lower than many peers and 2019’s performance was decent. Just don’t get sucked into their silly spread betting if you’re a novice. It is very blokey in feel but don’t worry about that – go and have a try of the tools to get into a ready-made portfolio. Was pleasantly surprised when I checked back in after a year.

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Recommended For

Confident Investor

In a nutshell

Share dealing is available

'Ready made' options too

Low cost

Visit IG

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What to Expect

  1. Ease of use
  2. Mobile & Apps
  3. Behind the scenes

Once you navigate your way to the investments page through the many duplicated links on the homepage and the vague headers thereafter, it can be hard to find answers to ‘basic’ questions about the service, and there is a lack of interactive tools to aid. All the jargon and lack of guidance through the website is a shame as it cloaks quite a nice service for those prepared to persevere.

There isn’t a dedicated app for their Investment proposition, with the app focused on their spread betting & CFD trading. If you hold one of their ready-made portfolios there is not much use for the app beyond simply viewing the value of your portfolio. Regular traders will find the app very useful as there is a high level of information and analysis.

IG is principally a share dealing platform, though there are also ready-made investment ‘Smart Portfolios’ available for those that want to have their investments managed for them.

Once through the questionnaire, there are some good projections and helpful detail about these portfolios. There are parts which are good to use and in fairness it all works fairly simply and clearly. The Dashboard is visually clear but there is a lack of effective signposting and a lot of jargon!

Investment Choice

Products

Stocks and Shares ISA

Investment Account

Pension

Investments available

Stocks and shares

Chosen for you

Investment help

Robo advice / ready-made portfolios

Pick your own shares

The 'Geeky' Details

Provider details

Not one for our novice investors. IG is principally a share dealing platform, though there are also ready-made investment ‘Smart Portfolios’ available for those that want to have their investments managed for them.

For share traders it’s relatively low cost, at £24 per quarter for an ISA or share dealing account. You can't buy funds on the platform, apart from those that are listed – investment trusts and ETFs.

IG is more likely to suit investors who already know what they are doing, feel confident but like the idea of getting an expert to do the heavy lifting and monitoring. Share dealing and Smart Portfolios are available on the ‘Investments’ section of the website. It’s easy to get lost in the spread betting and CFD trading areas – higher risk investments and risky business. Not for your average Joe.

Important Facts & Figures

Provider Size:

Mid-sized investment platform
Minimum amounts:
£500 minimum initial investment into each IG Smart Portfolio

Your Questions

"I am 47 years old and up to this point I have ensured I have sufficient cash saved and regularly overpay my mortgage. I also have a company pension into which I pay additional voluntary contributions. I would now like to open an investment ISA for growth, with an initial figure of about £5000 and then about £250 per month (more when possible) for at least 10 years. I am tempted by the Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 due to the low fees and strong reputation. I would also consider investing in a couple of other Vanguard funds as well. Would this be advisable or relatively unnecessary, if I'm already investing in the LifeStrategy fund? I have also been looking with interest at a number of other companies including, Nutmeg, Wealthify, IG and AJ Bell Youinvest. Is there any provider that would stand above the others as most suitable in my circumstances? Whilst I would like my investment to start working without too much input from me, I would be happy to get more involved as my knowledge and understanding increase. Any insight or opinions you may have would be appreciated. Thanks."

Matt, South Yorkshire

11/03/2019

Read our reply

Your question

I am 47 years old and up to this point I have ensured I have sufficient cash saved and regularly overpay my mortgage. I also have a company pension into which I pay additional voluntary contributions. I would now like to open an investment ISA for growth, with an initial figure of about £5000 and then about £250 per month (more when possible) for at least 10 years. I am tempted by the Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 due to the low fees and strong reputation. I would also consider investing in a couple of other Vanguard funds as well. Would this be advisable or relatively unnecessary, if I'm already investing in the LifeStrategy fund? I have also been looking with interest at a number of other companies including, Nutmeg, Wealthify, IG and AJ Bell Youinvest. Is there any provider that would stand above the others as most suitable in my circumstances? Whilst I would like my investment to start working without too much input from me, I would be happy to get more involved as my knowledge and understanding increase. Any insight or opinions you may have would be appreciated. Thanks.

Matt, South Yorkshire

11/03/2019

Holly Mackay says

Hi Matt,

The whole idea of the Vanguard LifeStrategy range is to offer you a balanced mix of investments to fit a risk profile. So I think to tinker with this by adding other funds to the mix would be counter-productive.

If you really want a 'set and forget' option and like Vanguard, then it’s a low cost option and very credible.

However...

I think the main question is how much you think you will want to add to this mix as you get more confident?

If you like the idea of gradually being able to add other funds and maybe shares to the mix, then you could look at AJ Bell Youinvest as you suggest – you can start here by buying the Vanguard fund and then add to it as you grow.

Nutmeg and Wealthify offer low-cost 'passive' portfolios as an alternative option to Vanguard – but they wont let you buy other brands here.

So I think the answer to your questions comes down to this. Are you happy to pay what would be about 0.15% more in admin fees a year, to buy the Vanguard fund you like on the AJ Bell platform – because this extra admin fee gives you the ability to buy products from other fund managers as you get more confident?

If not, stick with buying the Vanguard fund on the Vanguard platform – this will be cheaper, but the trade-off is that you’ll only be able to buy Vanguard stuff. In this scenario, think of AJ Bell as the department store with loads of brands available and Vanguard as the single brand shop.

Hope that makes sense!

Holly

 

 

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We are not regulated to give personal financial advice - This isn’t full-fat regulated financial advice. Boring Money is a publisher and not regulated by the FCA. 

This means we can't help with specific personal circumstances or recommend specific investment products. It also basically means that if we say something daft, you have no recourse to come back and complain.

We’re only allowed to give you a steer or share an opinion or tell you the facts - That said, we promise that our answer to you is an independent unbiased perspective with no commercial gain to make. If you need regulated financial advice, you can find a good adviser via sites such as Unbiased & Vouchedfor.

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