Welcome to the Oscars of Investing

Ladies and gentlemen, time to get your dicky bows out and squeeze into your Spanx as I welcome you to the Oscars of Investing.

This week we announced our 2024 Best Buy Awards in a glittering, star-studded bash at the Met. Well OK, it was actually online and broadcast from a shed next to field full of soggy sheep. But a girl can dream.

How do we judge the awards?

Back for their sixth year, these awards are the result of three months’ work from the brilliant Boring Money team. We have captured over 15,000 customer reviews, tested over 35 features per provider, made 100s of phone calls, traded on apps, suffered through webchat, sat on hold and run literally 100s of pricing scenarios.

I have a new Christmas tradition (such fun) and set aside 2 full days between Christmas and the New Year to log in to over 30 providers, armed with my passwords, my Mum’s Christmas cake and occasionally gin when I can’t remember my memorable words. I’ll trade, rummage through websites, review charges, look at research and play around on apps. And then our 9 researchers swing into action to bring rigour, scrutiny and calculators to the process, benefitting from 15,000 customer reviews to make sure we get the full picture.

And the winners are…

The eight winners of this year’s Best Buy ISA, shown in the main blog image, should be proud of themselves. The bar is higher than ever. If you are sorting out your year-end finances, considering a different option or even looking for a solution to suggest to the kids, this is a great list to start with.

And with only 6 weeks left this tax year, don’t forget the private pension (especially if you are higher-rate taxpayer). This is one of your only remaining legitimate weapons in the fight against brown envelopes and tax. As a reminder, every higher-rate taxpayer will reduce their income (and hence tax owed) on any self-assessment if they have pension contributions that tax year to add to the mix.

We had nine winners this year, to suit all levels of confidence and wealth, so have a look at our Best Buy Pension winners for inspiration.

One thing I do know after over 25 years in this space, is that there is nowt so queer as folk. Everyone has different things they like and prioritise. You can see our full list of winners whether you’re after a decent app which makes life simple, the lowest-cost options, the best choices for beginners or something for the savvier share dealer.

Fancy a shortcut?

Once you've chosen your platform, of course the perennial problem is which funds or shares do you pick to actually put in it? Lloyds Bank (Halifax parent) has teamed up with BlackRock to bring you an ‘ETF Quicklist’ which I quite like.

An ETF or Exchange Traded Fund is like a playlist – a ready-made assembled collection of investments which you can buy like a single share. And you pick the theme or region you’re interested in – maybe property, US technology, gold or Japan – and they suggest an ETF which will cover that for you. It’s a helpful shortcut I think – more in the sponsor box below.

“Phew-l”

A final note to bring relief to household budgets. The energy price cap will come down by 12% in April following a fall in wholesale gas and electricity prices. Energy regulator Ofgem has set the cap for the April to June period at £1,690 per year for an average household, down from £1,928 at present.

Over and out for this weekend. Please God, can you make it stop raining? I have had enough of the squelch.

Holly

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