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UBS SmartWealth Review

as of 08/12/2020 at 12:56 pm

Holly's View

This was a new robo service from the ultimate home of Swiss banking poshness - and as of 29/8/18, closed to new customers. Users were guided into a portfolio by a range of questions so it was low maintenance and suitable for beginners. It was also hot on security and compliance so users were in safe hands but that came with more (digital) 'paperwork' and questions. With £15,000 minimums, it was “reassuringly” expensive. Fees a bit higher than average too.

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Recommended For

Beginner Investor

In a nutshell

Pre-packaged portfolios

£15,000 minimum investment

Regulated advice

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What to Expect

  1. Overview
  2. Behind the scenes

Time to fess up – we don’t have a test account as the £15,000 minimum curbed our investigative ardour. We did try to have a look around and you need to enter an email address before you do anything. When you click on the subsequently emailed link you then need to enter a mobile number. After that there’s a mobile code to enter. Then it’s password time. Ours wasn’t secure enough. After three tries, we were through! Then it was name, address, date of birth, employment status, annual income…….hang on! We only wanted to have a look! 

Online security is critical and this certainly feels safe. They give regulated advice which many so-called ‘robo advisers’ don’t, so not a bad thing the questionnaire is more detailed than many. It does feel it’s been written by someone who thinks that the average consumer has a lot of liquid cash! Or can easily quantify what that is for them.

For high earners with “good prospects” but without the capital to yet warrant the full-on mahogany boardroom treatment, this feels like a very solid, very safe and a sensible if pricey option, but unfortunately now closed to new business. 

Investment Choice

Products

Stocks and Shares ISA

Investment Account

Investments available

Own brand funds

Chosen for you

Investment help

Robo advice / ready-made portfolios

The 'Geeky' Details

Provider details

This is a really new investment offering from the Swiss bank. The minimum investment amount is £15k. That’s high compared to other groups we look at, but low for UBS, which usually provides financial advice and wealth management for those with millions rather than thousands!

The platform does offer regulated advice. Rather than picking your own individual funds and shares, you answer a series of questions about your financial situation and how much risk you can take before you’re offered a portfolio to suit you. One thing we really like about them is that they are quite forthright about who shouldn’t be investing. If you’re not in it for the long term or you can’t stomach the loss they will tell you so and won’t let you invest.

Total costs range from 1.12% to 1.29% for a passive portfolio; and 1.35% to 1.93% for an actively managed portfolio, where all the underlying investments are managed by human beings.

We don't have an account with UBS, so haven't yet been able to give them a Boring Money 'We Say' score.

Important Facts & Figures

Provider Size:

New robo-adviser from the major Swiss bank
Minimum amounts: