Fidelity review
- Price per trade
- £10
- Min. initial deposit
- £1,000
Our verdict
Fidelity offers plenty for UK investors but it does have some drawbacks. Find out what we thought about Fidelity’s fees and features.
On the whole, Fidelity has plenty of products and options available - whether you’re an experienced investor or are just starting out. You can use a range of tax-efficient accounts for investing
Fidelity’s guidance and tools allow you to learn more about investment instead of diving in at the deep end. This is great, as you get the chance to find out more about what investing is and what you can get out of it.
However, this isn’t the cheapest platform for some types of investors, the best value is reserved for those with larger portfolios and there’s a steep £7.50 commission for online share dealing.
Pros
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Well-respected platform
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Plenty of investments to choose from
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Lots of fund-specific research and tools
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Option for financial advice
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Regular investing discount
Cons
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High £7.50 commission for investments
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Confusing fee structure
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Platform isn’t doesn’t have the best user interface
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Higher fees if you don’t have a regular savings plan
How we rated Fidelity’s investment features
| Feature | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | ★★★★★ 2.4/5 | Fidelity offers decent value for some investors, but it’s not the cheapest. |
| Investment choice | ★★★★★4.5/5 | It offers a wide range of investments with access to plenty of markets. |
| Safety and security | ★★★★★ 4.6/5 | Fidelity has plenty of safety features in place to protect investors and offers a secure place to invest. |
| Account types and products | ★★★★★ 4.6/5 | You can invest with lots of options, using most major tax-efficient accounts. |
| Ease of use | ★★★★★ 4.5/5 | Fidelity offers an investing experience that most customers seem happy with but it does have its flaws. |
| Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ 4/5 | Fidelity offers plenty of tools and resources, apart from social features. |
Fidelity is a popular investment platform that offers a large range of assets and investment options. It has a fairly simple and easy-to-use platform, targeting beginners and more experienced investors with a heavy focus on funds. Find out what we thought of Fidelity, what products it’s got on offer and some benefits and drawbacks of the platform.
What is Fidelity?
Fidelity is a well-established investment platform that made its mark in the US. It’s been around for over 50 years and now has over 1.5 million UK customers. It’s one of the most respected names in the world of investing and it has high goals, looking to take on the legacy investing providers in the UK with an equally robust platform.
Fidelity fees
| Fees score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Platform fee | Under £25,000 0.35% (with regular savings plan) £7.50/month (without) £25,000 to £250,000 £250,000 to £1 million Over £1 million |
| UK shares | £7.50 |
| US stocks | £7.50 |
| International shares | £7.50 |
| Funds/ETFs | £7.50 |
| Foreign exchange (FX) fee | 0.75% (under £10,000) 0.5% (£10,000 to £20,000) 0.25% (over £20,000) |
| Regular investing | Yes (£1.50 commission for regular savings plan) |
| Telephone dealing | £30 per trade |
| Withdrawal/deposit fee | £0 |
| Inactivity fee | £0 |
| Investment choice score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Asset options | 4+ |
| Markets | 25+ |
| Number of investments | 10,000+ |
| Number of ETFs/funds | 2,500+ |
| Fractional shares | |
| Minimum deposit | £25/month (or £1,000 lump sum) |
| Minimum investment | £0 (at least one share) |
Fidelity has a large selection and variety of investments available, covering a decent range of assets. The fund selection is probably one of Fidelity’s greatest strengths, with around 2,500 to choose from.
The lack of fractional shares is a pain, but if you don’t mind that, Fidelity offers a lot for investment choice. Along with mutual funds, there’s also exchange-traded funds (ETFs), individual UK shares, investment trusts and overseas shares.
Again, it’s in most investors’ interest to set up a regular investment plan with at least £25 a month because otherwise you’d need a hefty lump sum of at least £1,000 to get started with Fidelity.
Is Fidelity safe?
| Safety and security score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Biometric login/2FA | |
| FCA regulated | |
| FSCS protection | |
| SSL certificate | |
| Public company |
Fidelity is a sturdy and safe place for investors, scoring near full marks in our safety and security assessment. As you’d expect, it’s regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Your deposits are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means that you’ll be able to claim up to £85,000 if Fidelity were to go bust.
Like any other type of investment, your capital is at risk when you invest using Fidelity and you may end up with less than what you originally invested. The performance of investments will vary, and there is no guarantee of return.
Fidelity account types and products
| Account types and products score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| General investment account (GIA) | |
| Stock and shares ISA | |
| Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) | |
| Lifetime ISA (LISA) | |
| Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP) | |
| Business Account | |
| Interest on cash balances |
Fidelity has a decent range of account on offer, including:
- General investment account (GIA)
- Stocks and shares ISA
- Junior ISA (JISA)
- Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)
- Business accounts
- Other cash savings accounts
Fidelity ISAs
The Fidelity stocks and shares ISA lets you invest up to your annual allowance in a tax-efficient way. The ISA allowance for the 2024/2025 tax year is £20,000. This means that you can invest up to this amount without incurring any UK capital gains or dividends tax on potential profits.
General investment account
Fidelity’s general investment account allows you to invest outside of your annual ISA allowance. People usually go for this option if they have used their ISA allowance already. You may need to pay capital gains tax or dividend tax on any profit you make from your investments, and money withdrawn may count towards your income tax for that year.
What is capital gains tax?
Capital gains tax is a UK tax you pay on your profits. You have a capital gains tax allowance of £3,000 in each tax year. The tax is dependent on the gains you make when selling, not the value of your investments.
Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)
The self-invested personal pension (SIPP) gives you the chance to save up for your retirement with tax benefits (like tax relief depending on your bracket). You can choose what you want your pension invested in and can contribute in lump sums or with regular savings.
Junior ISA (JISA)
With the junior ISA, you can kick-start your savings for your child’s future, and shield from UK tax. The JISA works the same as the stocks and shares ISA, except the allowance for the 2024/2025 tax year is £9,000 and it doesn’t count towards your own yearly allowance.
Junior SIPP
If you’re super organised, you can start investing now for your child’s retirement with the junior self-invested personal pension (SIPP). You can contribute up to the £3,600 allowance for the 2024/2025 tax year.
Fidelity ease of use
| Ease of use score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Apple iOS rating | 4.8/5 |
| Google Play rating | 4.2/5 |
| Ways to contact customer service | Phone and online messaging |
| UI/UX | Bad |
| Desktop or mobile app | Both |
Fidelity scored fairly well in our ease of use assessment with a few ways to contact the customer service team and generally positive reviews for its app. However, it’s a shame it reserves top-tier service only for high net worth clients.
Most reviewers seem to enjoy the Fidelity app on Apple and Android devices. On the App Store it has an impressive 4.8 out of 5 from over 2 million reviews and on Google Play, it has a lower 4.2 out of 5 (as of February 2024).
The user experience for investing with Fidelity on the app or on the desktop platform isn’t the smoothest and it’s a bit old and clunky, which is a shame considering it’s not the cheapest provider to use.
Fidelity customer reviews
| Reviews platform | Score |
|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 4.1/5 |
| Finder user reviews | 4.1/5 |
Fidelity did well in our 2024 customer satisfaction survey, with 93% of its customers saying they’d recommend the platform to a friend.
Feedback included praise for its easy-to-use website, and many customers described Fidelity as “efficient”.
One customer commented: “I have always found Fidelity share dealing to be easy, quick and efficient. The platform is user-friendly and customer service if required is excellent.”
Not all comments were totally positive. Another customer said “withdrawal procedures are slow”.
On Trustpilot, Fidelity scores 4.1 out of 5 – classed as “great” – from over 4,000 reviews (last updated: January 2024).
Fidelity tools, resources and features
| Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Analysis features | |
| Tools for investing/trading | |
| Social features | |
| Learning resources | |
| Additional Features |
Fidelity has lots of tools and resources packed into its comprehensive platform. The only area where it’s lacking is the social investing aspect, with no community forum or way for investors to connect and share ideas.
If you’re looking for funds, there are plenty of resources like:
- Navigator. Diversified fund ideas.
- Select 50. Funds selected by pros.
- Easy Invest. A low-cost ISA fund
- Sustainable investment finder. For, you guessed it, finding sustainable funds.
For learning, Fidelity also offers guides and learning seminars.
Frequently asked questions
Share dealing platform scores
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
