Moneyfarm review

How we rated Moneyfarm's investment features

Moneyfarm is a trading app designed to make investing easier. It offers a range of actively and passively managed portfolios along with the ability to customise portfolios or pick individual investments. Find out if you can make hay while the sun shines with this investment app and what we thought about the features and fees.

What is Moneyfarm?

Moneyfarm is a digital wealth management platform that began in 2011 and now serves over 125,000 active investors, with more than £3.5 billion in assets under management.

It began as a straightforward robo-advisor, but has since expanded its platform to offer a diverse range of investments and accounts.

Hands-on test: I tried out Moneyfarm's investing app

"The high minimum initial investment is a bit of a pain, but it’s in line with competitors like Nutmeg. The Moneyfarm app is pretty straightforward, it’s not particularly jazzy, but that’s the point. Moneyfarm’s goal is to provide a robust digital platform to manage your wealth.

I like that there’s a decent choice of investment options, from managed portfolios to individual investments (with the GIA and stocks and shares ISA). Moneyfarm does an exellent job laying everything out clearly, with the ability to add multiple portfolios within your account. However, one pet peeve is that on the app, Moneyfarm uses the term ‘disinvest’ instead of ‘sell’ if you want to sell some or all of your investments. And I think that will confuse some investors, made even more annoying by the fact there are no easy-to-find instructions on the website or app."

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

Moneyfarm fees

We’re just going to take a big, deep breath before rattling off Moneyfarm’s fees because there’s a lot of ground to cover. Breath in, and let’s go.

Overall, Moneyfarm is quite cheap, but the fees really could do with being more straightforward as it undermines the value it offers in some areas.

The platform fee you’ll pay will depend on the strategy you pick and the size of your portfolio. Here’s a detailed breakdown of Moneyfarm’s platform fees:

Although for share investing there’s an additional 0.35% fee if you’re using a stocks and shares ISA, which is capped at £45 per year.

Along with the platform (management) fee, you’ll also pay an ongoing investment fund fee and an additional cost to account for the market spread:

• Active management. Annual average underlying fund fee of 0.2% and market spread of 0.1%.
• Fixed allocation. Annual average underlying fund fee of 0.15% and market spread of 0.02%.
• Thematic investing. Annual underlying fund fee of up to 0.26% and market spread of 0.1%.
• Liquidity+. Underlying fund fee of 0.1%

Other than the investment ISA, there’s no additional account fees for using the pension or Junior ISA, it’s all about how you choose to invest and the size of your holdings.

If you use the share investing account to buy UK shares, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), there’s a flat £3.95 commission. International investments are supposed to be coming soon and there’s a 0.7% FX fee for any currency conversion. The share investing account is still in the “early access” stage, so things could change.

Moneyfarm investment choice and stocks

Moneyfarm has limitations when it comes to investment choice, but that’s by design. The app’s aim is to make investing straightforward and accessible. So, there’s not an overwhelming choice of investments.

However, we do think that investment choices (like the fees) are structured in quite a confusing way. Moneyfarm used to be a lot simpler, but since it expanded its offering and the investment choice, it hasn’t done a great job of communicating this.

With Moneyfarm there are now a few ways to invest:

• Actively managed. With this option, you answer a questionnaire and Moneyfarm will build a portfolio from ETF investments and regularly rebalance based on your goals and risk profile.
• Fixed allocation. This is a more passive approach, still using ETFs to invest, but the allocations are set and the team doesn’t change or rebalance things.
• Share investing. You can now build your own portfolio of stocks, ETFs and mutual funds (you can also use this alongside an actively managed portfolio).
• Liquidity+. Ideal for short-term cash management, this is a lower risk option that invests in money market funds that are selected and managed by the Moneyfarm team (available only with the GIA or stocks and shares ISA).
• Thematic investing. This gives you the option to add a satellite growth theme to your core portfolio (only available with GIA and stocks and shares ISA, also you need a portfolio worth at least £10,000).

For most investments and accounts with Moneyfarm, you need at least a £500 lump sum to get started, and you can set up a regular monthly direct debit investment from £100. The only exception is thematic investing, which requires you to have a portfolio worth at least £10,000.

However, if you opt for its share investing option (available only with GIA or stocks and shares ISA) there’s over 1,000 options (covering stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and bonds) and there’s no minimum deposit. The only major area lacking is US stocks.

If you choose the active management or fixed allocation, you’re also able to choose for it to be an ESG portfolio.

Is Moneyfarm safe?

Moneyfarm is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection. So your deposits of up to £85,000 are covered in the event that Moneyfarm goes bust.

Like any other type of investment, your capital is at risk when you invest using Moneyfarm 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.

Moneyfarm account types and products

Moneyfarm offers a solid range of account options, including a:

• General investment account (GIA)
• Stocks and shares ISA
• Junior ISA (JISA)
• Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

Keep on reading to find out more about these products and the main differences between them.

What products does Moneyfarm offer?

Here’s a quick breakdown of each account:

• Stocks and shares individual savings account (ISA). An investment ISA lets you invest up to £20,000 in each tax year without paying any capital gains or dividend tax on your profits.
• General investment account (GIA). This is a regular investment account with no upper investing limit, but it’s not tax-efficient like an ISA, so any gains above your tax-free allowances mean paying dividend or capital gains (CGT) tax.
• Junior ISA (JISA). This tax-efficient account lets you save and invest up to £9,000 each tax year for a child and this allowance is separate to your individual £20,000 ISA allowance.
• Self-invested personal pension (SIPP). Moneyfarm’s pension allows you to invest for your retirement. With this personal pension, you can receive tax relief on the contributions paid in (based on your income tax bracket). Moneyfarm offers the opportunity to transfer your pensions into it, bringing them all into the same pot. You can access money in a SIPP when you reach 55 (rising to 57 in 2028).

There are a few differences across the accounts in terms of what you can invest in. For the most part, the fees are the same across all accounts apart from the fact that you pay an extra 0.35% (capped at £45 per year) if you use the share investing feature with a stocks and shares ISA.

Also, the Liquidity+ investments are available only with the GIA or stocks and shares ISA accounts with Moneyfarm.

Moneyfarm ease of use

Moneyfarm scored pretty well in our ease of use assessment. We like that there are a couple of ways to get hold of its online customer support team and most customers seem quite happy with the platform.

On the App Store, Moneyfarm scores an impressive 4.6 out of 5, and on Google Play it has a slightly lower 4.3 out of 5 (as of February 2024). You can invest using the mobile app or the desktop platform.

Moneyfarm customer reviews

Trustpilot reviewers gave Moneyfarm a 4 out of 5 “great” rating (as of February 2024).

For other reviews provided to Finder, Moneyfarm scores a 3.3 out of 5.

Moneyfarm tools, resources and features

With the goal of keeping things simple, Moneyfarm has a limited range of tools and resources, along with some learning materials like articles and guides.

One unique offering from Moneyfarm is that it gives customers access to a team of dedicated financial consultants who are on hand to help.

This expert guidance comes with no extra cross and means you can:

• Have a phone call or video call if you want to learn more about the products, discuss the market or find out more about the views of the portfolio management team.
• Receive guidance to better understand Moneyfarm’s products and services and find out more information about its digital suitability assessment.
• Get a free, unbiased analysis and insight of your investments (with insight in a visual report or as a discussion).

Keep in mind, this is just guidance and not financial advice that Moneyfarm is offering.

Who might Moneyfarm suit?

This platform is going to be best-suited for those who want a selection of ready-made portfolios to choose from, or a small catalogue of indidivual shares. Some fees get cheaper with bigger portfolios as Moneyfarm wants to be a digital wealth manager and not just a brokerage.

If that’s not you, why not compare share trading platforms to find the right fit to match your style.

Frequently asked questions

• Will I have to pay tax?

  You may need to pay capital gains tax on any profits you make. You have an allowance of £3,000 in the 2024/2025 tax year. If you go with the stocks and shares ISA then you can invest up to £20,000 per year tax-free.

• How do I add funds to my Moneyfarm investment profile?

  You can set up regular contributions or one-off payments via direct debit or bank transfer. Direct debits usually take up to four working days to appear in your account, while bank transfers take around one working day.

• How easy is it to withdraw money from my account?

  It will normally take up to 7 days to withdraw and get money from your account. This is because Moneyfarm needs to liquidate your investments (which can take up to 3 working days) and then the withdrawal follows afterwards.

• Can Moneyfarm give me financial advice?

  No, Moneyfarm can only provide information to assist with your investing decisions.

• Do ETFs come with any fees?

  Yes, on average you’ll be charged an ongoing fee of 0.2% per year but this can vary based on your investment choice.

• Do I have to be a UK resident?

  No, you can use Moneyfarm if you are from the UK, Italy or Germany. However, you need to be a UK resident to use one of the tax-efficient accounts.

• Does Moneyfarm offer a Lifetime ISA or Junior ISA?

  Yes, Moneyfarm does offer a junior ISA (JISA) but not a lifetime ISA (LISA).

• Whatever happened to the &me trading app?

  &me was a very short-lived trading app launched in 2023 by M&G Wealth and Moneyfarm. It axed in July 2024 and all accounts were converted to Moneyfarm accounts.