Nutmeg review

How we rated Nutmeg's investment features

Named after the pungent and warming spice often used to flavour custard tarts and eggnog, Nutmeg is a popular robo-advisor investment platform. It offers a decent range of ready-made portfolios with the chance to align your investments with your values and risk appetite.

What is Nutmeg?

Nutmeg was founded in 2011 and is the largest digital wealth manager in the UK. It manages over £4.5 billion (sometimes called “assets under management” or AUM”) for more than 200,000 customers.

As a robo-advisor, Nutmeg learns a bit about you, including your goals, investing knowledge and risk tolerance. This allows the platform to help you pick which of its portfolios best suits you. Although most robo-advisors don’t actually offer any advice, Nutmeg does offer this as an additional paid service. However, this adivce is restricted, which means its limited to its own products and services.

Hands-on test: I tried out Nutmeg's investing app and platform

"Nutmeg has more portfolio options than most other robo-advisors and I like that it’s not just geared towards absolute beginners either. As a more experienced investor with a high risk tolerance, I can also use its thematic styles for some added spice.

I also like that you can quickly get a clear snapshot of your portfolio’s allocation, projected value and social responsibility score. However, one thing that’s super frustrating is that you can’t sell investments or make withdrawals from the Nutmeg app. And unfortunately, the whole app experience is a little bit vanilla. I actually prefer the desktop interface. Nutmeg’s app is clear and simple for sure, but it has its limitations."

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

Nutmeg fees

Overall, Nutmeg provides excellent value (even though there are limitations around investment choice). The platform fee you’ll pay will depend on the size of your portfolio and the option you opt for.

There’s no minimum monthly fee, but you need at least £500 (£100 with some accounts) to invest in a Nutmeg portfolio. The percentage fees shown are annual costs, but they’re worked out and charged to your account on a monthly basis.

We’re big fans of the fact that Nutmeg doesn’t charge additional fees to make use of all the account types on offer either, making this platform an excellent place to hold all your tax-efficient accounts in one spot.

The funds themselves have ongoing fees which are charged on top of your Nutmeg platform fee (along with a small market spread fee). There’s no inactivity, withdrawal, or deposit fees – so you’re not bound into any restrictions if you want to give Nutmeg a try.

Nutmeg investment choice and stocks

Nutmeg has limitations when it comes to investment choice, but that’s by design. If you want to access thousands of investment options, you should check out another platform. If you wanted a limited choice that’s not overwhelming, Nutmeg might be the platform for you.

There are still a few different types of investment portfolios that you can choose with Nutmeg to give you some flexibility around assets.

Nutmeg portfolios

Nutmeg has 5 investment styles to choose from:

• Fixed allocation. These portfolios try to perform without intervention. They are reviewed once a year to make sure they still match your risk level. Other than that, they’ll be untouched.
• Fully managed. These portfolios are actively managed by Nutmeg’s team. They will make strategic adjustments on your behalf, aiming to protect you against losses and boost returns.
• Socially responsible. These portfolios are also managed, but they’re made with social responsibility in mind. The Nutmeg team will make strategic tweaks, but with a balanced view between performance and ethics.
• Smart Alpha. These Smart Alpha portfolios are powered by J.P.Morgan Asset Management so they use a combination of Nutmeg’s standard investing principles alongside the expertise of J.P Morgan Asset Management.
• Thematic investing. These portfolios are only for those with a risk tolerance of 5 and above. You’ll get a managed portfolio that’s tilted towards a chosen theme.

For Nutmeg’s thematic investing styles, you can choose to have a portion of your main portfolio directed towards one of three future-focused themes:

1. Technological innovation
2. Resource transformation
3. Evolving consumer

The allocation percentage depends on your risk profile and the thematic options are only available for those with a risk tolerance of 5 or above. Bear in mind, thematic investing can carry specific additional risks and isn’t for everyone.

Nutmeg and ETFs

If you’re looking through Nutmeg’s website you’re going to read a lot about investing in ETFs.

Nutmeg prefers to use exchange-traded funds (ETFs) when building portfolios. In short, this is because ETFs are usually cheap, easy to trade, and track the movement of markets with a good level of accuracy.

ETFs hold a basket of assets and usually track a benchmark or index like the FTSE 100 or the S&P 500.

Is Nutmeg safe?

Nutmeg is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and you’ll also be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means you are covered for up to £85,000 if Nutmeg ever goes bust.

To keep your funds safe, Nutmeg uses State Street as a “custodian bank”. It’s one of the world’s largest custodians and holds your investments in a segregated account for extra security and never lends your assets.

Connections to Nutmeg’s website are protected with TLS encryption, and it offers 2-step verification to keep your account secure. When it comes to communication, Nutmeg provides a secure channel to send and receive messages, called “Nutmail”.

For further peace of mind, Nutmeg is part of one of the world’s biggest banks, JPMorgan Chase, which is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Nutmeg account types and products

The range of accounts Nutmeg offers means it can compete with all of the big players in the investing space. It allows user to invest using a variety of accounts and tax wrappers, including:

• General investment account (GIA)
• Stocks and shares ISA
• Lifetime ISA (LISA)
• Pension
• Junior ISA

Nutmeg general investment account

The main features of Nutmeg’s general investment account (GIA) are:

• Minimum investment of £500
• No maximum investment
• No set-up or exit fees
• No protection from tax
• Aimed at people looking to invest for 5+ years
• Can withdraw at any time
• Choose from a range of investment styles and risk levels

This account would probably only be worth using if you’d already used up your stocks and shares ISA allowance because it’s not a tax wrapper.

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISA

A stocks and shares ISA is a tax-efficient wrapper for your investment account that reduces any tax you might have to pay on profits. You can invest up to £20,000 in the 2023/2024 tax year while minimising any tax on your gains.

It comes with the same benefits and features as the GIA except that any potential returns are shielded from any UK taxes like capital gains or dividend tax.

Nutmeg’s stocks and shares ISA is good if you’re pretty new to the game and not keen on building a DIY portfolio or picking your own stocks. The slick mobile app and easy to use interface make it really popular with its customers.

If you’re more experienced, you might want a stocks and shares ISA with more flexibility and choice.

Nutmeg lifetime ISA (LISA)

Lifetime ISAs are a type of account where the government tops up any deposits you make by 25% (up to £1,000 per year) towards saving for your first home (up to a value of £450,000) or retirement. That means for every £4 you invest, you get a £1 bonus. You can save up to £4,000 per year in a LISA, and get up to £1,000 a year from the government.

Your £4,000 LISA allowance still forms part of your overall £20,000 yearly allowance. The money can be used for your first home (up to a value of ) or you can withdraw the money tax-free after you turn 60.

The other big benefit of Lifetime ISAs is the tax savings. You can contribute up to £4,000 a year without paying any tax on future returns. You can use the remaining ISA allowance with a stocks and shares ISA too, if you have more to invest.

With Nutmeg, you only need £100 to get started with its LISA. However, if you want to withdraw money for anything other than your first home or retirement, you have to pay a 25% penalty fee which means you could end up with less than what you put in.

Nutmeg pension

The main features of Nutmeg’s personal pension are:

• You can contribute yourself (or sometimes through your employer) and your retirement pot growth is protected from tax
• Instant 25% tax relief top-up on all of your personal contributions
• Potentially consolidate any other pension pots

Before opening a Nutmeg personal pension, there are few things to keep in mind:

• You must be a UK resident for tax purposes
• You must be over 18 and under 75 years old
• Requires a minimum starting deposit of £500
• You can’t start to withdraw from your pension until you turn 55 (rising to 57 in 2028), so you should make sure you don’t need the money in the short term if you want to invest in one.
• Money withdrawn once you’re eligible will count towards your income for that year (unlike an ISA)

How to pay into your Nutmeg pension

To pay into your Nutmeg pension you’ve got 3 options:

1. Set up personal pension contributions
2. Get your employers to pay into your pension
3. Transfer an existing policy from another provider (before you transfer, make sure to check if it means losing any benefits or incurs extra charges)

Nutmeg Junior ISA (JISA)

A Junior ISA (JISA) is an investment account that you manage on behalf of your child. Once they turn 18, the money’s theirs. The main features of Nutmeg’s JISA are:

• Pay in up to £9,000 in the 2023/2024 tax year
• Tax-free returns now and in the future
• A parent or guardian can set up a JISA with Nutmeg
• Your child will eventually be the owner of the assets
• Your child can access the money after they turn 18
• No set-up or exit fees
• Only available for under-16s
• Minimum investment is £100
• You’ll need to answer a few questions about yourself, your risk appetite, and personal details before you can open the JISA.

Remember, tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change.

Nutmeg ease of use

Nutmeg scored pretty perfectly in our ease of use assessment. You can contact the customer service team in just about every way you can imagine, even showing up to the offices for in-person appointment if necessary.

Overall, customers seem to really enjoy the platform on mobile and desktop – we tend to agree. Nutmeg has built a brilliant app and there’s lots of cool features, including linking it up with your Chase current account (if you have one).

On the App Store, Nutmeg scores 4.8 out of 5, and on Google Play it has a slightly lower 4.4 out of 5 (last updated: April 2024).

Nutmeg customer reviews

In the 2024 Finder customer satisfaction survey, 87% of Nutmeg customers said they’d recommend the platform. Many customers commented on how easy it is to use the platform.

One customer said: “Easy to set up, simple to use, reviewed regularly. Communication each month with updates.”

Another felt value could be better: “I have had a good experience with them overall. They could improve by offering more overall in order to be worth the premium I pay to be with this brand.”

Trustpilot reviewers gave Nutmeg a 3.9 out of 5 “great” rating, although most of the negative reviews tend to be around investment performance, and the markets have been down over the last few years (as of April 2024).

Nutmeg tools, resources and features

With the goal of keeping things simple, Nutmeg has a limited range of tools and resources apart from its learning materials.

More may be added in future but probably not. The whole point of Nutmeg is to keep things straightforward, but if you want an investment account with plenty of bells and whistles, you may want to look elsewhere.

One advantage Nutmeg does have over the competition is that it offers investment advice for an added fee of £575 (with a free initial call). Again, keep in mind this is restricted adivce.

How to set up a Nutmeg account

First things first, Nutmeg will ask you to choose an account type to start – check them out in more detail above.

Then, you’ll be asked questions to find out about what sort of risks you’re willing to take and how you feel about socially responsible investing.

You enter your starting amount and how much you want to contribute each month (if anything).

Before you’re ready to create an account and set up your payment details, Nutmeg will show you a rough projection of how much it expects your portfolio to be worth after your given time period (of course, this is not guaranteed).

Who might Nutmeg suit?

This platform is going to be best-suited for those who want a straightforward platform and a decent selection of ready-made portfolios and investing styles to choose from.

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