If you’ve been looking for a way to put your savings to work without spending half your waking hours researching stocks and investments, robo-advisors might be your best option.
Robo-advisors are estimated to have roughly $5 trillion to $7 trillion (about £3.8 trillion to £5.3 trillion) in assets under management (AUM) by 2025, and they could help you simplify your investing journey.
We’ve tested and rated all the top UK robo-advisors apps, here are 3 of our top picks with the rest of the best below:
Take a look at some of the best robo-advisor platforms available in the UK right now. We’ve provided some basic info to help you compare but you can always check out our full in-depth reviews.
There’s no added fee to use a stocks and shares ISA wrapper (to protect your investments from tax) and you can even use InvestEngine’s self-invested personal pension (SIPP) for an extra 0.15% annual fee.
InvestEngine is tough to beat when it comes to value, and UK investors seem happy with its service, winning the 2023 Finder People’s Choice Award and coming tied first for customer service in the 2023 Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £100 |
| Offer | Get a Welcome Bonus of up to £50 when you invest at least £100 with InvestEngine. T&Cs apply. |
On top of its basic selection, it recently added the Smart Alpha portfolios (powered by JP Morgan Asset Management), and also a new range of thematic portfolios covering a range of specialist investing themes like “technological innovation” and “resource transformation”.
Nutmeg’s fees aren’t the cheapest, starting at 0.45% for its most basic “fixed allocation” portfolios, but they do get a bit cheaper once your portfolio crosses £100,000.
| Price per trade | N/A |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £500 |
Moneybox’s investing process for its portfolios is pretty straightforward - a mixture of global funds to keep things simple and cheap. The Moneybox app itself is dead easy to navigate, you can invest from just £1, and it costs £1 per month plus a 0.45% fee to use it.
With Moneybox, you’re able to use a stocks and shares ISA, an investment lifetime ISA (LISA), or a pension. It also offers a range of non-investment accounts, so it’s a great all-round app for saving and investing.
| Min. initial deposit | £1 |
|---|
For example, its actively managed portfolios start with a management fee of 0.75% for a £500 balance (the minimum). And this gradually decreases as your portfolio grows, all the way down to 0.35% once you reach £500,000.
Moneyfarm's aim is to become a leading digital wealth manager, with “wealth” being the key word. This robo-advisor platform isn’t necessarily aimed at investors looking to make small investments. Its target market is those with substantial amounts of wealth that want a more efficient way to invest rather than using an expensive traditional wealth manager.
| Price per trade | £3.95 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £1 (£500 for managed portfolios) |
Your fees will start off small and then rise as your portfolio grows. It also charges no extra fees to use a stocks and shares ISA account. Wealthify has a fairly limited range of investment portfolios, but it does include ethical options.
The low entry price point and the fact that it’s free to make deposits and withdrawals makes Wealthify a good option for those of you who are just starting to build a portfolio.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £1 |
Essentially it’s a digital platform that automates and simplifies much of the investing process. Unlike a human financial adviser, robo-advisors use some basic information provided by yourself and then it will use technology (and sometimes a bit of human oversight) to build and manage an investment portfolio for you.
It will attempt to build you, or match you to a portfolio that suits your goals, investment risk tolerance and time horizon. It’s like having a personalised investment assistant in your pocket, but without the high fees that usually come with traditional financial services.
Typically, most robo-advisors in the UK are app-based (but some also have a desktop app too). So you’ll need to download the robo-advisor app, provide your personal details, and then answer some investing-related questions. Details like how much you plan to invest and how often, along with the level of risk you’re comfortable with and any other preferences (like sustainable investing, for example).
The platform uses all this information to recommend one of its pre-made investment portfolios. After your set up, all you need to do is keep contributing cash and the platform will invest your money and manage the portfolio.
Some of the best robo-advisors allow the option to personally customise your portfolio, which can be really useful as you learn more about investing and want to have some control without needing to jump in the deep end.
Yes, each robo-advisor platform will have its own unique nuances but typically they can be split into two categories:
Here’s some simple steps to help you get started with a robo-advisor:
There’s no such thing as a free robot. That’s how the saying goes, right? So when you sign up to a robo-advisor, you’ll have to pay a fee to use the platform. This is usually in the form of a percentage based on the size of your portfolio. So the larger your portfolio, the more you’ll pay in fees.
These platform (or account) fees help to keep the robo-advisor running – figuratively speaking of course, a running robot financial adviser would be extremely scary, like a nerdy T-1000 (for any Terminator 2 fans out there).
There are a few ways to decide on which robo advisor to use. You could search by minimum investment, costs or functionality.
Some providers have a minimum deposit of just £1, but they can be a lot higher, going up to £500 with certain robo-advisors. Fees are typically less than 1%, if you’re looking to invest smaller amounts, like £50 or £100 per month, consider staying away from any flat fee platforms.
The fees usually depend on the features available, you can check our in-depth reviews of each robo-advisor to get a breakdown of features and fees of each platform. Our comparison table below shows some basic information to help you compare and find the best robo-advisor for your needs.
You should also check what account types a robo-advisor offers. Most should offer a stocks and shares ISA and general investment account (GIA), but not all of them offer pensions, Lifetime ISAs (LISAs) or Junior ISAs (JISAs).
It’s also worth thinking about investment portfolio choice. Are you happy with limited options or do you want some more flexibility or perhaps the ability to use socially responsible or ESG-focused funds? Also consider customer feedback by checking ratings on the App Store and Google Play (but we include these details in our Finder scores and reviews).
There are several ways to try and find best robo advisor for you:
Rather than choosing your own funds, a ready-made portfolio is prepared for you. Think of it like a set-course menu instead of a la carte. They usually combine a range of investments, which are mainly passive funds in the case of most of the best UK robo-advisors.
The type of funds will depend on the risk rating of the ready-made portfolio. Riskier portfolios will hold more equities (like stocks and shares) and assets that can have the potential for higher returns such as emerging or alternative markets, but these investments can be more volatile and lead to larger losses.
All the monitoring and rebalancing is managed for you so you just have to decide how much risk you are willing to take and how much money you want to invest.
A robo-advisor provides an effective middle ground between those who aren’t confident about managing their own investments and don’t want to or don’t have enough money to use a financial adviser.
The best robo-advisors will set up and manage your portfolio after you provide answers to some basic questions. This approach can be faster than using a financial adviser and you get access to snazzy websites and apps.
However, even the best robo-advisors aren’t guaranteed to be successful, it depends on the investments. And remember, this is a cool piece of technology but it’s not going to help arrange your finances and take control of all your future financial planning and decisions.
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
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