Fidelity and Vanguard are two of the most well-established investing providers available to UK retail investors. They’re fairly comparable some ways but quite different in others in terms of what they offer and their target audience. But, who comes out victorious when its Fidelity vs Vanguard UK?
Both Fidelity and Vanguard offer a decent range of account options, including a stocks and shares ISA and a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). However, they’re very different when you look at the fees and choice of investments. So, check out our breakdown of Fidelity vs Vanguard and hopefully this will help you pick who’s best, depending on what’s most important to you – whether that’s fees, investment choice, account types or anything else.
 |  | |
| Finder score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| FSCS protected? | ||
| More Info | More Info |
Fidelity and Vanguard are pretty neck and neck when it comes to their Finder score, with Fidelity scoring a solid 4 out of 5, and Vanguard scoring a slightly higher 4.3 out of 5.
Both platforms offer stocks and shares ISA, and both come with full Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection of up to £85,000.
Fidelity and Vanguard are also both pretty even when it comes to their most recent Finder Investing Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024 results.
However, where the platforms go different ways is with the fees score. Fidelity has a 2.4 score for fees vs Vanguard’s 4.7 fees score (both out of 5).
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| General investment account | ||
| Stocks and shares ISA | ||
| Lifetime ISA (LISA) | ||
| Pension (SIPP) | ||
| Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP) | ||
| Interest on cash balances | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | More Info |
Both Fidelity and Vanguard tick most boxes when it comes to account types available on each platform. The only account each provider is lacking is a lifetime ISA (LISA).
So, in this category it’s hard to separate Fidelity vs Vanguard.
Winner: Tie
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| Investment choice score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Available markets | 25+ | 4+ |
| Number of investments | 10,000 | 85+ |
| Number of ETFs/funds | 2,500 | 85 |
| Fractional shares | ||
| Min. initial deposit | £1,000 (or £25/month) | £500 lump sum (or £100/month) |
| Min. investment | £0 (at least one share) | £100 |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | More Info |
This category is an easy win for Fidelity.
Fidelity offers a wide range of over 10,000 investments covering a massive choice of markets and assets. The only downsides with Fidelity are that it doesn’t offer fractional investments and the minimum initial lump sum is very high (but you can set up a monthly investment from just £25 which is more affordable).
Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks with Vanguard is that you can only invest in index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), on top of this, you’re also limited to Vanguard’s own funds. So there’s roughly about 85 options and that’s it.
Winner: Fidelity
| | |
| Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Platform fees | 0.35% | 0.15% |
| US shares | £7.5 | £0 |
| UK shares | £7.5 | £0 |
| International shares | £7.50 | N/A |
| Funds/ETFs | £7.50 | £0 |
| Foreign exchange fee | 0.75% | 0% |
| Regular investing | Yes (£1.50 commission for regular savings plan) | Yes |
| Withdrawal fee | £0 | £0 |
| Deposit fee | £0 | £0 |
| Inactivity fee | £0 | £0 |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | More Info |
This is an easy win for Vanguard. If you look at Vanguard’s fees vs Fidelity’s, there’s no comparison (and this is reflected in the overall Finder fee score).
Vanguard’s platform fee is extremely cheap at 0.15% (less than half of what Fidelity charges). Fidelity also charges £7.50 each time you want to buy or sell an ETF or fund, whereas this is free with Vanguard.
Winner: Vanguard
| | |
| Ease of use score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Apple iOS rating | 4.8/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Google Play rating | 4.2/5 | 3.7/5 |
| Ways to contact customer service | Phone and online messaging | Secure message, email, phone, chatbot |
| UI/UX | Bad | Good |
| Desktop or web access | ||
| Mobile app | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | More Info |
On paper, Fidelity and Vanguard are fairly similar when it comes to ease of use.
However, from personal experience using both platforms to invest, I can assure you Vanguard is much better. Fidelity can be quite confusing and not very clear whereas Vanguard is very straight up with everything.
Vanguard’s desktop and mobile app are pretty basic, but they’re functional. Fidelity is quite muddled and hard to make sense of as an investor.
Winner: Vanguard
| | |
| Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Analysis features | ||
| Tools for investing/trading | ||
| Social features | ||
| Learning resources | ||
| Additional features | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | More Info |
Fidelity and Vanguard offer quite similar tools, but Fidelity has a bit more to help investors research and dig into investments.
Both are lacking any sort of social features and Vanguard has no tools for investing or trading (because you can’t trade most assets or investments with Vanguard).
Winner: Fidelity
Although Fidelity offers more tools and investments, Vanguard is much cheaper when it comes to fees and it’s also a much better platform to use and interact with.
So, in the battle of Fidelity vs Vanguard, it’s Vanguard that takes the crown.
Winner: Vanguard
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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