Over the long term, as we’ve discussed many times, investing in the stock market is one of the most reliable ways to grow your money and beat inflation. A Stocks & Shares ISA lets you do exactly that, with the added bonus that any growth, interest, or dividends are completely tax free. Double bonus.
Here’s a rundown of our favourite platforms to help you get started.
Trading 212
Right now, Trading 212 is easily the best all-round platform available. It packs in all the top-tier features you’d expect, without drowning you in complexity. Every buy and sell is completely commission-free, and there’s no ongoing platform fee either – you only pay the underlying fund costs, which you’d pay anywhere.
The selection is massive, with a huge range of global equities and ETFs available inside a user-friendly app. It can take a little getting used to at first, but once you know where everything lives, it’s effortlessly smooth.
One of the standout features is the Pie system. You can build a personalised “pie” of your favourite investments, set the exact percentage allocation for each one, and invest into the whole thing with a single tap. You can even share your pies with others, making the whole experience surprisingly social and community-driven.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine keeps things simple by focusing entirely on ETFs, but it does that one thing extremely well. There are no ongoing platform fees, just the fees charged by the ETFs themselves. That makes it brilliant for low-cost, long-term investing. Just keep an eye on fund costs when choosing your ETFs, because some do creep above 1%.
The app is clean, well designed, and topping up your account couldn’t be easier. You can also hold multiple accounts in the same app, letting you organise your investments in a way that suits you. Setting your allocation percentages and investing with one click feels very similar to a lightweight version of the Trading 212 pie system.
Plum
Plum is a great choice for people who don’t want to sift through hundreds of individual investments. Instead, it lets you pick by theme or by risk level, which can make the whole process far less overwhelming.
The app itself is well built and nicely structured, but it does come with a monthly fee depending on the tier you choose. As with the others, you can start investing from as little as £1.
A big plus for Plum is that it gives you access to the Vanguard LifeStrategy fund range – something you won’t find on Trading 212 or InvestEngine. These are popular all-in-one global portfolios that automatically rebalance and suit people who want a truly hands-off approach.
A Quick Reminder
Investing always carries risk. You could lose your entire investment, so it’s important to understand what you’re buying and aim for a minimum five-year time horizon. None of this is investment advice, just a simple run-down of our favourite apps and why they stand out.
