Barclays Smart Investor: one of the best high street bank investment options
4.0
Barclays Smart Investor: one of the best high street bank investment options
Smart Investor is Barclays' online direct investing service. It is designed to make investing accessible to those who are happy to make their own investment decisions.
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The following dataset includes the performances of ready-made portfolios/funds offered by investment platforms and may include both actively and passively managed ready-made portfolios/funds. Performance indicated is also net of all fees to 31st January 2024, unless stated otherwise; any tiered fee structure will be disclosed. Ready-made portfolios/funds that include cryptocurrencies or any other securities outside cash and equities are not included in the dataset.
The dataset only includes ready-made portfolios/funds which are explicitly advertised by their respective platforms as being for ‘beginners’, and which are exclusively offered by the platform itself. Funds which are managed by other providers and may be identically offered across multiple platforms were not included in this dataset. For example, the Vanguard UK All Share Acc. ETF was offered by Plum, but as it is not directly managed by Plum and customers could reasonably access it on multiple platforms, it was not included for the purposes of this research. Other discretely advertised securities or investments are not included.
Avg. 5-year performance across all Barclays Smart Investor ready-made portfolios
The industry average is the median average of all fund/ready-made portfolio performance figures we collated from 23 investment providers. To see the full dataset, visit X page.
Industry avg.
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Earn up to £1,000 cashback if you request to transfer investments or cash from elsewhere into a Barclays investment ISA or investment account. Offer expires 30th August. (T&Cs apply)
The following dataset includes the performances of ready-made portfolios/funds offered by investment platforms and may include both actively and passively managed ready-made portfolios/funds. Performance indicated is also net of all fees to 31st January 2024, unless stated otherwise; any tiered fee structure will be disclosed. Ready-made portfolios/funds that include cryptocurrencies or any other securities outside cash and equities are not included in the dataset.
The dataset only includes ready-made portfolios/funds which are explicitly advertised by their respective platforms as being for ‘beginners’, and which are exclusively offered by the platform itself. Funds which are managed by other providers and may be identically offered across multiple platforms were not included in this dataset. For example, the Vanguard UK All Share Acc. ETF was offered by Plum, but as it is not directly managed by Plum and customers could reasonably access it on multiple platforms, it was not included for the purposes of this research. Other discretely advertised securities or investments are not included.
5-year performance across all Barclays Smart Investor ready-made portfolios.
26.4%
The industry average is the median average of all fund/ready-made portfolio performance figures we collated from 23 investment providers. To see the full dataset, visit X page.
Industry average
Barclays Smart Investor is a reasonably priced option for those looking for investment opportunities through a stocks and shares ISA or general investment account. Barclays also offers a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), however, that is administered through AJ Bell which means there is a third party admin fee to factor in on top of the core Barclays fees.
If you invest more than £200,000 in your portfolio, you'll benefit from a greatly reduced annual fee of just 0.05% - making it a smart option if you're wanting to invest heavily. Watch those high dealing fees however! £6 per trade on stocks, ETFs and bonds/gilts is one of the higher dealing fee rates in the market.
The trading platform is not the most user-friendly I've tested, but you'll have access to a decent range of funds, ETFs, investment trusts, and UK, US and EU stocks. It's not quite as extensive as you'll find with one of the big specialist investment providers such as AJ Bell, interactive investor or Hargreaves Lansdown, but with Barclays you can get all your banking needs catered to under the same roof.
Where Barclays really shines, however, is in its ready-made portfolios which have, historically, performed far better than the industry average.
If you're looking for a ready-made investment option, Barclays is well-worth a look. Although please remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future performance and that all investing involves risk.
Large, well-known bank serving millions of customers
Wide variety of investment accounts to choose from in comparison to other high street banks
Well-priced annual fees
If you are a Barclays banking customer, it could make life easier to keep all your accounts with the one provider
Great educational resources
Cons
Trading platform isn't the most user friendly
High dealing fees
SIPP is administered by third party so incurs extra fees
Verdict4.0
Ready-made
Portfolio
Fees4.5
Trading
Platform3.5
Account
Opening4.0
Research4.5
Safety5.0
Education4.5
Customer Service4.0
Corporate Actions5.0
Portfolio View
Clare's view:
Who do I recommend it for?
Average Success Rate
50%
The following dataset includes the performances of ready-made portfolios/funds offered by investment platforms and may include both actively and passively managed ready-made portfolios/funds. Performance indicated is also net of all fees to 31st January 2024, unless stated otherwise; any tiered fee structure will be disclosed. Ready-made portfolios/funds that include cryptocurrencies or any other securities outside cash and equities are not included in the dataset.
The dataset only includes ready-made portfolios/funds which are explicitly advertised by their respective platforms as being for ‘beginners’, and which are exclusively offered by the platform itself. Funds which are managed by other providers and may be identically offered across multiple platforms were not included in this dataset. For example, the Vanguard UK All Share Acc. ETF was offered by Plum, but as it is not directly managed by Plum and customers could reasonably access it on multiple platforms, it was not included for the purposes of this research. Other discretely advertised securities or investments are not included.
5-year performance across all Barclays Smart Investor ready-made portfolios.
26.4%
The industry average is the median average of all fund/ready-made portfolio performance figures we collated from 23 investment providers. To see the full dataset, visit X page.
Large, well-known bank serving millions of customers
Wide variety of investment accounts to choose from in comparison to other high street banks
Well-priced annual fees
If you are a Barclays banking customer, it could make life easier to keep all your accounts with the one provider
Great educational resources
Cons
Trading platform isn't the most user friendly
High dealing fees
SIPP is administered by third party so incurs extra fees
Verdict
4.0
Ready-made Portfolio:
Fees:
4.5
Trading Platform:
3.5
Account Opening:
4.0
Research:
4.5
Safety:
5.0
Education:
4.5
Customer Service:
4.0
Corporate Actions
5.0
Portfolio View
Updates
ISA
SIPP
GIA
Joint Account
Cash ISA
Lifetime ISA
Junior ISA
Trust
Demo
Business Account
Junior SIPP
Available
Available
Available
Available
Available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
UK stocks
US stocks
European stocks
Bonds and gilts
Funds
ETFs
Ready-made portfolios
Fractional investing
RoW stocks
CFDs
Cryptocurrencies
Commodities
Forex
Indices
Futures
IPOs
Available
Available
Available
Available
Available
Available
Available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
Who do I recommend Barclays for?
Barclays Smart Investor is probably best-suited to:
existing Barclays customers looking to keep all their banking and investment portfolios tied up neatly with one provider
Those looking for a ready-made portfolio
If you're a happy Barclays customer, you could do far worse than choose Smart Investor for your ISA or general investment account, although you could get a better deal elsewhere on your SIPP.
If you're not an existing banking customer, I don't see many reasons to choose Barclays Smart Investor over one of the low-cost specialist investment platforms such as AJ Bell, Fidelity or InvestEngine. The one place where Barclays stands out as a possible option that these providers, is in their ready-made portfolio performance which is an exception 50% over the past five years, compared to an industry average of 26.4%.
Account types and assets
Accounts
Barclays Smart Investor offers its customers access to:
General investment account
Stocks and shares ISA
Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
That's the widest range of investment options of any UK high street bank.
Under the Barclays brand umbrella (although not within the Smart Investor brand), Barclays also offers access to various cash ISAs including an instant access cash ISA, 1-year flexible cash ISA and 2-year flexible cash ISA.
The Barclays investment ISA is a ‘flexible' ISA, meaning it's possible to withdraw funds from your ISA without it affecting your overall allowance. In other words, you can withdraw funds and repay them at a later day within the year without it counting as a separate, second payment.
The Barclays SIPP isn't actually administered by Barclays – it's an AJ Bell product so you'll be subject to some additional third party fees. That's not a bad thing, however, as AJ Bell's SIPP is well-administered and you'll find plenty of investment choice. You'll still be paying Barclays prices for the SIPP, which is a shame as dealing fees are higher than AJ Bell's. Going directly through AJ Bell for the SIPP, therefore, might be the better option.
When you invest with Smart Investor, you will need to factor in the following costs:
Annual fees
Up to £200,000: 0.25% of your investment value
Over £200,000: 0.05% of your investment value
Dealing fees
If you buy and sell shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds or gilts, you will pay £6 for each deal.
FX fees
First £5,000: 1%
£5,000 – £10,00: 0.75%
£10,000 – £25,000: 0.5%
£25,000 – £250,000: 0.25%
Value over £250,000: 0.1%
Fund costs
These are levied by the fund provider and – unless you’ve chosen a Barclays-managed fund – the product costs don’t go to Barclays. Product costs vary and can be found in the Key Investor Information Document.
SIPP costs
Barclays' SIPP is actually administered by AJ Bell, so it is subject to additional costs on top of the standard annual fees charged by Barclays. There's an annual £150 SIPP admin fee and, if you're in flexi-access drawdown, there's an additional annual £120 fee. That means Barclays comes out as quite an expensive option for a SIPP. Given that it's administered by AJ Bell, you might want to go directly through AJ Bell. They also charge 0.25% in annual fees (reduced to 0.10% for accounts holding £250k – £500k, and removed altogether for accounts holding £500k+), but you'll avoid the costs of using a third party provider that you'll incur with Barclays, and AJ Bell's dealing fees are also cheaper.
Transfer costs
There is no fee for transferring investments.
Interest on uninvested cash
When you open a Barclays Smart Investment Account, you’ll gain access to the Investment Saver service. This means you can earn interest on any uninvested cash you're holding in your account.
Current rates of interest are:
1.65% AER/gross per year variable on balances of £1 – £10,000
1.15% AER/gross per year variable for additional balances of £10,000.01+
Yes, Barclays Smart Investor is safe. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) meaning that you could be entitled to compensation of up to £85,000 in the unlikely event that Barclays was so go out of business.
Barclays charges 0.25% for investing sums up to £200,000. Amounts over benefit from a reduced rate of 0.05%. That's very competitive. However, although funds are free to buy and sell, dealing fees for buying and selling shares, ETFs and bonds and gilts are comparatively expensive at £6 per trade.
Barclays' investment ISA is reasonably priced and offers a decent choice of stocks, funds, ETFs, bonds and gilts. It's not the lowest priced ISA on the UK market and the range of investments available to investors isn't the largest when compared to other providers. But you're getting a trustworthy platform and access to good research and education tools.
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if you request to transfer investments or cash from elsewhere into a Barclays investment ISA or investment account. Offer expires 30th August. (T&Cs apply) 
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