Bestinvest: Free financial advice is tempting but not quite enough

With its offer of free financial coaching, Bestinvest will appeal to those who want to get started in investing and take advantage of some free guidance on the options available to them.

If your aim is to get organised, better understand what you should be saving, and how you can use different types of investments to help you meet your life goals, then the free advice and planning tools available from Bestinvest could help you achieve your goals.

Plus, if you’re going it alone without the help of a personal financial advisor, the ‘Life Plan’ section of the website/app is a great, added, free bonus with calculators able to provide valuable data on how much you should be investing to be on track to meet your financial and life goals.

The platform has a relatively low minimum deposit requirement and low trading costs so it’s suited to those with a small pot and who want to keep costs to a minimum (without sacrificing too much on customer service).

This won’t be the right platform for you if you want to trade a wide variety of global assets, as Bestinvest only lists US and UK stocks and doesn’t offer as much choice as many of the more well-known brokers.

Accounts

Bestinvest offers a good selection of different investment vehicles:

• A general investment account
• Stocks and Shares ISA
• Junior ISA (JISA)
• Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
• Junior SIPP

Here’s how that compares to other UK investment platforms:

One thing to note is that not many providers offer a Junior SIPP. It’s a tax-efficient way to build a retirement nest egg for your child. For the tax year 2024-25, you can contribute up to £2,880 and the government will add £720 basic tax relief (20%) taking the total up to £3,600. Not only are your contributions topped up by government tax relief, but the investments you make have decades to grow. So, by the time your child retires, even a modest contribution could become a sizeable retirement pot.

Fidelity and AJ Bell also offer a Junior SIPP if you’re interested in the product and want to make read my reviews of their products.

Bestinvest's Junior ISA is an award-winner, bagging the 2022 Financial Award for Best Junior ISA. With a JISA, you can invest a maximum of £9,000 each year – that's the tax year 2024/25 figure – if you're the parent of a child aged under 18. Anyone can contribute and, with Bestinvest, you're allowed to transfer an existing government-issued Child Trust Fund (CTF) to their JISA. That's great news as not every provider allows CTF transfers.

Assets

There are around 3,700 investment options to choose from at Bestinvest if you choose the DIY approach to building your portfolio. They include:

• 400 US and 1,000 UK shares
• 380 ETFs
• Investment trusts
• More than 1,500 funds

You can’t, however, trade bonds (although they form part of some ETFs), and there’s no forex or cryptocurrency trading.

You also won’t be able to buy and sell fractional shares, which makes the platform less attractive to traders with smaller budgets wanting a piece of highly priced US stocks.

Ready-made portfolios

Bestinvest also offers a range of ready-made portfolios, built and managed by Evelyn Partners’ in-house team. These are ‘off-the-shelf’-style portfolios and fit into three ranges:

• Expert: Ten portfolios focused on maximising returns in line with your risk profile
• Smart: Five low-cost portfolios focused on cost-efficient investments such as ETFs
• Direct: Four portfolios which invest in individual shares and bonds rather than funds

Within each range, there are different portfolios designed to match differing appetites for risk, from ‘defensive’ and ‘cautious’ through to ‘adventurous’ and those seeking ‘maximum growth’. This choice provides plenty of options – more than many other providers – and allows for some limited ‘tailoring’ within the ready-made range too.

Read our analysis of Bestinvest ready-made portfolio performance by jumping to the ‘Portfolio performance' section.

Joint account

Bestinvest offers a ‘linked account’ that allows you to link-up your account with other Bestinvest clients, such as a spouse or other family members, making it easier for you to look after your combined investments.

Important: With investments, your capital is at risk. Pensions can go down in value as well as up, so you could get back less than you invest.

Financial coaching and advisory services

Without doubt, one of the best features of Bestinvest is its free, unlimited investment coaching. The fully qualified Bestinvest financial planners are available to help you with:

• Goal planning
• A sense check to gain reassurance that you’re on the right track
• Building an investment strategy
• Planning for retirement
• Understanding ISAs and SIPPs

It’s a fantastic additional service to be able to access for free. There’s no limit on the number of sessions you can have, and it’s a feature you won’t find any of Bestinvest’s competitors offering. You can have your meeting by phone, video call, or even in person. That’s great customer service!

Coaches can only provide general guidance, however. They won’t be able to give you investment recommendations. For that, you’ll need to pay, but Bestinvest has this covered too. They provide a choice of two in-house financial advice packages:

• Investing for your goals: £295 inc. VAT
  (If you’re new to investing or have cash to invest)
• Portfolio Health Check: £495 inc. VAT
  (A fresh pair of eyes looking over your existing portfolio)

The pricing is fair and if your portfolio is with Bestinvest, it might make sense to speak to an in-house adviser who knows the platform, products and available funds well.

However, it’s important to remember that this isn’t independent financial advice. Bestinvest provides what’s known as ‘restricted financial advice’. That means their advisers can only offer advice on the investments you hold with Bestinvest and they are restricted on the investments they can advise you to buy. They can’t recommend individual shares, for example, but they can still provide help with things like understanding your risk profile, which is crucial when making investment decisions.

There is no on-going financial advice service though. If you’re looking for a long-term relationship with someone to guide you throughout your financial and life journey, and get to know you well, you should seek an independent financial adviser instead.

Recent reviews of the service on Trustpilot include:

“I was unsure of what to do and if I should make changes to my portfolio. Although he was not able to advise which one I should choose, [my adviser] explained the various options, clearly identifying the risk factor against each one. I left the meeting with a better understanding of my options. Thanks.”

JOS, January 2024

“As a newcomer to financial planning I found that I was given a good picture of my options and how to progress to make decisions on my future goals and how to make those goals realistic and achievable.”

Peter Hall, February 2024

Mobile platform

The app design, like the website, isn’t particularly revolutionary and when it comes to analysing stocks, the data isn’t well-optimised for mobile. It’s hard to view charts as the data doesn’t fit neatly on one screen.

While it’s possible to utilise drawing tools with the charts, it’s easier to see the results on a desktop rather than a mobile device.

One really nice feature of the app is the ‘Life plan’ section, which allows you to plot out how you’re going to reach your financial goals. Using cash flow modelling technology, you can gain insights into what you should ideally be investing in order to give yourself the best chance of meeting your goals. There are questions relating to retirement, saving for a home, saving for children's education, or simply growing your money – allowing you to get a clearer picture of where you’re heading and how you’re going to get there.

Web platform

Online login allows you a better view of charts and tables than in the app. But there are no other differences in terms of app and web access. You can access the same ‘life plan’, ‘investments’, ‘help and support’, and ‘coaching’ sections.

It’s not a ground-breaking design but the interface is clean and clear, with the exception of some of the research data within the investments section, which looks really outdated.

It’s possible to get some excellent rates through Bestinvest. The ‘Smart’ ready-made portfolio, in particular, is a steal, but there are a few higher-than-average charges to watch out for, too.

Bestinvest’s fees apply across all account types, including ISAs, Junior ISAs, Investment Accounts and SIPPs.

So, what will you be charged? If you hold investments with Bestinvest, you’ll pay:

• Annual service fees (deducted monthly)

For ready-made portfolios / US shares: 0.2% on £0 – £500k, reduced to 0.1% on £500k – £1m, and zero cost on values over £1m.

For UK shares / other funds: 0.4% on £0 – £250k, fees reduce on a tiered basis to zero on values over £1m.

SIPPs have a minimum service fee of £10 per month.

• Dealing fees

It’s Bestinvest’s trading fees that make it such an attractive proposition. Per trade, you’ll only pay:

UK shares: £4.95

And no fee for US shares or funds.

When you consider that you are also able to access free coaching and the benefits of a big, established brokerage, this is cheap. If you plan to make regular trades, Bestinvest could represent great value for money.

Depending on the individual investments you make, there may be other charges, such as the ongoing charges figure (OCF) for funds. and stamp duty on shares. (Anyone buying shares in a UK company will need to pay stamp duty.)

• Ongoing charges for funds (OCF)

These vary from fund to fund and you’ll find these are applied to whichever brokerage you use. The ‘Smart’ portfolios have an OCF of 0.35% – one of the lowest fund charges you’re likely to find but then these portfolios are specifically focused on cost-efficient investments such as ETFs. The ‘Expert’ and ‘Direct’ portfolios are more pricey, with OCFs of 1.5%. That’s the upper end of average charges for active funds so may not represent quite such good value for money.

• FX fees

When you trade non-UK shares, the share price needs to be converted into sterling. Bestinvest charges 0.95% for this service, which is comparatively high as you can see from the table below. AJ Bell, for example, charges 0.75% – 0.25%.

On the plus side, you won’t pay a foreign exchange fee on dividend reinvestment or payouts.

Interest paid on cash

Bestinvest does well here, paying 4.35% on all cash held in any of your accounts.

While Trading 212 offers 5.2%, it doesn't offer the same variety of investment products as Bestinvest – only an ISA and general trading account.

Moneybox’s Cash ISA offers 5.11% for the first 12 months, but that drops to 4.15% after the first year and, of course, a Cash ISA is just a savings account – there’s no opportunity to invest.

For interest paid through an investment account, Bestinvest is at the top of the charts.

Transfer fees

No fee.

Withdrawal fees

No fee.

Deposit fees

No fee.

Minimum deposit

£50 (£100 for some funds).

Analysis

I did a bit of analysis of Bestinvest's costs and compared them to other JISA providers. The first table is including FX fees (the fee you'll pay to convert currency if you buy or sell international assets), and the second table is without FX fees. Bestinvest sits around the midway mark on both, although it does slightly better when the cost of trading international shares and funds is taken into account.

Please note: all published fees are correct at time of publishing. However, we suggest checking Bestinvest’s website for the most up-to-date figures.

Bestinvest’s research offering is strong but much of it isn’t the prettiest to look at or the easiest to navigate.

There are a variety of ways to scan and screen stocks and funds. The website provides suggestions and lists, including: Top performing shares/funds over 5 / 3 / 1 year(s); Most purchased shares/funds by Bestinvest clients; Most purchased ETFs / Investment Trusts by Bestinvest clients; popular companies; and, stocks by sector.

Within the stock/fund key information, you’ll find performance – provided by Morningstar – over five, three and one year periods, and data on past volatility in absolute and real terms. On past performance, it’s excellent and a class above other platforms where it’s sometimes a battle to find such information. Bestinvest has also been publishing its twice-yearly ‘Spot the dog’ guide, since 1994, highlighting those funds that are underperforming relative to their relevant market index. It doesn’t always make them popular with the funds, but it puts them on the side of the consumer and it’s worth a read so you know what to avoid.

There’s a display of analyst ratings and an impressive ‘broker views’ tab, which, for the stocks I was researching, provided a surprisingly large amount of data. It’s possible to customise charts with drawings, indicators and annotations, making this provider an option for those who like to dig deep into their research. There’s also heaps of detailed price data though, and even intra-day activity, provided by Digital Look.

However, there are other key fundamentals that are conspicuous by their absence. There’s no P/E, P/S, P/B, or P/C ratios listed, which I found odd, and it all looks a little dated, which is a shame because it excels in areas. The fact I have to slide scrollers to see information that doesn’t fit on the screen is also a bug-bear.

When selecting a provider for your investments, it is very important to first ensure they meet certain minimum safety standards. We judge Bestinvest to meet the threshold for a ‘safe’ provider because:

• Bestinvest is a trading name of Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
• If Bestinvest was to become insolvent or cease trading, your assets (investments and cash) are protected as they are ring-fenced from the rest of the business’s assets and liabilities. There is no upper limit as all client assets, regardless of value, are afforded the same level of protection.
• It is part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). That means, in the unlikely event that something were to happen to Bestinvest, your money would be protected up to a maximum of £85,000 per eligible person, per firm.
• Cash is always held in FCA-approved banks.

Remember however, that investing involves risk. The value of your investment can go up as well as down, and you could get back less than you put in.

Account safety

Bestinvest uses biometric authentication to secure mobile app login, and two-factor authentication whenever you login using a new device or browser.

Like its research tools, educational materials on Bestinvest are a bit hit-and-miss.

The ‘Investing 101’ materials are basic and I wouldn’t recommend relying on them alone to boost your knowledge if you’re a beginner. There are a few other more in-depth pages and some downloadable guides on the website, plus a decent ‘news’ section of the website where the team at Bestinvest post regular blogs with useful insights. There’s also a podcast. But you have to hunt around different areas of the website to find what might be helpful – it could all be better organised in one place. I could have easily missed what was available. ‘Market news’ seems not to be posted very regularly, giving the impression it’s been overlooked.

The educational tools I particularly like, however, are in the ‘Life Plan’ section of the app/online account. The tools here give you the ability to plan for either retirement, buying a home, saving for your child’s education, or other goals, including just growing your money. I came away with some valuable data on what I should be saving and how close I am to achieving my goals. This really added value to my experience and is great for those just starting their investing journey, or those who haven’t engaged the services of a financial adviser and are doing their financial planning independently.

And, of course, Bestinvest offers free advice from a qualified financial planner should you want to better understand the ways you can meet your financial goals. So it could be argued that’s a more than adequate replacement for written materials on the website.

Bestinvest does not do well here. The platform doesn’t automatically pass on voting rights and does not offer online voting despite being a predominantly online platform. If you want to cast a vote, you must email Bestinvest several days in advance.

By contrast, interactive investor, AJ Bell and Fidelity all offer investors the chance to vote online and send out secure messages telling you how to go about casting your vote.

Dividends

In addition, you need to call or email to make a change to the way your dividends are paid. There is no chance to self-manage this in the customer portal. In this respect, Bestinvest are lagging behind their peers.

Bestinvest scores highly on customer service. Its UK-based customer service team are available Monday – Saturday via:

• Live chat
• Email
• Telephone

I really appreciate the added touches with Bestinvest that tell you they genuinely do want to help you make the best decisions for you. When placing a trade, for example, you’ll find this little message alongside the specifics of the trade:

I made contact with Bestinvest on a couple of occasions and they answered my queries promptly and helpfully.

One annoyance, though: you can’t navigate away from the live chat once you’ve opened it on your mobile or you’ll lose your place and have to start again. That doesn’t cut the mustard when most other apps allow you to do it, and it means you can’t divert attention away to answer a call or message on another app while chatting or waiting for a reply.

Bestinvest scores an “excellent” 4.3 on Trustpilot from over 900 reviews.

Account opening

Opening my account was very easy. I just needed my personal details, National Insurance number and bank details for withdrawals. I opted to start my Bestinvest journey with the minimum deposit, £50 (it’s £100 for some funds though). Unlike some providers, though, you don’t need to deposit money to get the account open, which I like as it gives you some breathing space to weigh up the platform before fully committing with cash.

If you don’t want to make a lump sum deposit, you can set up a regular deposit plan. The minimum for that is £50 per month.

Watch this video to view the Bestinvest account opening processes:

*INSERT VIDEO

Closing / Transferring accounts

As if often the case, transferring in is made easy. It can be done in a couple of clicks and takes less than five minutes. Bestinvest even offers to pay up to £500 of your expenses if your old provider charges exit fees.

To leave Bestinvest, you’ll need to jump a few more hurdles. There’s a survey to complete and then the inevitable offers to tempt you to stay. It’s not made as easy as app-based providers, where self-management is the norm and adds to the sense that Bestinvest are a bit behind the times.

One other thing to look out for – when you sell a fund, the cash in your account doesn’t become available to withdraw for five working days – so beware if you were hoping to sell and instantly withdraw your cash.

Firmly ‘could do better' here.

When I gave an instruction to buy or sell a fund, it took four days for the trade to complete and be shown in my completed transactions. Yes, some other providers are also slow in this department, but it's still too long.

Bestinvest is also unable to provide exact fund prices at the time of purchase or sale. All you can do is use the investment search page to look up the fund prices from the previous day’s dealing. Bestinvest says they are indicative of the price you will receive but if market conditions have changed, they won’t necessarily be indicative at all. That’s a crazy way of managing these trades and feels very careless.

One other thing to note – when you sell a fund, the cash in your account doesn’t become available to withdraw for five working days – so beware if you were hoping to sell and instantly withdraw your cash.

Buying stocks, things are slightly better. The trade ticket is clear and easy to understand and provides me with the information and options I want to see.

Order types

You can execute trades using the following order types through Bestinvest:

• At-best order
• Limit order
• Stop Loss order

Using limit orders and stop loss orders can help you manage risk better, so it's great that they're offered, although it's the minimum I'd expect when dealing with a reputable broker.

Have a question about Bestinvest that we haven't covered? Ask it here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!