Insiders score
More info3.0out of 5
Halifax makes available a range of options including shares, funds, ETFs, SPACs and investment trusts, which customers can invest in through a choice of investment ISA, general dealing account, or self-invested personal pension (SIPP).
9.5%
7.9%
9.5%
7.9%
I would caution against using Halifax if you plan to trade regularly either on an ad hoc basis (those £9.50 per trade dealing fees on UK assets are astronomical) or you plan to buy and sell a lot of international assets: the 1.25% FX fees could eat into your returns in a big way.
Halifax Share Dealing offers its customers access to a:
A general investment account is best used once you've reached your annual tax-free allowance within an ISA. Taking that approach allows you to maximise your tax-free allowance on investment returns. Both Halifax investment ISAs are ‘flexible' ISAs, meaning if you make a withdrawal, you can pay that money back in to the same account before the end of the tax year and it won't be counted twice. That's helpful if you're wanting to save the maximum – currently £20,000 per year – across all your ISAs.
Discover our best-rated investment ISAs
Halifax offers a really good range of accounts if it's interest on savings that you're looking for, rather than investment returns.
Their cash ISAs and regular savings accounts offer generous interest rates, and in some cases, lead the field, as you can see from our latest analysis:
The top-rated 5.50% Halifax Regular Saver account does come with some limitations, however. You must save a minimum of £25 per month and you're limited to a maximum of £250 per month. And it's not easy access – you can only access your savings during the 12 month term if you close your Regular Saver account.
If you need easy access to your savings, rather than being locked in for a year, then Halifax's rates aren't quite as competitive:
There are plenty of options if you want to use your annual ISA allowance for savings too: 5 different cash ISAs, plus a Junior Cash ISA at present. Rates aren't terrible, but to get the top rate you need to be an existing customer (which means having had an account for 40+ days) and there are much better rates to be had elsewhere.
(Not all of the providers below will offer a Junior Cash ISA.)
The Halifax SIPP is actually administered by AJ Bell. A few of the high street banks use AJ Bell for their SIPP and it's a very good product, but as it's a third party provider, you'll be subject to third party fees. If you like the funds on offer, then going directly through AJ Bell for the SIPP, might be the better option. You'll get a wider choice of stocks and other assets to invest in that way too.
Assets
Investment choices, if you decide to go with Halifax, stretch to around 7,000 options and include:
That's not a bad range, but it's not as extensive as the likes of interactive investor, Saxo Markets, or AJ Bell.
Ready-made portfolios
Halifax only offers a choice of three ready-made portfolios: One offering a low level of risk, one offering a medium level of risk and one offering medium-high risk. That's not a great amount of choice, although they are relatively low cost and have achieved above-average returns overall.
I'm an existing Halifax banking customer. Should I just stay with Halifax?
It really does depend how much you intend to invest, and what kind of investor you are. Do you want to pick and choose your own individual stocks and funds, or choose a ready-made option? How much work and time are you prepared to put in?
If you're a DIY investor, I'd say it's well worth comparing what you can get elsewhere. It's not as difficult as you might imagine to open a new account with much faster, easier onboarding processes the norm these days.
And we've made it easier than ever to find the options to suit your pocket and your goals.
Try our ISA calculator and find your perfect ISA match.
If it's a trading account you want, we've got the best trading platforms in the UK.
And we've got you covered for the best SIPPs too.
Service fees
Halifax charges a flat fee of just £36 as an annual customer admin fee, which covers ISA and Share Dealing Accounts. That's potentially a bargain, particularly if you have a large portfolio that would incur large fees from a percentage-fee provider. On a £20,000 portfolio, for example, the annual flat £36 account fee works out at a low 0.18%. Having said that, Vanguard, Dodl and NatWest Invest only charge 0.15% to invest.
If you want to add a SIPP on, however, there's an additional quarterly fee of £22.50 for account values of £50,000 or less, £45 for values over £50,000. This charge is paid to AJ Bell, who administer the SIPP. That third party element means that this isn't the cheapest way to open a SIPP. Explore this page for our top recommendations for personal pensions and SIPPs.
One additional really nice touch I like about the Halifax Share Dealing account – service fees are waived altogether for 18-25 year olds. That's a helpful reduction for those just starting out and a welcome initiative to encourage young people to get in the investing habit.
Dealing fees
This is where Halifax doesn't do so well.
For trades on GBP assets, you'll be charged dealing commission of £9.50 per online trade, which is definitely at the higher end of the scale. (Charles Stanley's £10 per trade and Hargreaves Lansdown's £11.95 are more expensive, but there are not many providers charging this much.)
There is a way to avoid the commission however, by setting up a regular trading plan. With the regular investment service, you agree to set up an automated transfer of at least £20 per month into your trading account. Doing it this way means you can avoid the dealing fees altogether and may also be a more manageable way to get started if the £500 lump sum that Halifax otherwise requires to set you up with an investment account is too much. There are other benefits to setting up a regular investment plan, too. Drip-feeding your portfolio means you may be better able to smooth out peaks and troughs in the market
If you trade international assets, then Halifax is more generous as there are no dealing fees here. HOWEVER, before you jump into US or rest of the world stocks, beware: Halifax still makes you pay.
Interest on uninvested cash
Unlike most other investment platforms, Halifax doesn't pay you interest on any uninvested cash sitting in your investment account. You could be missing out here. Here's what other platforms are paying:
Ready-made portfolios
Fees for a ready-made solution are £3 per month plus ongoing fund fees and transactions costs that range from 0.32% for a Cautious portfolio, to 0.37% for a Progressive portfolio. That's fair but you could also find cheaper elsewhere as this chart shows:
How Halifax compares to other high street banks
In the following three scenarios, we've imagined a customer has £20,000 invested in a stocks and shares ISA, in (1) US stocks, (2) UK stocks, and (3) funds, and that they trade 12 times in the space of a year.
The verdict?
Although those low service fees make Halifax sound an attractive option, those high dealing fees mean it's hard to recommend as an investment provider – unless you don't plan to trade.
The other group who could still find this a cheap option are 18-25 year olds. With waived service fees for this age group, Halifax is an option worth considering as long as you don't plan to buy and sell often. So, if you're a young ‘buy and hold' investor (and there's a lot to be said for that approach), then it could be worth a look.
If you don't fall into that category, there is one other possible way to make Halifax a cheap option, and that's to invest through their regular investor plan and stick to UK assets. But that's a rather limiting approach that won't work for everyone.
Yes. Investments with Halifax Share Dealing Limited are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Halifax itself is part of the publicly-traded Lloyds Banking Group and Halifax Share Dealing is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Halifax offers a low service fee for a reasonably good range of assets and investment products. However, dealing fees and FX fees are very high and customer service satisfaction levels are very low. It's not one of my top recommendations if you're looking for an investment platform.
Halifax Share Dealing waives its service fee for 18-25 year olds. However, you'll still need to pay dealing fees on UK trades, and FX fees on international trades so it won't be completely free. If you plan to buy and hold your assets though, and trade very infrequently, you could find it a very cheap way to invest.
Have a question about Halifax that we haven't covered? Ask it here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!