interactive investor: Huge choice and a great SIPP, but can be expensive

interactive investor is that rare thing – an option that works for highly experienced investors as well as those brand new to the markets.

There is plenty of choice to satisfy experienced investors but for those not comfortable making their own investment decisions, the low-cost Quick Start funds offer hassle-free access to Vanguard’s popular LifeStrategy® funds. There’s also a great selection of educational materials, which are helpful in explaining your options if you’re just starting out.

Of course, what matters just as much is the cost. In this respect, the investment platform is best suited to investors with a substantial portfolio. For this group, ii offers a wide range of share dealing options plus the greatest potential cost-saving benefits. Investors looking to invest less than £40,000 may find the subscription charges prohibitive.

Investors at interactive investor enjoy access to the following range of products:

• General investment account (GIA) is an account designed to provide access to investments. You may be liable for tax on any income or capital gains earned within a general investment account but this can be a useful vehicle for anyone who has maxed out their ISA allowanceGeneral investment account
• Sometimes called an investment ISA, a stocks and shares ISA is an individual savings account that allows you to invest in shares, unit trusts, investment funds, and bonds. You will not need to pay tax on any income or capital gains earned on investments within an ISAStocks and shares ISA
• A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a type of private pension that allows you to control the specific investments that make up your pension fundSelf-invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
• A junior self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a way of investing money for your child’s future retirement, free from capital gains and dividend tax. As it is designed to be started before a child turns 18, it must be opened by a parent or guardian although anyone can contribute. Once the beneficiary turns 18, they take control of the account, however, the money within the account cannot usually be accessed until age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028 and likely to rise further)Junior ISA

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

ii also offers a cash savings account, which I’ll also take a look at in this section.

Assets

If you choose to build your own portfolio, you’ll have an enormous range of potential assets to consider:

• UK shares
• US shares
• European shares
• Rest of the World shares
• Funds
• Trusts
• ETFs
• Bonds and gilts
• An Initial public offer (IPO) is when shares in a company are made available to investors. It’s sometimes known as either a ‘listing’ or ‘floating’ on the public market.IPOs
• Indices
• VCTs

In total, ii offers investors a staggering choice of more than 40,000 investment options including over 3,000 funds, 1,000 ETFs, and more than 600 investment trusts.

The inability to buy Fractional shares are portions of shares (or ETFs) that are smaller than one whole share. They are designed to make ownership of large, expensive shares more accessible. fractional shares is a real shame, however, as it means investors on smaller budgets who cannot afford whole shares are prohibited from investing in the bigger name, more expensive stocks. While competitors such as Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity also don’t offer fractional shares, some newer competitors, such as Nutmeg, eToro and Freetrade, do.

A ready-made portfolio is a pre-made collection of investments that have been put together by investment experts. They are designed to be a simple option for those who don’t want to choose individual stocks or funds for themselves.Ready-made options

If you don’t want to select your own investment assets, there’s a range of ready-made options to consider instead:

Quick-start funds

These are six low-cost funds: 3 x Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, and 3 x sustainable funds from Columbia Threadneedle.

Vanguard’s popular LifeStrategy funds include options for three different risk profiles: lower (20% equity weighting), moderate (60% equity weighting), and higher (80% equity weighting).

These are passively managed funds that follow the performance of the market and don’t require a fund manager. That’s what helps to keep their charges lower.

The three Columbia Threadneedle sustainable funds are cautious, balanced, and growth and can, therefore, be chosen to align with your risk appetite as well as your sustainability values.

Investment Pathways

These ready-made options are designed for those moving into the pension drawdown phase.

The Super 60 investment list

These are a range of selected, highly recommended funds, including both active and passive funds. You can filter your search by asset group, investment group and performance to find a fund that suits your investment goals and styles. The list includes ETFs and investment trusts.

The ACE 40 ethical list

A list of rated and recommended sustainable investments to meet different risk profiles and goals.

With this large range of ready-made options, ii is a good place for those who have cash to invest, but either don’t feel confident choosing their own asset selection, or who believe that a fund offers the best way to meet their investment goals.

Stocks and Shares ISA

A stocks and shares ISA is what’s known as a ‘tax wrapper’ – that means it can be wrapped around a wide range of different investment products. Any investment growth or interest earned within a stocks and shares ISA is tax-free, which makes them a popular way to invest up to £20k per year. You can only have one stocks and shares ISA open per tax year, however, so choose carefully (although it’s possible to transfer between providers once you’ve started saving).

ii operates a slightly unusual way of charging for the use of different products. It can be a bit confusing and might cloud decisions on which is the right provider for you, as comparing like-for-like isn’t easy when everyone charges differently!

With ii, when you open a Stocks and Shares ISA, you’ll start on the £4.99 a month Investor Essentials plan. Should your investments grow above £50,000, you will move onto the £11.99 a month Investor plan, which includes the ability to add as many Junior ISAs as you need for your children, plus 2 family members or friends for free. UK and US trades are £3.99 per month.

Managed ISA

interactive investors has recently added a Managed ISA to its range. A managed product is aimed at those who prefer an investment professional to manage their ISA for them. That means, ii’s fund managers will choose your investments, monitor them, and adjust them over time to help keep you on track to your goals.

There are two options available – an index investing style ISA which focuses on low-cost funds, and a sustainable investing option which is invested in funds that follow ESG is an investment approach that takes environmental, social and ethical governance factors into account alongside more traditional financial factors.ESG principles. Within each style, there are five risk levels. The Managed ISA application process will identify your appetite for risk and match you to the appropriate investing style and risk level.

While there’s no minimum investment period, these portfolios are designed for long-term growth (a minimum of five years). In adding a managed option alongside the DIY option, ii has opened up the Stocks and Shares ISA to those who want more help with their investment decisions.

Junior ISA

You must have an ISA or GIA before you can add or transfer a Junior ISA.

Junior ISAs are not available on the Investor Essentials Plan so fees start from £11.99 as part of the Investor plan subscription. That plan includes free regular investing and your first trade free every month. It also allows you to add as many Junior ISAs as you have children. Additional UK and US trades cost £3.99 per trade.

Cash ISA

Although interactive investor offers a cash savings account, it does not offer a cash ISA which is a shame as, unlike the interest earned in a cash savings account, interest earned in ISAs is free from UK income tax. You’ll also have to pay a rate of 0.25% to access ii’s cash savings account. If you’re looking for a cash ISA, I’d suggest Trading 212.

Lifetime ISA

interactive investor does not offer a Lifetime ISA either. Again, this is a shame as it’s a tax-efficient way to save for your first home and later life with a 25% boost from the government.

SIPP

For every £100 you pay into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), the government will add to it with another £25 tax relief top-up which makes a SIPP a fruitful way to save for retirement. As it’s self-invested, it also means you have total control over how your money is invested.

ii offers a SIPP but you’ll need to pay extra on your subscription to add it. If you are on the Investor Essentials plan you can add a SIPP, making your total £9.99 per month. This allows you to invest up to £50,000 across your accounts.

If you want to invest more than £50,000, you’ll need to move onto the Investor plan + SIPP for £21.99. For smaller portfolios, that’s far higher than you’re likely to pay at most of ii’s competitors, although it could work out good value for larger portfolios.

Here’s how ii compares to other SIPP providers:

These estimated fees exclude any trading fees that you’d need to pay for buying and selling stocks/funds within the year.

As you can see, ii comes in higher on a £20k investment than any of the other providers listed, with the exception of Freetrade which also uses a flat fee model. With Freetrade, however, there are no dealing fees, so it would work out cheaper once you’ve factored in any trades you wanted to make. I should also note that Vanguard’s fees are inclusive of dealing fees. On the larger portfolio amount, ii’s flat fees are better value for money, with just AJ Bell and Freetrade coming in at a lower cost.

Cash savings account

ii’s standalone cash savings service could be a really good option if you have cash left over once you’ve maxed out your tax wrappers and want peace of mind that you’re going to receive a fixed rate of return. A couple of notes of caution, however: Firstly, remember that you may be liable for tax on any interest earned in a cash savings account. And secondly, ii charges for use of this service which is very unusual and hard to justify when no other provider I’ve reviewed makes a charge for a similar service. Flagstone, the operator ii uses to manage this service, charges ii customers a 0.25% management fee, so you’ll need to deduct this fee from any interest rates you see advertised by ii for cash deposits. Or, you could open a cash savings account at AJ Bell or Hargreaves Lansdown and do it for free.

In addition, you’ll need to deposit a minimum of £10,000 (it can hold a maximum of £250,000), which you can spread across different banks and building societies within the hub. This is a pretty high bar. For comparison, AJ Bell stipulates a minimum deposit of £1,000 and Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t impose a minimum amount, although the savings account providers you access may have their own set minimums.

I do like the way the ii cash savings service works, however. It allows you to hold all your cash savings in one account but pick the best deal from over 25 UK banks and building societies – ensuring you’re able to access market-leading interest rates.

Corporate account

interactive investor offers a company share dealing account. There is an additional monthly charge of £30 for this service.

A company account allows you to trade in the name of a UK limited company in a diverse range of investments, including UK and international equities, funds, ETFs and investment trusts. You can authorise up to four nominated individuals to place trades and manage the account on behalf of the company. That’s helpful for those wishing to use their limited company status to take advantage of more favourable capital gains tax rates or offset losses against personal income.

Joint accounts

ii allows for joint trading accounts. You’ll each still have a private view of any personal accounts, such as ISAs or SIPPs.

Important: Your capital is at risk. Investments can go down in value as well as up, and you could get back less than you invest.

Web platform

ii’s proprietary platform is straightforward and user-friendly, although it’s not terribly pretty and definitely looks a bit outdated when compared to competitors’ designs.

Mobile platform

The ii mobile app is available on iOS and Android. As with the web platform, it’s relatively easy to get to grips with, although it’s not the greatest design. Having an app means you can check in on your investments, update account information, or buy and sell on the go. There are a couple of differences between the web platform and the app, however, which you’ll want to know about if you’re thinking of using it for trading on the go: You won’t have the ability to set price alerts on the mobile app, and you also won’t have access to the technical indicators, which is annoying.

Demo account

Unfortunately, ii no longer offers access to new clients to their demo account (called a research account), which is a real shame. I was directed towards the Watchlist feature instead when I contacted customer services about this subject, but it isn’t a replacement for a full demo account with virtual money that allows you to test trading strategies in real-time and makes this platform a less attractive proposition for new traders.

interactive investor’s fees are unlike most other platforms’. Firstly, ii uses a flat-fee pricing model. That can be beneficial if you are a high-value investor as it means you’re paying proportionally less, the more you invest. However, there are some idiosyncrasies in ii’s pricing that means that isn’t always the case. And small portfolio holders may want to think very carefully before investing with ii, as our calculations show it is often a very expensive way to invest your cash.

Subscription fees

All ii account holders pay a subscription fee – there’s no free basic account as there is with Freetrade, which also uses a flat-fee model.

There are three subscription plans available:

• The Investor Essentials plan: This £4.99 a month plan is billed as a low-cost plan for those investing up to £50,000.

It is indeed a low-cost plan if you have £50k invested. However, it’s not if you have a small portfolio. That’s £59.88 over the course of one year. If you have a £5k portfolio, that’s the equivalent of a 1.20% custody rate. For comparison, AJ Bell charges 0.25% (capped at £3.50 per month), which on £5k would work out as £12.50 per year.

In addition, you’ll need to factor in trading costs. UK and US trades cost £3.99 per trade on this plan, which is actually pretty competitive. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 per trade and only reduces it to £5.95 when you’ve traded 20+ times in a month. Be mindful that, even at £3.99 per trade, your £4.99 per month suddenly becomes much more expensive if you plan on regularly trading, and that platforms such as Freetrade and Trading 212 offer trading without dealing fees.

• Investor plan: This is ii’s most popular plan and costs £11.99 per month.

This plan includes your first trade free every month. You can add as many Junior ISAs as you have children, as well as two free friends and family members. Additional UK and US trades are £3.99.

Most providers reward you with a lower rate the more you invest. While the flat rates charged by ii become the equivalent of a lower rate as your portfolio size increases, there is a cliff edge which you’ll tip over at the £50k mark.

While you do get one free trade per month and free Junior ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) (JISAs) are tax-free savings accounts for children under the age of 18. Only a parent can open a JISA but anyone can contribute. You can choose to save for your children through either a cash Junior ISA where you will earn interest on any cash in the account, or a stocks and shares Junior ISA where you will invest your child’s savings on their behalfJunior ISAs thrown in for the additional fee, that’s not a great deal if you don’t actually want any Junior ISAs. If you’re a buy-and-hold investor, you might not even want the free trade every month.

So again, this doesn’t seem like great value for money.

• Super Investor plan: £19.99 a month.

On this plan, you’ll receive your first two trades free each month. You can add as many Junior ISAs as you have children and up to five friends and family members for free, too.

There’s no obligation to move onto this plan once your account reaches any kind of cap, so it’s really just for those who are regularly making two or more trades per month, and/or those who require multiple JISAs.

After your first two free trades, UK and US trades remain priced at £3.99, so there’s no discount, which you might expect on a top subscription level. You do receive a discount on non-UK/US trades, however, as they drop from £9.99 to £5.99 per trade on this plan.

Managed ISA charges

If you’re investing under £50,000, then you’ll be paying £4.99 per month for the Investor Essentials plan.

If you have over £50,000, then you’ll be on the Investor plan, charged at £11.99 a month.

Portfolio investment costs also apply and range from 0.13% to 0.36% depending on whether you choose the Index style or the Sustainable option, and your risk level.

The verdict?

Interactive investor claims that its flat subscription fees can lead to savings of up to £85k over 30 years when compared to the percentage fees charged by competitors. These savings will only be achieved if you have a certain amount of capital invested, however and are based on contributions of £10k per year. Our figures suggest that it is only a narrow band of investors who will see these savings. Otherwise, this is an expensive way to invest.

For SIPPs

ii’s arrangements for A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a type of private pension that allows you to control the specific investments that make up your pension fundSIPPs are extraordinarily complicated – far more complicated than it feels like they need to be. Other platforms have straightforward pricing plans, so I’m not quite sure why so many different arrangements are necessary.

Your choices, if you want to open a SIPP, are:

• A Pension Builder plan which costs an eye-watering £12.99 per month. You’ll need to join this plan if the value of your SIPP is over £50k.
• A Pension Essentials plan. These are only open to people who have less than £50k invested, and costs £5.99 a month.
• Existing customers with an Sometimes called an investment ISA, a stocks and shares ISA is an individual savings account that allows you to invest in shares, unit trusts, investment funds, and bonds. You will not need to pay tax on any income or capital gains earned on investments within an ISAISA and/or General investment account (GIA) is an account designed to provide access to investments. You may be liable for tax on any income or capital gains earned within a general investment account but this can be a useful vehicle for anyone who has maxed out their ISA allowanceTrading Account on the Investor Essentials plan can add a SIPP for an extra £5 a month. You can then invest up to £50,000 across your accounts. Above this, and you will move onto the Investor + SIPP for £21.99 a month – which is a massive amount to pay (you are paying £10 extra just for the SIPP).

In all circumstances, this cannot be considered a low-cost SIPP.

A foreign exchange (FX) fee is added to all trades involving foreign currencies. If you buy a stock that trades in US dollars, for example, and your home account is in GB pounds, you’ll need to pay an FX fee.FX fees

You’ll need to pay these fees if you want to buy or sell assets that aren’t traded in GBP, so anytime you trade a USD stock, for example.

The fees you pay at ii will vary according to the value of your trade:

• Less than £25,000 = 1.5%
• £25,000 – £49,999 = 1.25%
• £50,000 – £99,999 = 1.00%
• £100,000 – £599,999 = 0.50%
• £600,000 – £999,999 = 0.25%

At the lower end of the value scale, these are some pretty high steep fees, as this comparison table illustrates:

And look how that adds up and makes a difference to overall costs in this example:

It’s easy to forget FX fees when calculating platform costs, but it’s a costly mistake to ignore them if you plan to invest even moderately in non-GBP assets.

However, there is a possible way to avoid paying FX fees with interactive investors. It only applies to general trading accounts and SIPP accounts, so no get-out for ISA holders unfortunately, but ii allows you to trade in multiple currencies. Potentially, this means you could convert your currencies at a cheaper money exchange, and then deposit and withdraw in the same currency as the assets you want to trade. It’s hassle, but it might be worth it if you trade large volumes of foreign assets or plan to make high-value non-GBP trades.

For more information on how to do this and which exchanges offer the best currency conversion rates, visit our dedicated FX guide.

I should stress, this isn’t something you need to think about if you only hold assets listed on UK exchanges, but with FX fees as high as they are at ii, it’s worth considering all avenues if you intend to trade non-GBP assets with this provider.

Trading fees

The monthly subscription fee for Investor Essentials, Investor and Super Investor plans include a Trading Account.

• Whichever plan you are on, all UK and US shares, bonds, gilts and funds are £3.99 per trade.
• Non-UK/US trades are £9.99.

If you’re on the Investor plan:

• Your first trade each month is free.
• All other UK and US trades are £3.99.
• All non-US/UK trades are £9.99.

If you’re on the Super Investor plan:

• Your first two trades per month are free.
• All other UK and US trades are £3.99.
• All non-US/UK trades are £5.99.

Although I’ve stated that ii can work out as good value for money for some larger portfolio holders, there are some cheeky additional charges for those making very large trades:

• Trades of UK shares, funds (unit trusts and OEICs), bonds, gilts and exchange-traded products with a trade value of £100k or more incur a £40 charge.
• Trades of US shares worth £100,000 or more incur a fee of 0.04% of trade value.
• If you buy or sell other international shares with a trade value of £25,000 or more, it’s 0.10% of trade value.

I’ve not seen that kind of step-up in fees for large trades at any other provider.

Inactivity fees

There’s a tick in the box for inactivity fees as, unlike most of its competitors, interactive investor does not charge them at all. That’s handy if you plan on buying and holding assets for long periods of time, and don’t want to have to make a trade just to prevent the penalty kicking in.

Withdrawal fees

Requests for withdrawals can be made through your online account or app.

There is no charge for next-day UK (GBP & Euro) withdrawals. For same-day UK and EUR withdrawals, and other currency withdrawals, you’ll pay £15.

Deposit fees

It’s free to top up your investments each month with ii’s regular investing service.

Minimum deposit

The minimum deposit for an initial investment is £1. You can also invest as little as £25 a month using ii’s free regular investing service.

Interest paid on uninvested cash

ii currently pays interest on cash balances of between 1.51% The annual equivalent rate (AER) is used to describe the percentage of interest you’ll receive on your savings and investments. AER accounts for compound interest whereas the gross interest rate does not. AER is also known as APY (the annual percentage yield). AER and 4.07% AER depending on the value and type of account.

Rates have recently been lowered in response to the Bank of England’s rate change and are currently:

For cash held within ISAs, Junior ISAs, and General Trading Accounts:

On the first £10,000 1.51% AER
£10,000.01 – £100,000 2.27% AER
£100,000.01 – £1m 3.30% AER
£1m+ 4.07% AER

For cash held within SIPPs:

On the first £10,000 2.53% AER
£10,000.01 – £100,000 3.30% AER
£100,000.01 – £1m 3.56% AER
£1m+ 4.07% AER

For comparison:

All figures were correct at the time of publishing. While we attempt to update figures as soon as we become aware of changes, the most accurate way to obtain the latest data is to check with the provider directly.

ii’s trading platform isn’t actually designed for day-trading. Rather, it’s set up for longer-term investors, so you won’t find all the sophisticated charting and analytic tools you’ll find on a platform like Interactive Brokers, IG or Saxo. But that’s perfectly understandable as the average ii investor is just that – and investor, and not a trader. For that reason, there’s no shorting stocks on this platform.

Technical analysis comes courtesy of Trading Insights™, which you’ll be able to access when registered to use the platform. It’s engineered to be useful for investors of all skill levels and has tools for actionable technical analysis, educational guidance and customisable alerts.

Trading Insights provides valuable intraday data, some simple risk management tools, and a ‘technical score’ that displays the directional outlook of either bullish, bearish or neutral across short to long timeframes.

You can also set price alerts and notifications on the web version of the platform, although you can only set alerts for price movements; nothing else, and it’s not available on the mobile app.

Research tools include heat maps, the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which can help in determining potential overbought or oversold conditions in the market and determine a trend’s strength, and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator which can help traders identify potential trend reversals.

What I couldn’t find, was a calendar for crucial dates, such as ex-dividend dates and earnings announcements. This could be a drawback for income-focused and event-driven investors.

And there’s no demo platform any more, as ii has removed the feature unfortunately.

On the plus side, ii’s news service is great. There are real-time updates on market trends and events that may impact your portfolio and strategy, backed up by expert analysis and helpful commentary, as well as expert picks and news on An Initial public offer (IPO) is when shares in a company are made available to investors. It’s sometimes known as either a ‘listing’ or ‘floating’ on the public market.IPOs. It’s all presented in a user-friendly, if not very pretty or innovative, way.

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

• interactive investor is regulated by the top-tier UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Investors are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which protects investments up to a value of £85,000 in the event the company liquidates
• ii has been in existence for more than 25 years and currently administers over £50 billion in customer assets
• interactive investor is now a part of the larger FTSE 100 company, abrdn, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
• ii holds a strong record where regulatory compliance is concerned with no major regulatory incidents or fines.

Account security

Two-factor authentication is required when you log in to the web platform from a new device or browser. You can then choose to switch to a two-factor login after that if you wish.

Remember 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.

More information on interactive investor and whether this platform might be a good addition to your portfolio can be found here:

interactive investor: Company performance analysis

Investors are well served by a good choice of trade execution tools at ii, although it should be remembered that this is primarily a platform for investors, and therefore isn’t set up with the range of tools a professional trader would expect.

A bar at the bottom of your screen allows you to search and get a quote for any tradeable asset listed on the platform. You can trade at the current market price via:

• A At-best orders (also known as ‘market orders’) instruct a broker to buy / sell at whatever the most advantageous price is at the time of dealing.market order

Or you can set up automated trading via either:

• A limit order: a direction to purchase or sell a stock or other security at a specified price or better.
• Or, a ‘fill or kill’ order: a type of order you can give to buy or sell at a specified price. If your order can’t be ‘filled’ at this price, it will be ‘killed’ or cancelled.

Once you have set up a trade, you can keep track of your order within your account.

Your order status will show as either:

• Executed
• Pending
• Failed (for example, a fill or kill order that could not be dealt at the limit price)
• Cancel Pending (the order may have been in the process of being executed when you requested cancellation)
• Cancelled

Risk management tools

ii customers can use A stop-loss order is an instruction to sell an asset automatically once it reaches a certain price point. The aim of a stop-loss order is to limit losses. stop-loss orders to help manage the risk of runaway losses.

A common fear among investors is that a stock they own goes into a downward spiral and they fail to get out in time, losing the gains they might previously have made. A stop-loss order can help you manage this risk by triggering a sale of your stock once the price reaches a certain point.

interactive investor has recently launched ii Community, a social media app which allows existing ii customers to discuss investments, stock picks, and portfolio strategies.

While eToro remains the king of social trading, ii has clearly taken what eToro and Trading 212 do well and aimed to enhance it. ii Community users can share trading ideas and follow others’ strategies, although this isn’t quite the same copy-trading concept that eToro excels in. You can get breakdowns of others’ portfolios and track the performance of those who are posting the best returns, but you can’t set up a copy portfolio that automatically mirrors their moves. One place the ii app goes a step further than competitors’, however, is in allowing users to benchmark their own portfolio performance. That’s a really nice touch.

Users can anonymously ask questions and share tips, therefore potentially making investing less intimidating for those who find the process complicated.

And unlike eToro and Trading 212, as an interactive investor customer, you have access to a broader range of investment accounts and investment opportunities. You’ll also gain access to ii’s top-notch customer service. All-in-all, this is a big selling point for ii if they can get through a couple of teething issues with the app launch. (One user I chose to follow was showing a 302.91% return – something the user said wasn’t the case, and was clearly a bug.)

Account opening

Opening an account is a little on the clunky side with ii. I needed my National Insurance number and my bank account details, which ii assured me was just for identity verification purposes but, as ii is a subscription service, I was confused as to whether simply registering for an account meant that the first month’s subscription would be taken automatically from my bank account now the company had my bank details. That was fuelled by a message warning me that if I didn’t then go on to commit to which level of subscription I wanted, I risked being charged for a higher level than I wanted. I didn’t rush into a decision and, as it turned out, I wasn’t billed until I deposited some money and decided exactly what I wanted to do with my account, but it was all a bit off-putting and the messaging could definitely be clearer on that.

Transferring an account

The process for transferring an account was explained slightly better.

You might want to transfer investments into ii if:

• you are paying too much in fees elsewhere
• you want to explore the possibility of better returns from investing rather than cash savings (although, note, returns are not guaranteed)
• Or, you have other products with ii and want to consolidate your investments within the same account.

ii’s online transfer process is pretty simple. When you open an account, you will be asked whether you want to transfer any existing accounts and given instructions to follow on how to do this. If you prefer, you can transfer later in your journey, instead. It’s free to do.

I don’t have personal experience of transferring an ISA to ii, however, ii states that transfer times are around 4 weeks if you’re transferring cash, and up to 6 weeks where investments are transferred across. Pension transfers to the ii SIPP are reported to take around 2 to 6 weeks to complete, although if you’re transferring in existing investments, that can take longer – typically 8 to 12 weeks.

Deposits

You can add money to your ii account by debit card or by monthly Direct Debit. You’ll need to commit to a minimum of £25 if you want to set up a DD.

Withdrawals

You can withdraw cash from your account by bank transfer. All you need is your bank details and the mobile phone you have registered with ii. Withdrawals generally go through by the end of the next working day if requested before 2 pm. If you request your withdrawal after 2 pm, you will receive your cash two working days later.

There is no charge for withdrawals in sterling or euros, but there is a £15 charge if withdrawing cash in any other currency.

If you need your cash urgently, you can request an urgent, same-day withdrawal. You’ll need to make your request before 2 pm and it costs £15.

Account closure

Account closure is easy and can be done online. That’s a welcome change from some other big name providers which insist you go through customer service.

The ‘Knowledge Centre’ is a great place to start if you have questions about your A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a type of private pension that allows you to control the specific investments that make up your pension fundSIPP, Sometimes called an investment ISA, a stocks and shares ISA is an individual savings account that allows you to invest in shares, unit trusts, investment funds, and bonds. You will not need to pay tax on any income or capital gains earned on investments within an ISAISA, Junior ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) (JISAs) are tax-free savings accounts for children under the age of 18. Only a parent can open a JISA but anyone can contribute. You can choose to save for your children through either a cash Junior ISA where you will earn interest on any cash in the account, or a stocks and shares Junior ISA where you will invest your child’s savings on their behalfJISA, or you want to learn more about investing and build a strategy for growth. There are ‘Quick Guides’, videos, recorded tutorials, podcasts, useful articles and a whole section on investing for beginners. It is very much aimed at those who are still learning (aren’t we all?). There’s a great ‘Don’t be shy, ask ii’ message facility which actively welcomes all your ‘stupid’ questions, and which will, ii promise, be answered without fear or prejudice.

‘Lunchtime live’ sessions with Bloomberg’s Merryn Somerset Webb bring a live event aspect to the education offering too, with an expert’s take on moves in the markets.

ii uses simple language and explains jargon where it is used, which makes it a good platform for less experienced investors and traders. There is a glossary of terms so you can get to grips with the many acronyms and terms used by financial professionals.

ii also produces daily newsletters to help you stay on top of events that could impact your personal finances or investment outlook.

All in all, it’s a great place to start or continue, your financial education, and it’s all freely available.

ii is an award-winner for the work it does to encourage shareholder engagement with investment companies, winning the ‘AIC Shareholder Engagement Award’ for four consecutive years.

Assuming you want to vote on corporate actions is now the default setting. Those customers who don’t want it as their default setting can opt out.

You can sign up to ii’s free Voting & Information Service to receive information about shareholder meetings, subscribe for and receive shareholder materials, and get notifications for votes on decisions directly affecting your UK registered shareholdings.

As a shareholder, you can attend an AGM and vote in person. ii allows you to confirm your intention to attend through the customer portal. Alternatively, you can send someone to attend on your behalf – or vote online, which, again, you can do through the customer portal.

Customers wanting to vote on corporate actions can now do so via the portal. That’s all great news if having your say on matters that could affect the share price of your stocks matters to you – no more needing to ask customer services to arrange for you to vote.

Customer service at ii has a good reputation.

Help can be accessed via:

• The ‘Customer Hub’ and Common Questions areas of the website. There is a dedicated section for new customers’ commonly asked questions.
• Secure message – For non-urgent enquiries. When I tested this, it took just over 24 hours to receive a reply. This service is only available for registered account holders, however.
• Phone support – For immediate support that anyone can access, customer support is available via telephone between 7:45 am and 5:30 pm, Monday to Friday.
• Social media – interactive investor is active on Twitter and Facebook.

interactive investor has an excellent score on Trustpilot. At the time of writing, it is 4.7/5, which, when based on more than 24,000 reviews, is a strong indicator of a well-trusted brand that most users are happy with. The telephone support is particularly highly praised. When I called ii’s customer service team, I was waiting less than one minute and found the agent very helpful.

Have a question about interactive investors that I haven’t covered? Ask it here and we’ll come back to you with an answer.

This review is the result of my first-hand experience as an account holder at interactive investor and in no way represents financial advice.