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.