Insiders score
More info4.5out of 5
With over 1 million users, Moneybox offers a range of savings and investment accounts, with a minimum investment starting at just £1. Users benefit from a range of features, like round-up savings, government bonuses, leading interest rates and a user-friendly interface.
Capital at risk.
4.5out of 5
54.2%
24.8%
54.2%
24.8%
October 2024 Update to Cash ISA rate to 4.75%
April 2024 Update to Cash ISA rate to 5.19% AER for existing customers and 5.16% AER for new customers
March 2024 Update to Cash ISA rate from 5.09% – 5.11% for new customers – Note: the rate of 5.09% remains in place for existing customers.
Savers. If you need access to your money in the next five years and are therefore unable to invest it, then you could do a lot worse than the Moneybox Easy Access
Completely inexperienced investors, and in particular those that don’t have a good starting pot and historically find it difficult to save will find features such as rounding up and payday boosts a painless way to build an investment pot. Simple tracker funds offer a beginner-friendly and effective way to invest and the app itself is super easy to navigate.
For people saving for their first home, the
The brilliant thing about this platform is that you can literally get started with just £1 (although you should bear in mind that after the first 3 months, you will be subject to a £1 monthly account fee)
General investment account (GIA)
Moneybox is a good option for anyone who is totally new to investing, struggles to save a decent starting pot, and would like access to hands-off,
However, if you fit this bill, then the likelihood is that you haven’t invested before, which means it is safe to assume that you don’t already have an
Investing into an ISA effectively shields your gains from any tax, meaning you get to keep more of what you earn from your investments. Given that the ISA at Moneybox offers access to all the same features and investments as the GIA at the same cost, this would be a better option.
Stocks and shares ISA
This isn’t the cheapest ISA on the market but according to our independent research, this is the best-performing ready-made ISA for the last 5 years, net of fees (for more information on the performance, scroll down in this review). For a beginner who lacks the confidence to pick and choose their own assets, this is a very compelling reason to pick this ISA. Also, the access this ISA grants to the other products and services at Moneybox means that this really is a good, all-around option.
Of course, you do need to pick your own portfolio, but given the lack of choice and the fact that they have performed well in every category, I don’t see this as an issue.
If a ready-made portfolio isn’t for you and you would rather take more control of where your money is invested, then there are a range of tracker funds, exchange-traded funds, and US stocks to choose from. I’ll go into more detail on this below.
Junior stocks and shares ISA
What’s unique about the Moneybox
So how does this account stack up against the competition in terms of how the portfolios have performed for the past 5 years? The average across all the Moneybox portfolios available via the Junior ISA is 54.2% for the past 5 years, net fees. To put this into perspective, the next highest average score achieved by any other platform offering a Junior ISA is Saxo Bank, whose previous 5-year return, net fees, amounted to 35.4% and the average 5-year returns of any ready-made portfolio in a Junior ISA, net of fees, were 24.4%.
So, again, if you are new to investing and would rather set it and forget it, then this is a great option. However, it’s important to point out that a simple index fund tracking the S&P 500 would have returned more in the same time frame. That being said, many of these types of funds require a higher initial investment and therefore may not be accessible to investors who are just starting out.
Lifetime ISA
There are not that many platforms offering a
This is still a great option and the combination of the high-performing portfolios and the 25% government bonus means that if you were to deposit the annual limit for five years and add the average historical returns across all the Moneybox portfolios, you would have amassed £29,930, with your total deposits amounting to £20,000. Not bad!
Cash ISA
At 5.16% AER, this is the leading rate for any
In addition, make four withdrawals from this account in a 12 month period and you will be subject to a low rate of 0.75%.
Personal Pension
It’s important to note that the Moneybox pension account offers access to four funds, which differ from the ready-made portfolios offered via their other accounts. That is because these funds are specifically designed to help people achieve their retirement goals. The Blackrock LifePath fund makes adjustments to your investments, reducing your exposure to risk automatically as you approach retirement age.
There aren’t a lot of options here. Outside of the Blackrock and Fidelity funds, the only other options are the
In addition to the
Tracker funds
Tracker funds (also referred to as index funds) are designed to track the performance of a specific market or index, usually by mimicking the assets within the index. In this way, they also replicate the performance, aiming to expose the investor to the entire index at a fraction of the cost. Tracker funds focus on financial growth, stability and diversification.
It’s important to note that tracker funds are a passive type of investment and are therefore not designed to beat the market. However, not many actively managed funds do succeed in beating the market, so this is still a solid option when it comes to returns.
There isn’t a massive range of tracker funds at Moneybox; however, there are some good options, including the S&P 500 ETF by Vanguard and some decent
ETFs
ETFs provide another affordable way of gaining access to a large basket of assets that have been diversified. Moneybox provides access to a small number of ETFs managed by the likes of Legal & General, iShares, Vanguard and JP Morgan, to name a few.
US stocks
Moneybox provides access to a selection of US stocks but only via the ISA. It’s important to remember that when you buy US stocks, you will incur an
One of the things that makes Moneybox stand out is its access to
Moneybox also offers a tool called Weekly Stocks. This allows you to invest a set amount of money every week into the stocks of your choice rather than just investing a lump sum at the start. Effectively, this means you will be drip-feeding your money into the market, which can help smooth out market volatility and avoid buying shares when the price is high.
Socially responsible investing (ESG)
Moneybox offers two ways to invest in line with your values. One is to buy into one of their socially responsible Starting Options (there are three available, one in each risk category) or you can take the initiative to build your own ESG portfolio from their range of funds.
Savings accounts
In addition to their range of investment products, Moneybox has a good range of savings accounts, which includes the Cash ISA with the second highest rate in the UK (true at the time of writing this review; please check the Moneybox website for up-to-date rates) after Plum who just manage to take top spot with a rate of 5.19%.
Rates are as follows:
It is important to note that the Cash ISA rate of 5.16% is only applicable for the first 12 months of opening your account, after which time the bonus rate of 0.91% is lost and your rate will drop to 4.25%.
In addition, while testing the platform I noticed that the rate on my cash ISA changed to 5.19% which is obviously more than the rate advertised to new customers.
Money-saving tools
As mentioned previously, Moneybox is aimed at those who historically struggle to save (there are enough of us out there). They have a range of tools designed to make saving painless, including round-ups where each time you spend, the app rounds up the transaction to the nearest pound and puts this amount to one side. There is also a payday boost option where you select an amount and date to automatically leave your account.
I’m going to be honest; if this is your primary reason for using this account, then I personally prefer the algorithms used at Plum, which use AI to determine an amount based on your income and expenditure. This ensures you are never left short and you won’t notice the small amounts leaving your account. However, you won’t get all the products and investments at Plum (that’s not to say there aren’t very decent investment options there) that you can access at Moneybox, in particular the LISA.
Ready-made portfolio performance
As mentioned, Moneybox’s ready-made portfolios have performed well when compared to their robo-advisor counterparts. So if you are looking for an uncomplicated way to start investing, with a low minimum starting amount and handy tools to help you grow your pot quickly, then this is a decent option. But just remember that this data looks great when compared to other robo-advisors; however, when you compare the same data across the whole market and even simple tracker funds, the results are less favourable.
Lowest risk portfolio for cautious investors – 5-year average 10.8%
Medium risk portfolio for confident investors looking for a balanced portfolio – 5-year average 22.8%
High-risk portfolio for adventurous investors – 5-year average 44.4%
Here’s how the
This is in line with the performance of their non ESG funds and represents decent returns for ready-made portfolios.
Best fund with upside potential – Global Technology Shares (Legal & General Global Technology Acc.)
Although past performance shouldn’t serve as an indicator of future gains, we have adequate reason to believe that the Legal & General Global Technology fund has the potential to continue its outperformance against its peers over the long term.
This is because the fund’s top holdings consist of numerous blue-chip names that have not only shown their ability to grow their bottom lines (and thus their share prices) over the past two decades, but also have incredibly bright growth prospects in the medium to long term. We like this fund because its top 10 holdings contain a variety of growth and blue-chip names, which should help to provide some stability during times of volatility while piggybacking on a promising growth trajectory for tech stocks.
Among its many growth names are NVIDIA, TSMC, and Microsoft, which are projected to grow their earnings at an average rate of 16.2% over the next three years. This is well balanced with steadier stalwarts such as Apple, ASML, and Alphabet, who, although they do not have as hefty growth projections, are still expected to grow their earnings at a healthy rate. More importantly, the latter group of stocks is trading at much cheaper valuations than the former group. As such, we believe this will help protect the fund from experiencing tremendous downside risks while enjoying the upside potential of handsome earnings growth.
Best value fund – Global Technology Shares (VanEck Semiconductor)
While the extensive list of funds provided by Moneybox makes this a difficult choice, the VanEck Semiconductor Fund stands out the most to us. Although there are other funds that arguably offer better value given their lower
With artificial intelligence (AI) expected to be a meaningful driver in the global economy and stock market for the foreseeable future, those who aren’t keen on directly investing in names that are expensive, such as Microsoft or NVIDIA, may find better comfort in investing in semiconductor manufacturers. These are companies that produce the equipment and chips needed for tech companies such as NVIDIA to fulfil their AI applications. As such, there’s a valid argument that these manufacturers have as much of a slice of the AI pie as their customers do.
Fortunately, most semiconductor companies aren’t trading at expensive valuations. Most semi-stocks had a drastic decline after the pandemic as demand for new devices and gaming applications subsided as the world reopened and inflation began to bite down on discretionary spending. However, things have taken a turn since, with demand for electronic devices starting to recover and high-margin AI chips flooding their order books.
We believe the fund’s top holdings have a diverse range of good-value stocks such as TSMC, Qualcomm, and Intel, which are under-appreciated and undervalued, as well as high-growth names like NVIDIA and AMD. This split should help to balance the fund’s upside potential and downside risks through healthy value diversification. Either way, we see these stocks having plenty of upside potential over the medium term, as we expect them to play a pivotal role in the AI revolution.
4.0out of 5
There’s no web platform here. You either succumb to the app or go elsewhere for your investment needs. Many reviewers have marked Moneybox down for this omission; however, I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. The app is definitely aimed at the generation that wouldn’t be seen dead without a smartphone and can happily conduct most of their affairs on the move.
Mobile app
The mobile app is highly functional and easy to navigate. It is almost childlike in its appearance, but don’t let that put you off. From here, you can deposit, withdraw, save, tap into the tools, invest, and manage your accounts. There is a section called Discover that can provide a breakdown of your account and spending insights, although spending insights are little more than a list of transactions that would be more up-to-date on your actual banking app.
3.5out of 5
The savings accounts are all free – and with the great rate available on their
Fees differ slightly for pension accounts and are as follows:
£0 monthly subscription fee
To put this into perspective for actual costs and give you an idea of how this compares to other robo-advisors – here is a breakdown:
Managed Portfolio annual cost
Please note: all published fees are correct at the time of publication. However, we suggest checking Moneybox's website for the most up-to-date figures.
For larger pots, Moneybox is coming in just higher than Wealthify; however, when you take the portfolio performance into account, this seems worth it.
3.5out of 5
As Moneybox aims to simplify investing for beginners, you wouldn’t expect there to be a great deal of research and tools available. However, they are very transparent about the performance of their portfolios (and with good reason) and they provide a Key Investor Information Document (KIID) on all their funds, which can give you the risk rating, charges, past performance, and objective.
What they don’t do is offer much guidance on how to select your funds or stocks, or even identify your risk profile. You also won’t find any fundamental data, charts, or an economic calendar.
Tools include a very basic calculator that projects your earnings based on your weekly deposits, a mortgage calculator, and a pension calculator. There is also direct access to humans who are qualified mortgage advisors, as well as a mortgage in principle to help you calculate how much you could borrow from a lender.
5.0out of 5
You can trust Moneybox with your investments as they have all the appropriate levels of security in place and consumer funds are held by a third party to ensure they are safe should Moneybox fail. Moneybox is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which ensures they comply with the strict criteria laid out by the FCA.
In addition, clients of Moneybox can rely on compensation of up to £85,000 from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
The only thing missing from the suite of safety features is a banking license; however, I don’t think this should dissuade anyone from using the service.
Account security
There are pins and biometric ID, keeping your account details completely safe while ensuring you can easily access your account.
3.5out of 5
Education is a little thin on the ground; however, this feels in keeping for a platform where the emphasis is on providing a service for savers and investors who would rather just have the whole thing done for them. There is an academy with 8 sections that provide articles and videos on topics such as ‘Why the stock market rises and falls’, ‘The key types of asset classes’, and ‘The benefits of tracker funds', to name a few. What’s missing is anything interactive, such as quizzes to test your knowledge.
All education material is also geared towards those who are complete novices. You will find articles helping savers know when it's time to start investing and updates that include guides to the end of the current tax year.
3.5out of 5
If you navigate past the usual FAQs, which are divided into topics, there is a Contact Us button at the foot of the app. From here, you can access your messages, which contain all the answers to previous enquiries and an option to send a message. Moneybox says they typically reply within 2 days, and that was in keeping with my experiences, but where is the live chat or telephone number Moneybox? Investors often want answers instantly.
That being said, they do get points for courteous and knowledgeable staff.
Moneybox scores an ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot with 4.4 from 1.9k reviews.
5.0out of 5
As you would expect from this type of service, opening and closing your account is a very painless process. Simply download the app from the Apple app store and have your National Insurance Number to hand. You will be asked to verify your email and you can then select the account you wish to open.
It’s a really simple process and shouldn’t take you more than about 10 minutes to complete. However, I am getting increasingly frustrated with the amount of time it takes for funds to appear in your account.
In the interest of giving my account time to demonstrate the functionality of the investment process, I have yet to withdraw my funds from Moneybox. Therefore, I will return to the platform at a later date in order to document that process. In the meantime, I suggest you look at reviews on Trustpilot that mention withdrawals.
Costs: InvestEngine will not be beaten on cost. If low-cost is your primary concern, then you should head there.
Accounts: InvestEngine is a great choice for anyone looking for a business account but they can’t compete with the wide range of account choices at Moneybox with their
Investments: Moneybox provides access to direct shares, tracker funds and ETFs, whereas InvestEngine is restricted to ETFs only.
Performance: As InvestEngine has refused to provide any performance data for their portfolios, it’s impossible to say who wins in this category. However, we can ascertain that Moneybox’s portfolios have performed well, and they offer access to some high-performing tracker funds and ETFs.
Costs: Moneyfarm is actually fairly low cost for their passively managed portfolios, but sadly, they don’t perform as well as Moneybox and in this instance, I believe it is worth the extra cost to access better returns.
Accounts: Moneybox comes up trumps for account choices with its
Investments: Moneybox outshines Moneyfarm with its access to direct shares, tracker funds and ETFs. Conversely, Moneyfarm doesn't provide access to any sort of DIY investing.
Performance: The numbers don’t lie, and for the past 5 years, the performance of Moneybox’s
Costs: Both of these platforms offer a percentage-based fee so as your pot grows, these costs will become more important. Nutmeg is slightly cheaper than Moneybox, with a £500 portfolio rising from £35 per annum to £50.13.
Accounts: Both of these platforms offer a
Investments: Both of these platforms offer
Performance: There is no competition here. When you compare all the ready-made portfolios' 5-year historical performance, Moneybox wins hands down.
Moneybox is a great platform if you are completely new to investing and need help saving a pot of money to invest with. They are my top pick for ready-made funds in the robo-advisor space, as their historical performance has outstripped the competition.
Your money is completely safe with Moneybox, although it is important that you are aware that investing comes with its own risks and that the value of your investment can go down as well as up.
Have a question about Moneybox that we haven't covered? Ask it here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!