CMC Invest Review: Low cost but limited options

CMC Invest is the easy-to-use investment solution brought to market by the long-established trading platform CMC Markets.

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Best Cash ISA

By Antonia Medlicott

Published: June 18, 2024
Edited by: Clare West
Last Update: 2 months ago

Fact Checked

Best for UK investors

FCA approved

Insiders score

More info

This is the score our team have awarded the platform based on our own personal experiences and other important factors, such as fees and ease of use.

3.5out of 5

First 12 months free for premium plans

Earn up to £1,000 when you transfer a minimum of £25,000 into any CMC Invest account.

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Investments involve risks and are not suitable for all investors. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

3.5out of 5

First 12 months free for premium plans

Earn up to £1,000 when you transfer a minimum of £25,000 into any CMC Invest account.

Visit Platform

Antonia's view

The Verdict

Those happy with a general investment account will find good value here, however 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 info

and 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 fundpension info

investors with a small starting pot will find the flat fee structure very expensive while investors with some investment knowledge would be better served at a platform like Trading 212 where they will benefit from a greater selection of assets and a more favourable pricing structure.

Paying 2% interest on cash balances also doesn’t compete with Trading 212's interest rate on cash which is currently 4.05% AER.

New investors will enjoy the simplicity of the platform whilst still accessing a decent number of assets.

Very easy to use
Top-paying Cash ISA available
Low cost for a general investment account
Partnership with Finimize in the Learning Hub

Reasons to avoid

Very expensive for small investment pots for ISA and SIPP
Fairly limited selection of assets
0.5% FX on the general investment account
No fully managed portfolios for new investors

Verdict3.0
Fees2.5
Trading Platform4.5
Account Opening4.5
Research3
Safety5
Education3.5
Customer Service
Portfolio View
Promotions

Antonia's view

Verdict
3.0
Those happy with a general investment account will find good value here, however 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 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 fundpension investors with a small starting pot will find the flat fee structure very expensive while investors with some investment knowledge would be better served at a platform like Trading 212 where they will benefit from a greater selection of assets and a more favourable pricing structure.

Paying 2% interest on cash balances also doesn’t compete with Trading 212's interest rate on cash which is currently 4.05% AER.

New investors will enjoy the simplicity of the platform whilst still accessing a decent number of assets.

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Reasons to use
Very easy to use
Top-paying Cash ISA available
Low cost for a general investment account
Partnership with Finimize in the Learning Hub
Reasons to avoid
Very expensive for small investment pots for ISA and SIPP
Fairly limited selection of assets
0.5% FX on the general investment account
No fully managed portfolios for new investors
Fees:
2.5
There are three plans to choose from here. Both paid plans offer a promotion of 12 months free. After that time you will be faced with some fairly hefty subscription fees.

Core plan - £0
- General Investment Account
- 2% interest on cash balances
- FX fee 0.50%-0.99%
Plus Plan - ££6.99
- General Investment Account
- Stocks and Shares ISA
- Everything in Core
- USD & EUR Wallets in the GIA
- FX fee 0.5%
Premium Plan - £10.99 per month
- General Investment Account
- Stocks and Shares ISA
- Self-Invested Personal Pension
- Everything in Core
- USD & EUR Wallets in the GIA
- FX fee 0.39%
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Trading Platform:
4.5
I enjoyed the simplicity of this platform. Even a complete novice will feel comfortable here.
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Reasons to use
Excellent app
Reasons to avoid
No desktop or web platform
Account Opening:
4.5

Opening an account is very quick and easy. You will need to choose which plan you intend to use and this decision will lie with the account type you require.
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Research:
3
This is a proposition aimed at complete beginners and therefore research is a little thin on the ground. If you do decide to invest using ETFs or funds, there is a standard amount of information available from the KIID document or a research tab that provides information.
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Reasons to use
Morningstar ratings
training performance
rolling performance
Fund management
Reasons to avoid
No economic calender
No interactive graphs
Safety:
5
You do not need to be concerned about safety here. All the appropriate levels of authorisation are in place and CMC Invest is part of the CMC group, including CMC Markets, which has been established for a long time.

More information on CMC Markets Group and whether this platform might be a good addition to your portfolio can be found here:

CMC Markets Group: Company performance analysis
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Reasons to use
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
Protection by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Education:
3.5
For those completely new to investing, there are some decent educational articles including a collaboration with Finimize who have an informative but engaging style that I have always enjoyed.

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Reasons to use
Finimize articles in the learning hub
Reasons to avoid
No quizzes
No seminars
No video content
No blogs
Customer Service:
0
There is a messaging service from within the app, however, there is no indication of how long you may have to wait for a reply. My own experience was a reply within 30 minutes which is decent.
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Reasons to use
In app messaging service
Reasons to avoid
No live chat
No telephone support
Portfolio View

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Promotions

£0 for 12 months

Upgrade to the Plus and Premium plans and pay zero fees for the first 12 months. Terms and conditions apply so be sure to check the CMC Invest website.

Earn up to £1,000 when you transfer a minimum of £25,000 into any CMC Invest account. T&Cs apply.

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CMC Invest Review

Recommended in

By Antonia Medlicott

Antonia's view

The Verdict

Reasons to use

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Fees

Trading Platform

Reasons to use

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Account Opening

Research

Reasons to use

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Safety

Reasons to use

Education

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Customer Service

Reasons to use

Reasons to avoid

Portfolio View

Promotions

Antonia's view

Who do I recommend it for?

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