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Wealthyhood: Simple app that’s good on pricing – but no ISA and no ready-made solutions

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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.

4.0out of 5

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Wealthyhood is a wealth-building app designed to make it easy for Millennials to save, invest and build wealth. It currently only has a general investment account but offers a good range of stocks, ETFs and MMFs.

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By Clare West

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4.0out of 5

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Clare's view

The Verdict

Wealthyhood offers a good range of stocks, ETFs money market funds (MMF). A MMF is a kind of mutual fund, and although you can still grow your investments, they're considered more low-risk investments and are therefore often used to store cash or save for short-term goals. It's a nice selection that will appeal to Wealthyhood's target audience of Millennials wanting to get some money invested. If you decide to branch out as an investor though, you'll end up needing to switching platforms though as there are no bonds, gilts, other mutual funds, investment trusts, IPOs or crypto trading, for example.

Pricing is good. The Basic plan comes with a 0.18% service charge, which is low but it's not a free account as is sometimes suggested. You'll also need to pay a relatively high FX rate (0.75%) to trade in overseas stocks/ETFs with the Basic account, so it could work out more expensive than an account at Dodl, for example, where the service fee is 0.15% and FX fees are 0.50%. As the other plans are subscription-based, these work out better value the more you have invested so small portfolio-holders might feel short-changed, while larger scale investors could discover Wealthyhood is a bargain.

My main problem is that there is no ISA, and no personal pension. Currently, your only option is to invest through a general investment account which means you miss out of all those lovely tax benefits that come with 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 ISAsinfo 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 fundSIPPsinfo.

My other issue is that there's no ready-made portfolios - which would seem like a sensible option to offer those who are new to investing. You can create a portfolio either by starting from scratch, selecting individual stocks, ETFs or MMFs for yourself, or by using the portfolio builder tool to direct the app to choose the kinds of assets you want to hold. But even with the portfolio builder tool, you still need to understand what kinds of assets, sectors and geographies you want to invest in, and how to manage them. That requires a certain level of confidence which I'd suggest doesn't match with Wealthyhood's desired aim to appeal to absolute beginners. (Dodl or a robo-advice platform such as Moneybox might be better if that's you.)

Research tools are better than average if you're a beginner, but, as I say, you'll need to be a relatively confident beginner for Wealthyhood to be a good fit.
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quote

Pros

  • Low cost platform
  • Simple investing for beginners
  • Fractional shares
  • Investing from £1
  • Automated investing
  • Up to 4.69% interest with easy access through a Money Market Fund
quote

Cons

  • Cannot invest through an ISA
  • Only a general investment account
  • No ready-made portfolios
  • No bonds, gilts, investment trusts, mutual funds (other than MMFs)
  • Need to be confident picking investment assets yourself
  • No personal pension/SIPP
  • FX fees for Basic account holders are expensive (0.75%)
  • Verdict4.0
  • Fees4.0
  • Trading Platform3.5
  • Research4.0
  • Safety5.0
  • Education3.0
  • Customer Service3.5
  • Corporate Actions2.5

Clare's view

Who do I recommend it for?

arrow-down-orangeRead More
quote

Pros

  • Low cost platform
  • Simple investing for beginners
  • Fractional shares
  • Investing from £1
  • Automated investing
  • Up to 4.69% interest with easy access through a Money Market Fund
quote

Cons

  • Cannot invest through an ISA
  • Only a general investment account
  • No ready-made portfolios
  • No bonds, gilts, investment trusts, mutual funds (other than MMFs)
  • Need to be confident picking investment assets yourself
  • No personal pension/SIPP
  • FX fees for Basic account holders are expensive (0.75%)
  • arrowVerdict
    4.0
  • arrow Fees:
    4.0
  • arrowTrading Platform:
    3.5
  • arrowResearch:
    4.0
  • arrowSafety:
    5.0
  • arrowEducation:
    3.0
  • arrowCustomer Service:
    3.5
  • arrowCorporate Actions
    2.5

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Updates

Who do I recommend Wealthyhood for?

Due to the basic nature of the platform and just three types of assets to choose from, Wealthyhood will suit investors wanting a simple app to start investing with. I’m skeptical it is the best place for absolute beginners, however, as there are no ready-made portfolios and DIY options require a certain amount of investing understanding.

There is also no ISA yet. In most cases, investing through an ISA is always recommended before using a general investment account as there’s no tax due on income or gains earned within an ISA, while general investment accounts are liable for Capital Gains tax (on gains over £3,000) and income tax.

Flat-fee subscription models can work out more costly if you have a small amount invested as they take a larger proportion of your account value in fees. Of course, if you are just starting out, you do have the option of using the Basic account, which is charged using a percentage rate instead here.

Accounts and assets

Accounts

Wealthyhood is yet to bring an ISA to market. That’s a shame as ISAs have significant tax benefits over general investment accounts, which is all that’s currently offered here.

A personal pension and Junior ISA would be nice additions too, but there’s no other choices at the moment.

Assets

Wealthyhood offers a good range of stocks, and ETFs from all asset classes including stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate, different sectors and geographies, as well as money market funds from all around the world.

A money market fund (MMF) is a type of mutual fund that invests in short-term debt securities, cash, and cash equivalents. MMFs are considered low-risk investments and are often used to store cash or save for short-term goals. With Wealthyhood you can earn a healthy amount of interest by investing into these MMFs, while still allowing growth and keeping your money on the safer side.

You can create your portfolio either by starting from scratch, selecting individual stocks or ETFs for yourself, or by using the portfolio builder tool to direct the app to choose the kinds of assets you want to hold. If you’re looking for a ready-made option, this isn’t it. You still need to direct the app with what kinds of assets, sectors and geographies you want to hold so this isn’t for you if you’re a total beginner. You need a certain level of confidence to make those decisions.

That’s a problem though because the basic nature of the research tools means this isn’t ideal for very experienced DIYers either. So it’s probably best-suited for those who are somewhere in between; those with a small amount of experience but still wanting simplicity.

FAQs

Yes, Wealthyhood is safe. It is regulated by the FCA and covered by FSCS protection up to £85,000 per person. Your assets are kept segregated from Wealthyhood’s own and, unlike some other investment firms, with Wealthyhood you are the legal owner of all your investments and cash holdings and assets. That means, they do not use your uninvested cash in any way or lend your assets to any third party to make money, which can be a worry with some of the low-cost platforms.

Yes, Wealthyhood offers a low-cost investing model. There’s a subscription-free Basic account where you’ll pay 0.18% in service fees. That’s low. For the paid accounts, there’s no service fees and lower FX fees. It comes out as an inexpensive option in our analysis.

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