Freetrade has launched its new Junior Stocks and Shares ISA (JISA), giving parents and guardians a new way to invest for their children ahead of the tax year deadline. In this guide, we test and review Freetrade’s new Junior Stocks & Shares ISA to see if it is a good way to invest for your children.
Freetrade's Junior ISA is an excellent way to start investing for your children.
Account: Freetrade Junior Stocks & Shares ISA
Description: Freetrade's Junior ISA is now available across all Freetrade plans and allows commission-free investing in more than 7,000 UK and global investments. These include stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds and UK Treasury Bills, giving families access to a broad range of markets through a tax-efficient wrapper.
Is Freeetrade's Junior ISA any good?
Yes, we rate Freetrade’s JISA as an excellent way to invest for your children based on low fees, a wide market range and an easy-to-use app.
Pricing: Excellent – there are no account fees, no dealing commission, but the FX rate for converting GBP into USD is 0.99%. But fair enough, they have to make some money somewhere.
Market Access: Excellent – lots of UK, US and international shares to buy for your kids, which means you can buy brands like Nike, Apple and Snapchat, that they can follow.
For those who just want a set-and-forget investment strategy for their kids, there are also some ready-made portfolios with different levels of risk provided by Vanguard. Plus, if you are of the digital asset persuasion, you can also invest in cryptocurrency for your children through crypto ETNs.
App & Platform: Super simple to use, I set up a new JISA in under 2 minutes whilst testing it.
The only downside is that only the registered contact can make deposits, so there is no link to send to grandparents, family, and friends for contributions. App charting is good and you can also see what is popular among other investors who use Freetrade.
Customer Service: There is of course, an AI chatbot (Freeda) on the app, which did answer my question about the contribution link. When I was testing customer service and asked to be put through to a human agent, I was given a time frame of 2-3 days, which really should be better.
Research & Analysis: There is a quite cool insights tab that shows you where you are invested and can help you build a diversified portfolio. On the share price screens, you get some basic fundamental info like market cap and dividend yield, but to get the analyst ratings and more data, you need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Pros
- Zero account fees
- Commission-free dealing
- Recurring orders
- Wide range of investments
Cons
- Limited research & analysis
- Deposits only from the registered contact
- High FX conversion fees
- Pricing (4.5)
- Market Access (5)
- App & Platform (5)
- Customer Service (4)
- Research & Analysis (4)
Overall
4.5
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.