Robo advisors are digital investment platforms that help you build a long-term investment portfolio. They do this by matching your investment objectives with relevant premade ETF portfolios or funds.
As that’s automated, they are cheaper than wealth managers.
Through hands-on analysis, Good Money Guide has reviewed and ranked the UK’s best robo-advisors.
These are all regulated by the FCA for your peace of mind.
Wealthify: Robo-Investing From Just £1
- Investments: 5 pre-made portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension, JISA
- Costs: 0.6%
Wealthify, part of the Aviva Group, lets you invest in either an original portfolio of investments from the UK and overseas or choose an ethical investment plan made from a blend of environmentally and socially responsible investments.
Wealthify Review
Name: Wealthify
Description: Wealthify is a digital wealth manager or “robo-advisor” that offers low-cost pre-made portfolios through their Original or Ethical investment plans. Wealthify is now owned by Aviva, and customers can set their own risk/reward threshold and invest through a general investment account, stocks and shares ISA, junior ISA or pension.
Capital at risk
Why we like it
- Investments: 5 pre-made portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension, JISA
- Costs: 0.6%
Fees: 0.6% of portfolio value. There are also investment costs of on average 0.16% for original plans and 0.7% for ethical plans.
Wealthify is a great investment option for people that want a simple low-cost investment account. They offer pre-made diverse portfolios to invest in where you can set your own goals, risks and potential returns.
Pros
- Owned by Aviva
- Simple investment options
- Low-cost
Cons
- Cannot buy individual shares
-
Pricing
(4.5)
-
Market Access
(4)
-
Online Platform
(5)
-
Customer Service
(5)
-
Research & Analysis
(4)
Overall
4.5Nutmeg: Best UK Robo-Advisor
Approved by Nutmeg on the 11 September 2023
- Investments: 5 investment styles are made up of 34 individual portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension, JISA, LISA
- Management fee: 0.75% to 0.45%
Capital at risk. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future
J.P. Morgan owned Nutmeg won our award for best robo-advisor in 2023, 2022 and 2021 as they offer one of the simplest ways to start investing with either a standard account, stocks and shares ISA or pension. Nutmeg can also be credited with leading the way in taking managed investing online.
Nutmeg Review
Name: Nutmeg
Description: Nutmeg were among the first digital wealth managers set up in the UK, known as “robo-advisors”. Despite the term robo-advisors being used, it is an investment team that makes the investment decisions. The term robo-advisors refers more to taking the process of building a diverse portfolio automatically online.
Capital at risk. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
Is Nutmeg any good for investing?
Yes, Nutmeg is very easy and low-cost way to invest in a range of diverse pre-made portfolios created by experts and are part of J.P. Morgan.
- Investments: 5 investment styles are made up of 34 individual portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension, JISA, LISA
- Management fee: 0.75% to 0.45%
Fees: Nutmeg charge 0.75% for their managed portfolios which drops to 0.35% for balances over £100k. For their fixed allocation portfolios, they charge 0.45% dropping to 0.25% for balances over £100k. For all portfolios, there is an addition charged by the investment fund manager of around 0.2% and the market spread on buying and selling portfolios is currently between 0.04% and 0.09%. More information on fees and products can be found here.
Pros
- Great for beginners
- Risk-based funds
- Socially Responsible Portfolios
Cons
- High £500 minimum investment
- 0.75%* account fee higher than Wealthify
- Cannot invest in individual shares
-
Pricing
(4)
-
Market Access
(3.5)
-
Online Platform
(5)
-
Customer Service
(5)
-
Research & Analysis
(3.5)
Overall
4.2IG: Robo-Investing With Smart Portfolios
- Investments: 5 pre-made portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension
- Costs: 0.5%
IG Smart Portfolio Review
Product Name: IG Smart Portfolio
Product Description: IG in conjunction with Blackrock, has created create a series of five smart diversified investment style portfolios including stocks, bonds and commodities that range from conservative through to aggressive risk/reward.
Summary
IG Smart portfolios are a great way to invest in pre-made managed portfolios with one of the UK’s largest investing and trading platforms.
Pros
- Cheaper than other robo-advisors
- Blackrock investment style
- Diversified portfolios
Cons
- Erratic performance
- A high minimum of £500
-
Pricing
(4)
-
Market Access
(4)
-
Online Platform
(4.5)
-
Customer Service
(4)
-
Research & Analysis
(4)
Overall
4.1Moneyfarm: Excellent Choice Of Risk-Based Portfolios
- Investments: 7 pre-made portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension, JISA
- Costs: 0.75% to 0.6%
Capital at risk.
Moneyfarm is a very simple way to invest and offers guidance from experienced professionals backed by ongoing digital investment advice so you can feel confident about your investments.
Moneyfarm Review
Name: Moneyfarm Review
Description: Moneyfarm is a digital wealth manager that aims to make personal investing simple and accessible. It was launched initially in Italy in 2012 by Italian bankers Paolo Galvani and Giovanni Dapra and entered the UK in 2016 and has big-name financial backers such as Allianz Global Investors, Cabot Square Capital, United Ventures and Poste Italiane.
Is Moneyfarm any good?
Yes, Moneyfarm is more of a digital wealth manager rather than a robo-advisor as the portfolios are put together by investment managers, rather than automatically. The automation, as it where, is fine-tuning your portfolio to match your risk/reward choices. As opposed to other robo advisors you can also top-up your portfolio with individual shares and ETFs.
- Investments: 7 pre-made portfolios
- Account types: GIA, ISA, Pension, JISA
- Costs: 0.75% to 0.6%
Fees: Moneyfarm charges 0.75% to 0.6% up to £100k then 0.45% to 0.35% over £100k. Moneyfarm investing account fees are scaled between 0.75% for accounts between £500 and £50,000, then above £100k are 0.45% to 0.35%. Average investment fund fees are 0.2% and the average market spread when buying and selling is 0.10%.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Low fees
- Diverse portfolios
Cons
- High £500 minimum investment
- 0.75%* account fee is relatively high
- No individual US shares available
-
Pricing
(4)
-
Market Access
(4)
-
Online Platform
(5)
-
Customer Service
(5)
-
Research & Analysis
(4)
Overall
4.4✔️Here’s how the Good Money Guide team chose the best UK robo-advisor accounts:
- Analysis of over 17,000 votes in the annual Good Money Guide awards
- Hands-on, deep dive into the robo-advisor platforms with our own money
- Detailed comparison of the stand-out features
- Our exclusive interviews with the robo-advisor CEOs and senior management
What Is A Robo-Advisor?
A robo-advisor is an investment platform that automatically invests your money in a pre-made portfolio of diverse investments. These allow you to invest in a small selection of ETFs or funds. These are normally repackaged with friendlier names than the original basic underlying fund.
The product range that you can invest in using a robo-adviser is not as broad as if you were investing with a human wealth manager. As technology simplifies the choice to the basic risk and ethical options, a broader fund is offered rather than individual investment choices.
To invest with a robo-investor, you will have to pick which funds you like in their portfolio and assign some of your long-term investment portfolio to it.
Robo-advisors are not actually robots. The portfolios have been chosen by investment managers and given risk and geotags so that the choices you input on the website are matched to appropriate investments.
For example, robo-advisor Wealthify builds its client portfolios by allocating to low-cost ETFs, whilst rival Nutmeg offers fixed allocations to a range of funds based on risk appetite. These are then regularly rebalanced based on the price performance of the underlying assets.
Robo-advisors are suitable investment accounts for those that don’t want to make their own investment decisions and are happy to buy into a pre-made portfolio of diverse investments through a general investment account, stocks and shares ISA or pension.
Is Investing With A Robo-Advisor A Good Ddea?
Robo advisors are most appropriate for beginners who are new to investing. They provide a quick, cheap and simple way to set up long-term investment accounts like stocks and shares ISAs or private pensions.
Pros & Cons Of Robo-Investing
Pros
- Cheap – robo-advisors are a form of passive fund management as they invest in trackers called ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These need less human interaction from a fund manager, which makes them cheaper investment products.
- Low minimum investment – you can invest as little as £1 with a robo-advisor when you open an account
- Easy – robo-advisors have pre-made diverse portfolios meaning you buy a range of investments in different countries, markets and sectors in one go. This means that if you are not an experienced enough investor to pick your own investments, the platform does it for you.
Cons
- Lack of choice – you cannot invest in individual shares. With robo-advisors you can only buy into pre-made portfolios. Whilst some robo-advisors like Wealthify allow you to increase or decrease your risk/reward ratio of a portfolio, if you want to buy shares in a specific company you need a share dealing account.
- No advice – even though robo-advisors like to call themselves digital wealth managers, they are unable to provide advice or recommendations on what to buy or sell, or even provide guidance on what to do in a bear market. If you want advice on your investments, you need a traditional wealth manager.
- Cost – despite robo-advisors being cheaper than wealth managers, they are still more expensive than DIY investment platforms. For example, the cost to hold ETFs with AJ Bell is 0.25% capped at £3.50 per month, compared to the cheapest wealth manager Wealthify, which charges 0.6%. Of course, with DIY investment platforms, you have to choose your own investments, whereas robo-adviors are more expensive because they do the hard work for you.
Compare Our Top-Rated UK Robo-Advisors
| Robo Advisor | Fees | GIA | ISA | Pension | JISA | LISA | GMG Rating | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 0.6% | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | See Portfolios Capital at Risk |
|
 | 0.75% – 0.35% | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | See Portfolios Capital at Risk |
|
| 0.75% – 0.25% | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | See Portfolios Capital at Risk |
|
| 0% – 0.5% | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | See Portfolios Capital at Risk |
✔️ We Only Recommend FCA-Regulated Robo Advisors
All robo-advisors that operate in the UK must be regulated by the FCA. The FCA is the Financial Conduct Authority. They ensure UK digital wealth managers are properly capitalised, treat customers fairly and have sufficient compliance systems.
Not only are our top picks FCA-regulated, but you are also protected by the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).
What Is The Cheapest Robo-Advisor?
If you are investing under £10,000 IG’s Smart Portfolios are the cheapest robo-advisor with account fees of just 0.5%. There are also no fees for portfolios above £50,000.
Robo advisor costs are based on the size of your investment portfolio with them. There are generally no dealing fees for when you buy and sell funds within the platform. The current costs for starting out with less than £10,000 on some of the best robo-advisors platforms in the UK are:
- IG – 0.5%
- Wealthify – 0.6%
- Nutmeg – 0.75%
- Moneyfarm – 0.75%
Investing with a robo-advisor is cheaper than a traditional wealth manager as the process is automated, but there are still fees and costs to consider including:
- Account fee – charged as a percentage of the funds you hold on account
- Ongoing fund management charges – this is charged on top of your account fee and is the cost the fund manager charges for managing the ETFs and funds in your portfolio.
- Exit fees – in some cases you are charged a fee for withdrawing funds. However, this is less common with robo-advisors
- Dealing fees – this is the cost charged every time you buy and sell an investment. However, these are less common now as robo-advisors become more competitive
Robo-advisor fees also depend on the level of investment as the more you invest the lower your fees will be. This comparison table of robo-advisor fees below outlines the key differences between the provider’ costs:
| Investment amount | Moneyfarm | Nutmeg Fully Managed Portfolio | IG | Wealthify |
| Up to £10,000 | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.50% | 0.60% |
| £10,001 – £50,000 | 0.60% | 0.75% | 0.50% | 0.60% |
| £50,001 – £100,000 | 0.50% | 0.75% | 0.50% | 0.60% |
| £100,000 + | 0.35% | 0.35% | 0.0% | 0.60% |
| Average investment fund fee | 0.20 | 0.19% | 0.15% | 0.16% |
Annual cost of investing (Including average fund fees but excluding market spread which varies among platforms) | Moneyfarm | Nutmeg Fully Managed Portfolio | IG | Wealthify |
| Up to £10,000 | £95 | £94 | £50 | £76 |
| £50,000 | £415 | £470 | £50 | £380 |
| £100,000 | £855 | £940 | £50 | £760 |
Which UK Robo-Advisor Has The Best Returns?
Our analysis shows that Nutmeg’s portfolios perform best, however, all the returns were pretty average relative to a global tracker!
Here you can compare the performance of four of the most popular robo-advisors – Nutmeg, Wealthify, IG, and Moneyfarm.
Comparing the long-term returns of different robo-advisors isn’t easy. This is due to the fact that not all companies provide access to the latest performance data. For instance, InvestEngine does not show historical data and Wealthify doesn’t list Jan-Dec calendar performance data on its website. When I called them up they said they didn’t have it.
To standardise the data, we looked at the returns from the different providers in each calendar year between 2019 and 2023. This allowed us to obtain five-year performance figures.
Below, we reveal the annual performance for each robo-advisor provider. We also show how much a £1,000 investment in each product would have grown over the five-year period.
Nutmeg
For Nutmeg, we have focused on its ‘fully managed’ portfolios. Here, it has 10 portfolios with different risk levels where level 1 is conservative and level 10 is aggressive. Performance net of fees is listed below.
| Risk level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 2023 | 5.2 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 9.7 | 10.4 | 11.3 | 12.2 | 12.6 |
| 2022 | -5.4 | -8.6 | -10.4 | -12.2 | -13.2 | -12.6 | -11.6 | -11 | -10.5 | -9.6 |
| 2021 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 5.3 | 7.5 | 9.9 | 12.7 | 15.4 | 18.1 | 19.6 |
| 2020 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 7.2 |
| 2019 | 1.2 | 5.3 | 7.4 | 9.0 | 11.1 | 12.8 | 15.1 | 17.0 | 18.4 | 18.7 |
| £1k would have grown to | £1,024 | £1,075 | £1,108 | £1,147 | £1,197 | £1,262 | £1,347 | £1,423 | £1,502 | £1,549 |
With this robo-advisor, £1,000 in the most aggressive portfolio at the start of 2019 would have grown to £1,549 by the end of 2023.
Wealthify
For Wealthify, we have focused on its ‘original’ funds (it also offers ethical funds). Here, it has five different funds with different risk levels. Performance net of fees is listed below.
| Risk level | Cautious | Tentative | Confident | Ambitious | Adventurous |
| 2023 | 4.7 | 6.2 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 11.3 |
| 2022 | -11.2 | -10.8 | -10.3 | -9.4 | -9.1 |
| 2021 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 12.8 |
| 2020 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| 2019 | 6.4 | 9.4 | 11.9 | 14.4 | 17.1 |
| £1k would have grown to | £1,021 | £1,117 | £1,211 | £1,307 | £1,405 |
With this provider, £1,000 in the most aggressive portfolio would have grown to £1,405 over the five-year period.
Moneyfarm
For Moneyfarm, we have focused on its seven non-ESG managed portfolios. Performance net of fees is shown below.
| Risk level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2023 | 4.6 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 9 | 10.3 | 11.5 | 12.4 |
| 2022 | -8.1 | -9 | -9.3 | -9 | -11.5 | -11.7 | -12.3 |
| 2021 | -1.5 | 2.7 | 5.8 | 8.8 | 11.3 | 13.9 | 16.6 |
| 2020 | -0.2 | 2 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 4.9 | 6.3 | 6.3 |
| 2019 | 2.9 | 6.6 | 9.5 | 11.7 | 14.6 | 16.5 | 19.8 |
| £1k would have grown to | £972 | £1,084 | £1,168 | £1,240 | £1,306 | £1,389 | £1,464 |
Here, £1,000 invested in the highest risk option with their robo-advisor would have grown to £1,464.
IG
As for IG’s robo-advisor products, it has five ‘Smart Portfolios’. Performance before fees is listed below.
| Risk level | Conservative | Moderate | Balanced | Growth | Aggressive |
| 2023 | 4.3 | 6 | 8.9 | 10.8 | 12.5 |
| 2022 | -5.6 | -9.4 | -11.4 | -11.9 | -12.2 |
| 2021 | -0.4 | 3.4 | 8.8 | 13.5 | 18.2 |
| 2020 | 2.0 | 7.4 | 9.2 | 11.4 | 10.9 |
| 2019 | 3.6 | 10.0 | 14.1 | 17.0 | 19.4 |
| £1k would have grown to | £1,036 | £1,173 | £1,308 | £1,444 | £1,546 |
With IG, £1,000 invested in the Aggressive fund would have grown to £1,546 before fees. Fees are 0.72% per year.
Robo-Advisors Versus DIY Investing
From our robo-advisor portfolio analysis, Nutmeg was the winner. Over the five-year period to the end of 2023, its highest risk fully managed fund produced the best returns with an £1,000 investment growing to £1,549.
However, while Nutmeg’s robo-advisor product delivered attractive returns, it’s worth pointing out that a £1,000 investment in a basic global tracker fund would have most likely produced significantly higher returns.
Here’s a look at the returns for the iShares Core MSCI World UCITs fund for the same period.
| Year | Return (%) |
| 2023 | 23.9 |
| 2022 | -18.0 |
| 2021 | 21.9 |
| 2020 | 15.9 |
| 2019 | 27.8 |
| £1k would have grown to | £1,834 |
The figure of £1,834 is before fund and platform fees. However, it is significantly higher than the figures from Nutmeg and the other robo-advisors.
This suggests that for those seeking high long-term returns, investing in this kind of fund through a low cost platform such as Interactive Investor could be a good option.
Robo-Advisors Versus Wealth Managers
The main difference between robo-advisors and wealth managers is that with a robo advisor, the process is automated. The underlying service is the same – they both help you invest in funds that track the stock market. The underlying portfolios of those who invest with a robo-advisor and a wealth manager will actually look quite similar.
The difference is that with a robo advisor, you do it all online, by inputting your preferences into a website. With a wealth manager, you can decide what to invest in via face-to-face meetings, phone calls or video chats.
The obvious difference is that robo-advisors are not human however they are an alternative or extension to the services provided by IFA’s and wealth managers rather than direct competitors to them. However that might change in the future as automated systems become more intelligent and autonomous.
Robo-Advisor FAQs:
No. There are no guarantees with investing or any Robo-Advisors will be any more or any less successful than wealth managers. Most robo-advisor portfolios track the stock market, so if the stock market (FTSE 100) goes up you make money, if it goes down you lose money.
Robo advisors make money by charging customers a percentage of the money they hold in their portfolio.
Yes, you can lose money when investing with a robo-advisor. As with all investing it is possible to get back more than you put in if the investments in your portfolio underperform. As robo-advisors generally invest in ETFs that track the performance of stock markets and sectors your returns are linked to how well the stock market is doing as a whole.
No. Cryptocurrency is a very high-risk asset class and robo-advisors in the UK are for low to medium-risk investing in the long term. It is possible that some shares, and ETFs in a robo-advisor portfolio may have exposure to companies that are involved in the cryptocurrency sector though.
No. Robo-advisors do not offer SIPP accounts becuase you cannot invest in individual stocks to choose your own investments. If you want to save and invest for your retirement they do offer private pension accounts.
