Bestinvest Review: The Best Thing About Investing Online, Is Not Having To Invest Online

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What sets Bestinvest apart from other stock brokers is their advice, guidance and added value. A excellent choice for those that want a bit more from their investing account.
Richard Berry
Richard Berry
Good Money Guide Founder

Bestinvest Customer Reviews

4.2
4.2 out of 5 stars (based on 99 reviews)
Excellent58%
Very good21%
Average10%
Poor9%
Terrible2%

Very good

30th June 2024

Very good

Simon Foster

Very good

30th June 2024

Very good

Simon Foster

Been with them for many…

29th June 2024

Been with them for many years. Never failed to obey my wishes

Dennis Rushton

Brilliant, easy to use, efficient

28th June 2024

Brilliant, easy to use, efficient

Sarah McGowan

simple, accesible

26th June 2024

simple, accesible

Jez Etherington

intuative and easy to navigate….

19th June 2024

intuative and easy to navigate. Go App also.

Jim Diack

no comment

19th June 2024

no comment

Ranganathan Iyer

Easy to set up, easy…

18th June 2024

Easy to set up, easy to use. Great customer support and education

Neil Wotherspoon

Very Good

18th June 2024

Very Good

Daniel Toms

Excellent – great customer service….

18th June 2024

Excellent – great customer service. Have consolidated from IQ, Lloyds & SL

Rebecca Froggatt

5/5

18th June 2024
Dan Caps

Lots to offer and useful…

18th June 2024

Lots to offer and useful coaches

david smith

5/5

17th June 2024
Ceyda Phillips

Very good information easy to…

15th June 2024

Very good information easy to access and understand

David Bosworth

Not bad – comms not…

12th June 2024

Not bad – comms not brilliant

john Ball

Great information

7th June 2024

Great information

Lorraine Globe

has got relatively more expensive…

26th May 2024

has got relatively more expensive over time V Interactive Investor

David Gibbon

OK, my investments with them…

24th May 2024

OK, my investments with them are old ones

Alan Thompson

Easy to use

22nd May 2024

Easy to use

Jonathan Davies

Taken over by Evelyn Partners

22nd May 2024

Taken over by Evelyn Partners

Graham Alan March

Fairly new customer but happy…

22nd May 2024

Fairly new customer but happy with service

Christopher McGlone

good all round and improved…

22nd May 2024

good all round and improved since becoming part of Evelyn

Barry Strange

used for SIP

22nd May 2024

used for SIP

Matthew Pountain

Fine

22nd May 2024

Fine

Lyndon Haddon

Great Coaching, Tools & value

20th May 2024

Great Coaching, Tools & value

David Olubuyide

Excellent value for money …

17th May 2024

Excellent value for money – the free coaching is amazing

Amy Morris

Good digital experience supported by…

17th May 2024

Good digital experience supported by expert coaching

Oli Plant

Coaching service is really great,…

17th May 2024

Coaching service is really great, plus portfolio projection tools

Deborah Hollands

4/5

28th February 2023

Pros:

access in one place to etf’s IT’s aand funds and shares

Cons:

the admin staff quality is variable.I have had 2 instances when requesting a new sharee to be put on when nothing happened

GMG Awards Voter: [118255421070]

4/5

27th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118253931845]

4/5

26th February 2023

Pros:

Flexibility

Cons:

DonÔÇÖt use it enough to have any strong opinions

GMG Awards Voter: [118253591536]

4/5

26th February 2023

Pros:

Part of a group

GMG Awards Voter: [118253483647]

4/5

25th February 2023

Pros:

all facilities needed to research and trade in the one place

GMG Awards Voter: [118252904869]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Good analysis

Cons:

Better communication to me

GMG Awards Voter: [118252565572]

2/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

It’s easy to use.

Cons:

I get the impression they are not so interested.

GMG Awards Voter: [118252306273]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Range of funds available

Cons:

Transactions sometimes fail and require putting through manually by customer support

GMG Awards Voter: [118252257607]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

coaching

Cons:

more information on non core funds, feedback on the funds held and adise on better funds

GMG Awards Voter: [118251971330]

2/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118251951694]

3/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

some good ideas

Cons:

investing for income suggestions

GMG Awards Voter: [118251945314]

2/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Cheap

Cons:

Customer service

GMG Awards Voter: [118251939764]

4/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118251932423]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Wide range of instruments

Cons:

Address spread/costs for Bed and ISA

GMG Awards Voter: [118251897582]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118251878656]

4/5

24th February 2023

Cons:

Improve web site

GMG Awards Voter: [118251873203]

5/5

22nd February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118249767711]

3/5

21st February 2023

Pros:

Good

Cons:

Good

GMG Awards Voter: [118249457326]

5/5

21st February 2023

Pros:

No comment

Cons:

­ƒÿî

GMG Awards Voter: [118249406456]

5/5

21st February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118249353779]

4/5

21st February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118249248207]

5/5

18th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118247313173]

5/5

16th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118245831345]

3/5

15th February 2023

Pros:

Good value for money

Cons:

Online experience

GMG Awards Voter: [118245017655]

2/5

15th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118244814956]

4/5

15th February 2023

Pros:

Vcts

GMG Awards Voter: [118244757599]

2/5

15th February 2023

Pros:

Spot the dog

Cons:

Analysis

GMG Awards Voter: [118244692866]

4/5

15th February 2023

Pros:

responds well to request for shares to be added to their current offerings

Cons:

provide access to more funds ,etf’s and Investment Trusts

GMG Awards Voter: [118244636270]

5/5

15th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118244553056]

3/5

15th February 2023

Pros:

Cons:

GMG Awards Voter: [118244549170]

4/5

15th February 2023

Pros:

Good combination of value and information

Cons:

Expensive

GMG Awards Voter: [118244540631]

2/5

15th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118244457589]

2/5

14th February 2023

Pros:

n/a

GMG Awards Voter: [118244012297]

5/5

14th February 2023

Pros:

Free US Share dealing

Cons:

more intermnational shares

GMG Awards Voter: [118243865771]

2/5

14th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118243717202]

3/5

14th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118243702509]

2/5

14th February 2023

Pros:

Don’t know

Cons:

Be the best

GMG Awards Voter: [118243700563]

5/5

10th February 2023

Pros:

Free coaching, competitive RMPs

Cons:

Lower fees

GMG Awards Voter: [118241170642]

5/5

10th February 2023

Pros:

Coaching

Cons:

Smoother app

GMG Awards Voter: [118241061054]

5/5

10th February 2023

Pros:

The client support team are wonderful and knowledgeable. The app is also really handy so it’s always accessible.

Cons:

Add a filter their search to single out ESG funds

GMG Awards Voter: [118241014679]

4/5

8th February 2023

Pros:

Easy to access

GMG Awards Voter: [118239477541]

5/5

6th February 2023

Pros:

ease of use

Cons:

improve stability

GMG Awards Voter: [118237409921]

4/5

5th February 2023

Pros:

Calidad de productos

Cons:

Rebajar precios

GMG Awards Voter: [118236978551]

3/5

4th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118236629711]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

Intuitive App Navigation

GMG Awards Voter: [118235890179]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

User friendly and customer support

Cons:

Nothing coming my mind

GMG Awards Voter: [118235886645]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

layout / choice of funds and investment performance charts

Cons:

show historical transactions

GMG Awards Voter: [118235868809]

5/5

3rd February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118235868160]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

Free Coaching advice

GMG Awards Voter: [118235650717]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

Easy to use and kept well informed

GMG Awards Voter: [118235645306]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

Ease of use

Cons:

More advice

GMG Awards Voter: [118235638935]

5/5

3rd February 2023

Pros:

The personal relationship with their support team.

Cons:

Make it easier to open an account.

GMG Awards Voter: [118235635463]

5/5

3rd February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118235628837]

5/5

3rd February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118235604551]

1/5

2nd February 2023

Pros:

The ease of use and the access to a meeting with a coach

GMG Awards Voter: [118234968936]

5/5

2nd February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118234804526]

5/5

2nd February 2023

Pros:

Ease of use

GMG Awards Voter: [118234757495]

5/5

2nd February 2023

Pros:

Easy to use

Cons:

Communications

GMG Awards Voter: [118234739016]

5/5

2nd February 2023

Pros:

Ease of use and access to great support

Cons:

Keep improving the platform

GMG Awards Voter: [118234726924]

5/5

2nd February 2023

Pros:

Dealing costs

Cons:

Have real time pricing for stocks & shares on all markets

GMG Awards Voter: [118234718647]

5/5

30th January 2023

Pros:

Simple fee structure

Cons:

Improve range of investments but US stocks are coming I understand

GMG Awards Voter: [118231664352]

5/5

30th January 2023

Pros:

Coaching service and the portfolio projection chart

Cons:

Reinstate VCT star ratings

GMG Awards Voter: [118231623842]

5/5

30th January 2023

Pros:

Love the new goal planning tools

Cons:

Add automated share voting

GMG Awards Voter: [118231620852]

5/5

30th January 2023

Pros:

Access to human advice

Cons:

Continue investing in mobile app

GMG Awards Voter: [118231617914]

5/5

30th January 2023

Pros:

The new coaching service

Cons:

Add US shares – apparently coming soon

GMG Awards Voter: [118231615002]

3/5

30th January 2023

Pros:

NIL

Cons:

lower prices

GMG Awards Voter: [118231535807]

4/5

26th January 2023

Pros:

research

Cons:

make it easier for those who cannot access their account

GMG Awards Voter: [118229185339]

5/5

25th January 2023

Pros:

free investment coaching

Cons:

add US shares

GMG Awards Voter: [118227670665]

5/5

25th January 2023

Pros:

The fee coaching and ready made funds!

Cons:

visual recommendation of the stocks and shares graph

GMG Awards Voter: [118227668770]

5/5

25th January 2023

Pros:

New coaching service is excellent

Cons:

Add US equities

GMG Awards Voter: [118227665897]

5/5

16th January 2023

Pros:

the tutorials, and although I didn’t use, the curated portfolios seem excellent for a beginner

GMG Awards Voter: [118220633076]

5/5

16th January 2023

Pros:

Free financial coaching

Cons:

Introduce an app but that has just gone live

GMG Awards Voter: [118220490766]

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Bestinvest Expert Review

For this Bestinvest review, I’ve interviewed the CEO (in the studio and over a lovely lunch at Cobette on Gresham Street) and put some trades and investments on the app and desktop platform. 

Bestinvest Review
Good Money Guide Recommended 2024

Name: Bestinvest

Description: Bestinvest is one of the most established investment platforms in the UK. Bestinvest was founded in 1986 and is now owned by Evelyn Partners (a financial services firm with £52 billion under management). Bestinvest primary offering is low-cost premade portfolios costing as little as 0.2% a year, fund investing and discount UK share dealing.

Is Bestinvest good for investing?

Yes, Bestinvest has combined low-cost online investing and share dealing with personalised expert advice to help clients choose the right investments for their portfolio. A good choice for large long-term investors who want a bit of added value from their broker.

Pros

  • Expert advice
  • Lowest comparable costs
  • Ready-made portfolios

Cons

  • Basic data on platform
  • App a bit clunky
  • No hedging products
  • Pricing
    (5)
  • Market Access
    (4)
  • Online Platform
    (3)
  • Customer Service
    (4.5)
  • Research & Analysis
    (4.5)
Overall
4.2

Bestinvest Review Ratings Explained

  • Pricing: Bestinvest scores top marks for their low-cost ready-made portfolios and cheap dealing fees
  • Market Access: There is a huge range of UK and US shares, bonds and funds to invest in, although they are let down by not offering emerging markets
  • App & Platform: This could be a lot better and the app was only released last year
  • Customer Service: Bestinvest gives excellent personal service, although advice is charged on a flat fee basis
  • Research & Analysis: There is a really good coverage of funds with their ‘Spot the Dog’ report.

Another way to phrase this review title would be that one of the worst things about investing online, is having to invest online…

This is because investing is a fairly solitary activity. Gone are the days of weekly investment club meetings down the pub, or regular lunches with your stock broker. Plus, if you search for information on investing online, it’s awash with social media influencers coaching newbies, not for the purposes of providing financial advice (which they are not allowed to do anyway), but for clicks, likes and views.

Modernisation

I wasn’t going to talk about how the internet has revolutionised investing, because that is almost as outdated spiel as how RDR has discouraged investors from getting advice on their investments. But both are true so I sort of have to talk about it in a review that takes online investing offline.

There are very few legitimate online resources that help people invest their money well. It’s absolutely staggering that TikTok users spend on average 95 minutes a day scrolling through the app, almost double what people spend on Facebook and Instagram*. The worry here is that, particularly after the pandemic and meme stock mania, more and more people are turning to social media for investment advice.

Social Media

It’s genuinely terrifying. I didn’t have TikTok before today, but I downloaded it to see and searched for videos on investing. Hyperbole aside, 20 minutes later, I looked up after having been hypnotised by a series of kids selling the dream.

It’s a trend, that has even worried Google, as people look to videos to answer questions rather than websites. Luckily they own YouTube, where users ‘only’ spend 74 minutes a day zoning out and watching ‘how to’ videos.

But there is a solution for investors who want actual advice and don’t have a wealth manager.

Advice & Guidance

What Bestinvest has done is added another layer to their historically, execution-only platform in the form of ‘Coaching’. This hybrid approach means you can invest online, but also have a one-on-one chat with an expert.

For new clients, you can have a free 45-minute session with a qualified financial planner who will talk you through the various investment options on the platform and what may be most appropriate. Once you have an account, this service is unlimited.

When I spoke to Jason Hollands, the head of corporate affairs at Bestinvest before writing this review, he was keen to highlight that coaching is not financial advice, it’s guidance. Before you have a coaching session, you can go through a suitability questionnaire that sets out your investing goals and risk tolerance, but it’s not a full-on ‘know your client’ process, as coaching is about what you could do, rather than what you should do.

If you want actual investment advice, to fine-tune your portfolio, get investment ideas, and help with what to buy and sell, Bestinvest can do that by delving a bit deeper on the phone or by video chat. Which is something that most of the other investment platforms out there don’t offer. 

If you are a new investor, Bestinvest charges £295 for a consultation and will recommend a ready-made portfolio (similar to what robo-advisors offer). Or, if you have an existing portfolio, for £495 one of their investment advisors will analyse your holdings and suggest what to keep, what to get rid of and what to replace it with. They can’t help with tax planning or inheritance issues, but if you need proper wealth management Bestinvest is part of Evelyn Partners which can offer those services (Evelyn currently looks after over £52bn).

Quality Costs

Before you gawk at the prospect of having to pay for something investment-related and bemoan ‘investing is for making money, not spending it’, think about what you are getting in return. In the past, this would have been free yes, but it would have been provided by a half-com hungry adviser stuffing new clients into any new old fund for the purposes of generating commission. But those days are over. 

I’ve seen a pattern emerge over the last few years across all investing, trading and currency providers: They want their customers to do well. Because a profitable customer is a happy customer, and happy customers stick around (and yes, to the cynics, incidentally generate more commission that way).

But this is where Bestinvest says they win business. Not from new investors signing up to start investing, but from established investors with larger portfolios transferring in who need a little bit more from their broker. Which to be fair, are a better type of customer for Bestinvest anyway.

Why? Because they are cheap.

Bestinvest & Low Cost Portfolios

Annual account fees for Smart portfolios start at 0.2%pa up to £500k, then 0.1% to £1m, then nothing over £1m. To put that in comparison, Hargreaves Lansdown charges 0.45% up to £250k, and even upstart digital wealth managers like Nutmeg charge 0.35% for portfolios above £100k (0.75% below that), whilst Moneyfarm charges up to 0.45% above £100k. 

Ongoing charges at Bestinvest are a little higher though (the fee to the investment manager for running the fund) of 0.34%, versus about 0.2% for Smart ready-made portfolios.

Another advantage of Bestinvest over Nutmeg and Moneyfarm is that you can also buy individual UK shares for growth, dividends or if you just fancy a punt on the market. For share dealing, Bestinvest has the lowest commission of the big platforms. It’s £4.95 for dealing online, whereas HL is £11.95, Interactive Investor £7.99 and AJ Bell £9.95.

Ready-made portfolios are the ‘investments de jour‘, and people like them because they are low-cost and diverse. Bestinvest launched a new range of Smart portfolios with Evelyn funds in January 2022 containing ETFs and trackers to keep costs down. You can also invest in more actively managed Expert portfolios, which target better returns, however fees are higher with ongoing fund charges around 1.5%.

They have some quite nifty widgets as well. The Goal Planning tool will analyse your holdings and produce a graph of where your investments may be in the future. This is based on what you actually hold, rather than just an averaged-out market performance calculator, which is what you tend to get elsewhere.

Lagging Tech

However, for active investors, the online dealing platform is nowhere near as good as Interactive Investor or Hargreaves Lansdown. The fund and share research on the platform is limited to a fairly poorly integrated data portal from Digital Look, although the fund factsheets are integrated well. When I tested it I found it quite hard to navigate to the actual ‘Invest’ button kept disappearing. But as I said earlier, this is online investing without investing online. It may actually be a blessing as too much tinkering with your long-term investments can be counter-productive.

Personal Service At Bestinvest

What makes Bestinvest one of the best places to invest is if you want to research stocks and funds and don’t want to trawl through online screeners on Trustnet or get waylaid by pump and dump chat on Reddit you can pick up the phone and talk to someone who knows what they are talking about.

Capital at risk

Bestinvest Awards

Bestinvest won best added value account in the GoodMoneyGuide 2023 awards as they are one of the only major investment platforms to offer both advice and guidance.

YouTube video

Capital at risk

Bestinvest Video Review

Watch as we invest live on the Bestinvest website and app as well as highlight some of the key features that make them stand out from other providers.

YouTube video

Capital at risk

Bestinvest

Best investment funds list revealed by stock broker Bestinvest

Bestinvest has released its latest list of the best investment funds in the view of its research team. The Best Funds List singles out funds identified by the investment platform as having qualities beyond mere outperformance of a benchmark. The List (viewable in full via this link) screens for criteria such as fund managers investing

Read More »

Is Bestinvest’s general investment account any good?

I’d say the best thing about Bestinvest’s GIA is the added value. Market access is a bit limited, but you can get advice on what to invest in as and when you need it (at a cost). Bestinvest’s GIA has recently launched a series of low-cost ready-made portfolios. You can also buy individual shares, funds

Read More »
Junior SIPPs

How much can you pay into a Bestinvest Junior SIPP each year?

Bestinvest’s Junior SIPP lets you start investing up to £3,600 a year for your children’s retirement. At 18 it turns into a regular SIPP which they can manage themselves (or with your help). One of the key advantages of Bestinvest’s junior SIPP is that you can ask qualified investment experts for advice on what to

Read More »
ISA Offers

Is Bestinvests ISA any good?

Bestinvest offer some of the best interest rates on uninvested cash in a stocks and shares ISA. Current Bestinvest interest rates are over 4%. Bestinvest has combined low-cost online ISA investing and share dealing with personalised expert advice to help clients choose the right investments for their portfolio. A good choice for large long-term investors.

Read More »
ESG Funds failing according to Bestinvest Spot the Dog

Bestinvest’s latest ‘Spot the Dog’ report reveals that many ESG funds are underperforming

Twice a year, Bestinvest publishes its ‘Spot the Dog’ investment fund report. This highlights actively-managed investment funds that are underperforming their benchmarks. The most recent Spot the Dog report was published by the investment platform on 16 August. Here’s a look at some key findings. £53 billion in underperforming funds Bestinvest analyses the performance of

Read More »
Bestinvest

Bestinvest add IPO access through partnership with PrimaryBid

Digital wealth manager Bestinvest has announced a new partnership which will allow customers of the firm to participate in IPOs and secondary offerings. Bestinvest IPO Investing Bestinvest has announced a new partnership with PrimaryBid which opens up the world of new issues to Bestinvest clients. Bestinvest was founded way back in 1986 so it’s perhaps

Read More »
Bestinvest

How many investment trusts are on Bestinvest?

You can invest in around 270 investment trusts on Bestinvest and as they are regulated by the FCA your funds are protected by the FSCS. Richard BerryRichard 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

Read More »
Bestinvest

Can you invest in OEIC on Bestinvest?

Yes, Bestinvest do not charge commission for buying or selling open-ended investment companies, but their annual account fee is slightly higher than other providers like AJ Bell (who do charge commssion). Richard BerryRichard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015.

Read More »
Bestinvest

Is Bestinvest a good platform for buying ETFs?

One of the best things about buying ETFs through Bestinvest is the ability to ask a financial coach or advisor which ones are the best ones for you to buy with their advice service. Picking the right investments can significantly make up for costing a little bit more, or not having as broad ETF universe

Read More »
Bestinvest

How are Bestinvest share dealing fees taken?

When you deal shares on Bestinvest you are charged commision after you trade. You also have to pay an annual account charge that is deducted monthly. Expert opinion: Bestinvest reviewed & rated Richard BerryRichard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in

Read More »
Bestinvest

Avoid bad funds with Bestinvest’s Spot the Dog list

If you want to invest in funds with Bestinvest, they have since 1994 produced a list of underperforming funds to avoid. It’s a great way to help you pick better funds to invest in if you have any in your portfolio. Available funds: 1,000 Fund account fee: 0.2% Fund dealing commission: £4.95 Minimum investment: £1 Fund Fees: Bestinvest charge a

Read More »
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