Interactive Investor, the online brokerage and D2C platform, now owned by ABDN, is launching a new Managed ISA
The ii Managed ISA is a new offering from Interactive Investor, that allows customers to hold their investments within a tax-free ISA account managed by Interactive Investors’ experts.
The new product is designed to combine the tax benefits of a Stocks & Shares ISA with professional investment management from Interactive Investor.
The Managed ISA is designed for investors who want to hold investments in a tax-efficient ISA wrapper, but who don’t have the time, or inclination, to research and select investments themselves.
By using the Managed ISA, investors can let Interactive Investors’ professionals handle the investment decisions.
How does the managed ii ISA work?
Getting started with the Interactive Investor Managed ISA involves few simple steps.
- Select your risk level by answering some quick questions about your investment goals and risk tolerance.
- Based on your inputs, Interactive Investor will recommend a managed portfolio matched to your risk profile.
You will then need to open and fund the account, which can all be done online at ii. - Interactive Investors’ experts will then monitor and adjust the portfolio over time to keep it aligned with your stated investment objectives.
For clients that are already on the ii Investor plan, the Managed ISA is included in their current monthly subscription fee of £11.99 per month, which includes one commission-free trade. Additional trades are charged at £3.99 each.
Managed ISAs versus DIY
The key benefits include:
- Time savings by not having to research/pick investments yourself
- Professional expertise from ii managing your ISA portfolio
- The convenience of a managed solution included in your existing ii subscription
- Ability to view and track your managed investments anytime
- Tax-free growth potential by holding in an ISA account
Usually the main draw back of managed ISAs is that you can’t pick your own investments. However, you can run your own investments along side ii’s managed ISA.
How does the II managed ISA compare to the competition?
Interactive Investor believes that their flat monthly fee charging structure will save ISA investors money over the long term.
According to calculations on their website, £50,000 held in an ISA with the platform for 30 years, would have grown to almost £1.20 million, assuming a growth rate of 5.0% per annum, in a mixed portfolio of funds and shares.
That’s up to £45,000 more than you would have returned at rivals like Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, Fidelity, and Barclays Smart Investor, according to the Interactive Investor data.
In terms of ISA fees Hargreaves Lansdown offers a a tiered fee structure based on the value and type of investments held.
Those fees start at 0.45% for sums up to £250,000 invested in funds, falling to 0.1% between £1.0 and £2.0 million, with no charges levied for investment amounts over £2.0 million.
There are no additional fund dealing charges.
Money that’s invested in UK and international shares and ETFs, in a Hargreaves Lansdown ISA, attracts a maximum monthly fee of £3.75 and trading charges start at £11.95 per deal, with volume discounts down to £5.95 applied one month in arrears.
AJ Bell levies a fee of 0.25% of the first £250,000 invested. However, that scales down to zero if you have more than £500,000 in your account.
Share deals, including ETFs, are charged at £5.00 per trade, which falls to £3.50 if you traded 10 times or more in the prior month. Whilst fund trades cost £1.50 a pop.
Wealthify, a hybrid investing platform, backed by Aviva, offers fees that average out around 0.76% per annum.
That includes all dealing and administrative charges, the creation of a personal savings plan, built by their in-house experts, and ongoing adjustments to the portfolio, to keep that plan on track.
- Good Money Guide experts rate the Interactive Investor ISA highly, particularly for larger accounts, as the flat monthly fee of £9.99 does not increase with portfolio value. The platform offers both DIY and managed ISA options, with a strong emphasis on market access and customer service, though the fixed fee may be considered expensive for smaller accounts under £1,000.
- Across 1125 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.3/5, customers frequently highlight the platform’s reliability, ease of use, and competitive flat-fee structure, which is particularly beneficial for high-volume traders. However, some users express concerns about high fees for smaller accounts and issues with customer service responsiveness, while others mention the platform’s clunky interface and the need for improvements in charting tools.
Interactive Investor Stocks & Shares ISA Rating Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated Interactive Investor Stocks & Shares ISA Rating across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing4.5
- Market Access5.0
- Online Platform5.0
- Customer Service5.0
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Pick your own investments or use their model portfolios
- £1 minimum deposit makes it easy to get started
- Fixed account fee that does not increase with your investments
- Joint account options
Cons
- Fixed fee expensive for very small accounts below £1,000
See full expert review
Our verdict
Interactive Investor has previously won the Good Money Guide award for best stocks and shares ISA account as they offer one of the cheapest investment ISAs that provides access to over 40,000 shares and 3,000 funds, as well as investment trusts, ETFs and bonds. They are a good choice for people that want to take control of what they invest in.
Capital at risk
Is the Interactive Investor ISA any good?
Yes, we rate the Interactive Investor ISA as very good, especially for high-value accounts as the account costs do not rise with your portfolio value. Plus, there are DIY and managed ISA options. However, for smaller accounts the fixed monthly fee is expensive.
Fees: The Interactive Investor’s ISA account is a flat £9.99 per month, this also includes a free Junior ISA to help you save for your children. Dealing commissions are a free trade every month, then UK Shares and Funds, US Shares charged £7.99 or upgrade to a £19.99 “Super Investor” account 2 free monthly trades and deal for £3.99. Regular investing is free.
Special Offer:
- One free trade per month – One buy or sell order is free every month, after that, the cost is between £3.99 and £5.99 depending on what plan you are on.
- Free investing for your friends and family – You can give up to five people a free investment account subscription with Interactive Investor’s Friends and Family plan. You pay a single extra fee of £5 a month, and their monthly cost is zero. Each member can invest up to £30,000 in an ISA or a general investing account with free regular investing and no account fees. However, they will still pay normal dealing commissions when they buy and sell investments.
- Get £200 when you refer a friend to Interactive Investor – Recommend a friend or family member to ii and get a £200 reward. Your friend will get their first year’s service plan for free – saving £120. To qualify, your friend must transfer or fund their account with at least £10,000 in combined cash/investments. However, your friend will not receive the usually monthly free trade.
Customer reviews for interactive investor
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,125 reviews
- Excellent51%
- Very good33%
- Basic10%
- Poor4%
- Bad2%
Read customer reviews
Interactive Investor’s ISA is technically a stocks and shares ISA where you invest in the stock markets, but they do pay interest on uninvested cash, giving it a quasi-cash ISA option.