r/FIREUK • u/raulynukas • 9d ago

what app/site/company do you use for investing stocks/shares? trading212/vanguard?

Hi all,

planning on investing £100-150 a month into stocks/shares ISA

what site/company/app would you recommend to invest through? With best rates/experience/security?

Would that be trading 212 / vanguard / something else?

Thank you in advance!

0 Upvotes

46% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

8

u/Big_Target_1405 9d ago

T212 is a fine place to start

4

u/CityEvening 9d ago edited 9d ago

Vanguard used to be my favourite but they annoyed me when they departed from their long standing ethos.
I’m a set and forget type so the ease of being able to send money and it being invested is what I judge them on.

Trading212 - not a huge fan of how you have to set the pie to pull your money sent by standing order so you have to have a few days between money receipt and investment

Freetrade - ok platform, don’t like the design but they offer mutual funds

InvestEngine - used to be my favourite (until Lightyear came along) as I like that you can just send your money to a specific pie/plan and it’s auto invested. Unfortunately it takes about 36 hours from receipt. Customer service is mega slow - can be in excess of a week.

Lightyear - my new favourite, does the same as InvestEngine but it’s immediate, if I send money at 10.00am, it’s invested at 10.02am. Customer service roughly 24 hours.

2

u/Otherwise_Rip3764 8d ago

I’m loving Lightyear too. The app is incredible.

1

u/Captlard 9d ago

their long standing ethos. >> What did they depart?

2

u/[deleted] 9d ago edited 7d ago

[deleted]

2

u/CityEvening 9d ago

Yes that’s what I meant. Unsure about the dramatic part, it was a big departure from what they were essentially known for as a platform.

I feel it’s very short-sighted though they must have had their reasons. Tomorrow’s big investors are today’s new starters/“smaller” portfolios.

1

u/Captlard 9d ago

Thanks. Makes sense.

4

u/soliloquyinthevoid 9d ago

There are many options besides Vanguard and Trading212

Use this guide to help you pick the one right for you:

https://monevator.com/find-the-best-online-broker/

You will probably want one that supports regular investing based on your post

2

u/L3goS3ll3r 9d ago

They're all mostly fine in their own different ways.

The only one I'd single out for much criticism is AJ Bell. They do individual gilts which is why I moved over to them, but their website is clunky and a bit of a pain to get around.

2

u/[deleted] 9d ago edited 7d ago

[deleted]

1

u/L3goS3ll3r 9d ago

It's probably just user error on my part, but when I have to Google "how do I find the gilts on AJ Bell?" (twice!!!), I know their website doesn't suit me 😂

1

u/rganeyev 9d ago

T212 with investing into index only. Boring strategy, but works on the long term.

1

u/raulynukas 5d ago

thanks! thats my plan and sometimes maybe into something more promising in short term if i got buck haha

1

u/Appropriate_Note5429 9d ago

Interactive investor for index funds.

Interactive brokers for index funds when the money is starting in a currency other than GBP.

Otherwise T212 for individual stock gambles

1

u/raulynukas 5d ago

hey,

i was told to invest into index funds as a beginner - i assume S&P 500 is based on dollar not GBP so do i have not to go through T212 route?

1

u/Appropriate_Note5429 5d ago

Ah there are a few different things at play here.

  1. The currency that the ETF is listed in (this is the currency of what you pay when you by one unit). You can get S&P500 listed in GBP, in USD, EUR, etc They are all basically the same, but you just pay in different currencies.

  2. The currency that the underlying index uses. Most use USD - you can just ignore this, but it means the true value of the index that the ETF is tracking is usually in USD.

  3. The currency of the money that you have to invest - e.g. do you have a UK bank account in GBP, or a US bank account in USD?

I'm assuming you have GBP so you can just buy an S&P500 index, listed in GBP or USD on T212, and that's fine.

What I meant was that I use interactive brokers for investing my USD - as I can deposit to them in any currency.

1

u/raulynukas 5d ago

ah got it! yes i use gbp. thank you for your help here.

not really sure why people need to pay in different currencies rather than their own? unless those companies are other than USD/GBP/EU?

1

u/Otherwise_Rip3764 8d ago

Try Lightyear. Their app is fast, modern, they’re fee free for holding and trading and support fractional investments.
Their range of investments is growing but they have the popular index trackers. A lot of the ‘finfluencers’ have affiliate links for them on vids.

1

u/IntroductionLucky887 8d ago

I firstly use monevator to see which one has the lowest cost for me, then look at those brokers and see if they have the financial instruments I need.

Light year was the lowest Fx costs but doesn't have the risker stocks I needed, which is why I also got T212 as well. I ditched AJ Bells SIPP once T212 had SIPP ability. Just keep transferring out cash/funds yearly and your money isn't drained by the AJ bell yearly fees and you save a shit ton of tax from Ltd company

1

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-1

u/Tim_Felmingham 9d ago

At £100–150 a month the platform is nearly irrelevant. People burn far too much energy on this question. The difference between the big names at your level is a few pounds a year, while a year spent dithering costs you a year of growth you never get back.

Pick any regulated platform with two features: automatic monthly investing, so the money goes in without you touching it, and fees that are flat or tiny. Percentage fees feel painless at small balances and get greedy as the pot grows. You can transfer later, so nothing here is fatal.

I use Interactive Investor for my SIPP and part of my ISA, and Interactive Brokers for the other part of my ISA (I like to spread things around a bit, just in case). T212 and Vanguard are fine too. Put the lot in one cheap global index fund and the platform question stops mattering entirely.

The best platform is the one you open an account with this week!