InvestEngine ETF portfolio experience

• Level: For all
• Reading duration: 5 minutes

We dig into InvestEngine’s key features and find out what it has to offer – with special emphasis on fees, customer support and its ETF savings plan.

InvestEngine key features

• Zero commission on ETF trades
• Zero platform fee for DIY investors in ISAs and GIAs
• An excellent 0.25% platform fee for managed portfolio services
• 0.15% platform fee (capped at £200) for the forthcoming SIPP
• Invest from £10 a month using an ETF savings plan
• Choose from over 570 ETFs from iShares, Vanguard, HSBC, L&G, and more
• Intuitive tools enable you to automate your investing

InvestEngine platform fees: free for DIY investors

DIY investors pay absolutely nothing in platform fees for stocks and shares ISAs or General Investment Accounts (GIAs). The SIPP (coming soon) will cost 0.15% per year (capped at £200). That’s superb value for new and small investors. The final platform fee option is 0.25% if you choose an InvestEngine managed portfolio. InvestEngine waives the other common brokerage costs too. You won’t be stung for FX fees, entry or exit charges, reinvesting dividends, or for cash withdrawals. Naturally, you will have to pay market spreads on trades and annual management charges on your funds, but that’s an across-the-board industry standard.

InvestEngine trading fees for ETFs

• InvestEngine does not charge trading fees. They are a zero commission broker.
• Trades are executed at a fixed time when the London Stock Exchange is open. You can’t trade in real-time with InvestEngine.
• Orders placed before 2pm will go through on the same day. Otherwise your order will execute on the following business day.
• Trading is taken care of automatically if you activate AutoInvest on your DIY Portfolio or have a managed portfolio.
• InvestEngine does not offer stop-loss or limit orders.

InvestEngine ETF savings plan offer: rated “excellent” 

An ETF savings plan enables you to regularly invest a set amount of money into your chosen ETFs while you get on with life. You can fund your account with as little as £10 per week, fortnight, or month. InvestEngine* automatically handles the trades and will invest in line with your preset asset allocation, too. Fractional investing means that even low amounts of money can be split between several different ETFs. That eliminates high unit prices as a barrier for small investors. InvestEngine’s ETF savings plans use Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) to enable you to flexibly change the amount of money you want to invest. VRPs are supported by the bulk of the UK’s major banking groups. You can still use Direct Debits if your bank doesn’t support VRPs yet. The savings plan minimum is £50 per month for Direct Debits. N.B. You need a minimum of £100 to open your account with InvestEngine.

InvestEngine investment and deposit protection

InvestEngine is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, [FRN 801128]. That means your investments should be covered up to £85,000 under the terms of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

InvestEngine: customer support and services

As you’d expect, you can check your portfolio and trade using InvestEngine's* well-designed app or website. Customer support is available via a website contact form, or through Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, from 5.30am to 9pm (weekdays) and 8.30am to 5.30pm (weekends). InvestEngine does not operate customer service by telephone. However, they do score a healthy 4.6 out of 5 according to the customer reviews on Trustpilot. If you don’t want to run your own portfolio then InvestEngine will suggest one of their ready-made options after you’ve answered a short questionnaire. The available investment tools are easy-to-use and minimalist. They’re not designed for rapid-reaction, day trading however. InvestEngine is about long-term investing and the tools are designed to facilitate an automated, passive investing experience. For example, the AutoInvest feature instructs InvestEngine to invest your money in line with your asset allocation. You don’t need to lift a finger once Auto-Invest is on and you’ve activated a savings plan. Meanwhile, the one-click rebalance feature prompts the platform to automatically generate a sequence of trades that rebalances your portfolio to its target weights anytime you like.

InvestEngine review summary: awesome value for ETFs

InvestEngine's* main USP is its exceptionally low costs. You just can’t beat zero platform fee and zero commissions for stocks and shares ISAs. And the forthcoming SIPP is as cheap as it gets for new and small investors. New and small investors also benefit from low investment minimums, fractional investing, and a market-leading ETF savings plan. Ultimately, InvestEngine is a service that ticks all the boxes for a passive investor who wants to keep things simple:

• It’s low cost
• Set and forget
• It’s ETF only – other investment types aren’t available
• 570+ ETFs is more than enough to allow you to build a globally diversified portfolio without succumbing to analysis paralysis

* You would like to open a custody account? If you use one of the affiliate links behind "More information" or the broker logos as a starting point, we will receive a commission. Thank you very much! Please note: When investing your capital is at risk. If you are unsure, please seek independent financial advice.