Interactive Investor Review 2021

Interactive Investor has average trading fees, including low fund fees; while regular investments are free. On the other hand, there is a monthly account fee.

How we ranked fees

We ranked Interactive Investor's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Interactive Investor for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing, commissions are the most important fees.

We also compared Interactive Investor's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Hargreaves Lansdown and Degiro. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Interactive Investor alternatives.

To have a clear overview of Interactive Investor, let's start with the trading fees.

Interactive Investor trading fees

Interactive Investor trading fees are average.

You can choose from three fee structures that differ based on the monthly account fee and the fees charged for certain products. In each plan, Interactive Investor grants free credit of £7.99 every month, to be used against any trade. Each free credit can be used for 90 days.

Additionally, there is no commission charged on monthly purchases made using the regular investment facility. This applies to all plans; the minimum transaction value is £25. You can make up to 25 regular monthly investments per account. Eligible products are funds, popular shares, ETFs and investment trusts.

For UK Investors, Interactive Investor provides ISA and SIPP accounts. SIPP accounts are free to set up but normally cost £10 a month unless there's a promotion. 

*different fees apply to trades over £500,000

**trades over £100,000 are charged 0.04% (US stocks)

***trades over £25,000 are charged 0.1% (other international stocks)

When it comes to fees, fund trades cover OEICs, Unit Trusts and Investment Trusts. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) are treated as shares.

In this review, we calculated with the 'Investor' service plan.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Interactive Investor has generally average stock and ETF commissions. For UK and US stocks, it's cheaper than Hargreaves Lansdown but charges more than DEGIRO.

Fund fees

Interactive Investor fund fees are low. As you can see, they are slightly lower than DEGIRO's but still higher than Hargreaves Lansdown's fund fees. With a Funds Fan plan, you can lower these costs further.

Bond fees

Interactive Investor has generally low bond fees. It charges less than its closest competitors.

Non-trading fees

Interactive Investor has low non-trading fees.

It charges no inactivity fee and there is also no withdrawal fee for standard withdrawals. Withdrawal fees are charged, though, if you make an instant withdrawal in British pounds or euro, or if you make a regular withdrawal in currencies other than these.

On the negative side, there is a monthly account fee, which is ranges from £9.99 to £19.99 depending on which service plan you use.

Interactive Investor's currency conversion fees are high for amounts under £100,000. You can either convert your cash manually; alternatively, the system will do it for you if you want to buy a security in a currency other than what is on your account (e.g. if you want to buy a US stock quoted in dollars and you have your cash balance in pounds).

Bear in mind that when using automatic conversion for trades that required multiple fills to execute, you will be charged the FX conversion rate applicable to each individual fill. This may result in a higher FX charge than would be calculated against the whole.

Opening an account with Interactive Investor is fast, fully digital, and involves no minimum deposit, but only UK addresses are accepted.

Can you open an account?

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What is the minimum deposit at Interactive Investor?

There is no required minimum deposit at Interactive Investor.

As there is a flat monthly subscription fee to use the platform, you need to have this amount available on your account. Alternatively, you can set up a direct debit to pay monthly fees.

Account types

Interactive Investor has a variety of accounts available in the UK:

In this review, we tested the Trading Account. 

In Ireland, only the Trading Account is available.

How to open your account

For UK residents, opening an account is a straightforward and fast procedure. Verification takes place online; if successful, you're done in about 10 minutes. However, there is no option to provide a non-UK address.

If, for any reason, online verification fails, you'll need to send in certified copies of your:

• proof of identity, e.g. passport or UK driver's license, and
• proof of residence, e.g. bank statement or utility bill. 

In our experience, these copies are received and processed surprisingly quickly (1-2 business days). However, we had a hiccup with the verification process, so the documents that were posted were very not immediately accepted by Interactive Investor. Following this, they didn't reply to our email for 14 days, but then they replied to our follow-up email the next day. It was an experience of extremes: Interactive Investor was either super responsive or extremely unresponsive.

Deposit and withdrawal are easy, quick and mostly free. On the negative side, electronic wallets and credit/debit cards are not accpeted for withdrawal.

Account base currencies

At Interactive Investor, you can choose from 9 base currencies. The available base currencies are GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, HKD, SGD, AUD, SEK and CHF. If you live in Ireland, CHF and SEK are not supported.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. You can get great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

Depositing money is free with Interactive Investor.

Using a debit card, you can deposit money instantly up to £99,999. You can also send money via bank transfer. If you wish to transfer money in a currency other than GBP or EUR, you will need to contact Interactive Investor for details of the appropriate bank account where you should transfer the money.

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Interactive Investor withdrawal fees and options

Standard withdrawals in British punds or euros are free with Interactive Investor. Withdrawals can only be made via bank transfer.

If you wish to make an urgent withdrawal in British punds or euros, or if you want to withdraw money in any of the other currencies, a flat fee of £15 is charged. For USD and CAD, you can request the withdrawal online. Unfortunately, withdrawal requests for all other currencies (AUD, CHF, HKD, SEK, SGD) can only be made via phone.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Interactive Investor? If your withdrawal request is submitted before 2 pm, your money can arrive the next day. Otherwise, it will take 2 business days. Urgent transfers arrive on the same day if requested before 2 pm. You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Interactive Investor?

• Once logged in, click the 'Cash and transfers' button in the top header
• Select 'Withdraw/transfer cash' 
• Click 'Bank transfer'
• Add your bank account or choose from the list of accounts you previously added; click the 'Transfer' button next to the one you wish to withdraw the funds to
• Specify the amount, the investment account you want to withdraw money from, the withdrawal type (standard or urgent), and whether you want to set up a recurring withdrawal
• Tick the box to accept the conditions of the withdrawal and click 'Check and Preview'
• If all details are correct, click 'Confirm'

Compare to other brokers

Interactive Investor's web trading platform is easy to use, but there is no two-step login option, and the platform cannot be customized.

Interactive Investor has its own web platform, available only in English.

Look and feel

The Interactive Investor web trading platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate. The platform's customizability is limited though.

Login and security

Interactive Investor requires two-step authentication only when you log in to the web platform from a new device. In this case, the platform will ask for the last 4 digits of your phone number, and will then send a verification code to this number via text message. On subsequent logins, only one-step verification is needed; you do not have the option to use two-step (safer) login.

Search functions

The search functions work as you would expect. You can search by typing a company's name or an asset's ticker, after which a relevant list of results appears. You can also search based on investment types and based on markets.

Search fields can be found in several places. For example, at the bottom of the page, or when you click the 'Research' > 'Find an investment' sections.

Placing orders

You can use the following basic order types. The list is quite limited, you won't find very sophisticated order types like "one cancels the other":

• Market
• Limit
• Stop Loss

To get a better understanding of these terms, read this overview of order types.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Fill or Kill
• Good 'til Date (GTD)

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications via email or text (SMS). The range of alerts is very limited, though, as you can set alerts only for price movements.

Portfolio and fee reports

Interactive Investor has clear portfolio and fee reports. These can be found in the 'Portfolio' section. 

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The Interactive Investor mobile trading platform is user-friendly but rather basic in some respects. Among others, it lacks two-step login and you can't set alerts.

Interactive Investor's mobile trading platform is very similar to the web trading platform.

The mobile trading platform is available only in English, for both iOS and Android. We tested it on iOS.

Look and feel

The Interactive Investor mobile trading platform is user-friendly and has a very simplistic design.

Charting is very basic in the app, and unfortunately you cannot use any technical indicators, unlike on the web platform.

The app has some small but irritating limitations. For example, when we were required to check if our saved contact details were up to date (which is a standard procedure), this could not be done in the app itself, and therefore we were unable to use the app until we logged in to the web platform to confirm that our details were up to date.

Login and security

Interactive Investor requires two-step verification only when you log in for the first time; after that, you can only use one-step login.

You can log in using biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are good. You can search in the same way as on the web trading platform.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order terms as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

The major difference compared with the web trading platform is that you can't set alerts. You can't even set mobile push notifications. This is a big drawback of the mobile platform.

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Interactive Investor does not offer a desktop trading platform.

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Interactive Investor offers stocks, ETFs, funds, and bonds, but funds and bonds cover only the UK market.

Interactive Investor has great fund but average stock and ETF offers. Meanwhile, its bond offer (only Gilts and UK bonds) lags behind that of its competitors.

Stocks and ETFs

Interactive Investor gives you access to European, Australian, some North American and some Asian stock exchanges.

The number of stocks and ETFs lags well behind DEGIRO's portfolio and is also somewhat smaller than Hargreaves Lansdown's offer.

There are 16 markets available globally on the online platform. Additionally, the Swiss and the Swedish exchanges are available via phone orders.

Funds

Interactive Investor's mutual fund offer is great. It is similar to Hargreaves Lansdown's fund offer but much wider than DEGIRO's range of funds.

Bonds

Due to the limitations of the trading platform, it is not easy to establish the number and range of bonds available to trade at Interactive Investor. We found only UK government bonds. Their number is smaller than what most close competitors such as DEGIRO offer.

Interactive Investor's research tools are easy to navigate, but sophisticated analytic and charting tools are missing.

We tested the research tools found on the web trading platform. The research tools are good and useful, but sometimes limited in their scope.

All research tools have nice and clean visuals. The drawback of the platform is that the charting tool and the analytic tools are quite limited in their data and customizability.

Trading ideas

Interactive Investor provides trading and investment ideas. These include several model portfolios. For example, their 'Low-cost growth portfolio' consists of 9 ETFs with different weights.

When it came to investment themes, we really liked the list called 'ii Super 60'. For each investment theme (emerging market equities, Sterling bonds, etc.), Interactive Investor's experts publish a list of investment options that they recommend based on past performance, costs, risks or liquidity. Usually they will suggest an ETF (if you prefer low costs) or different funds and trusts (if you focus on performance, blue chips, small caps, etc.) for each investment theme. These lists are updated regularly.

In addition, we especially liked that Interactive Investor occasionally interviews funds managers, asking questions about their funds, holdings and outlook. These videos are then uploaded to the website.

Fundamental data

Charting

Interactive Investor has poor charting tools. You can use only 10 technical indicators. This is much fewer than what most brokers provide. 

News feed

A news feed is available for some stocks, mainly for larger UK companies. You can access the main news feed even without a trading account. This main news flow contains articles by resident authors of Interactive Investor and by some guest authors; whereas the news section of the fundamental data screen combines news, reports and company announcements.

Other research tools you will enjoy

There is a technical analysis tool called Technical Insights. It shows the patterns emerging on the charts of various currency pairs, indices and UK stocks. It also shows whether bullish or bearish price moves are expected. We found this tool to be quite useful.

Compare research pros and cons

Interactive Investor's customer service is quick to respond both via phone and email. On the flip side, there is no live chat, and we also missed 24/7 availability.

You can contact Interactive Investor via:

• telephone
• email

Interactive Investor's phone support was great. They connected in under a minute and we got relevant answers.

Email support works well too. We got answers within 1 day and they were all relevant.

On the negative side, we missed live chat and 24/7 availability. You can only contact customer service between 07:45 am - 5:30 pm GMT.

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Interactive Investor's educational content is well-crafted and available for free, including a demo account.

At Interactive Investor you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• General educational videos
• Quality educational articles
• Platform tutorial videos

We liked that Interactive Investor frequently publishes articles about relevant topics in the investment world. Some of these are simple news items, but many of them have an educational angle as well. It is a plus that many of these articles are also available in video format.

Interactive Investor offers a free demo account as well, named 'Research Account'.

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Interactive Investor is regulated by the top-tier FCA, making you eligible for £85,000 of investor protection. It is a private company, not listed on any stock exchange.

Is Interactive Investor regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Interactive Investor is based in the UK and was founded in 1995. It was incorporated in its current form in 2003.

Is Interactive Investor safe?

To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

Background

Interactive Investor is a direct-to-investor investment service, with headquarters in the United Kingdom. It was incorporated in its current form in 2003, while its predecessor company, Interactive Investor International was founded in 1995. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

A majority stake in Interactive Investor is owned by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. It is a well-established player in the private equity field, focused on the financial services sector. You can find out more about Interactive Investor's ownership and management on its website.

Interactive Investor publishes its annual reports on its website. This kind of transparency, in addition to having operated for a long time, being owned by a reputable private equity firm, and being regulated by a top-tier regulator are all great signs for Interactive Investor's safety.

Find your safe broker

Interactive Investor is one of the biggest UK brokers, and is regulated by the top-tier FCA.

It has a user-friendly and well-designed web trading platform. UK investors can open ISA and SIPP accounts. Deposit and withdrawal are easy and fast. Its customer service is great, giving you quick and useful answers.

Interactive Investor has some drawbacks though. Its product offer covers only traditional products, like UK funds and a rather average selection of stocks. Technical research tools are limited, and there is a monthly account fee.

As there is no minimum deposit and you can use great trading platforms, feel free to try Interactive Investor.

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