Bestinvest investment platform review

Is Bestinvest any good?

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What do customers say about Bestinvest?

• ‘Not very helpful if there is a problem. They pass the buck to someone who doesn’t call you back, so it takes ages to resolve issues. They're great at sending emails, reading material etc. New website is awful, much preferred the previous one – so much clearer and easier to understand.’
• ‘It is easy to undertake tasks such as selling/buying investments, or transferring cash out of the account. However, they've recently updated the site and it takes three times longer to print out simple reports. I understand this has been done in the interests of flexibility in reporting, but perhaps they should have kept some of the fixed format reports as they did the job well.’
• ‘I can find all the information I need to make investment decisions on their website.’

How much does Bestinvest cost?

There's no difference in fees whether you're investing in a Bestinvest stocks and shares Isa or general investment account.

Annual platform charge:

• 0.4% for funds and UK shares
• 0.2% for ready-made portfolios and US shares

Trading charge: 

• £4.95 UK share dealing fee
• No charge for trading funds

Foreign exchange charge:

This applies to each trade of investments denominated in another currency, for example US stocks, on top of fund and trading charges.

• 0.95% (US only)

How much would I pay to invest with Bestinvest?

We've estimated the cost of investing over the course of a year in a Bestinvest stocks and shares Isa, assuming that you make four purchases and four sales.

Costs will vary depending on how much you invest, and whether you trade funds or shares. 

Bestinvest fund charges

Read our comparison of investment platform charges to see how much investing with Bestinvest compares to other providers.

What can you invest in with Bestinvest?

Bestinvest accounts and services

• General investment account
• Stocks and shares Isa (flexible)
• Junior investment Isas 
• Self-invested personal pension (Sipp) 
• Junior Sipp
• Income drawdown
• Ready-made portfolios
• One-off coaching with a financial planner

Investments on Bestinvest

• 1,463 funds (OEICs, multi-asset funds)
• 271 trusts (plus 20 venture capital trusts)
• 407 exchange-traded funds
• 1,463 stocks

Correct as of January 2024

Is Bestinvest good for ethical investors?

Bestinvest includes a clear description of each fund’s strategy on its website, along with the top 10 holdings, so you can see which companies it has the largest stakes in. 

The only filter for ethical investments you can apply is for Bestinvest’s own sustainable portfolios: the Evelyn Sustainable Portfolio Clean multi-asset funds. You can’t filter funds for other ethical or ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investments, despite many other filters being available.

• Find out more: Ethical investing explained

Is your money safe with BestInvest?

Bestinvest is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

When you invest with an investment platform that's registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, your money will be ringfenced and should be returned if a company goes bust without you having to wait alongside other creditors.

If ringfencing failed, you would be compensated by the FSCS.

The FSCS will cover up to £85,000 of investments per person, per platform. You can claim for free online. There's no reason to use a claims management company.

You won't be compensated for investments falling in value, or if a company in which you hold shares goes bust, unless this poor performance resulted from bad advice given by a regulated Independent Financial Advisor that has since gone bust.

• Find out more: how the FSCS works