Aegon Retiready
Retiready is a direct-to-consumer platform launched in 2014. It is owned by Aegon, the life insurance and pension provider. Retiready offers a limited investment choice through an ISA and a SIPP.
AJ Bell Youinvest
AJ Bell Youinvest offers a broad range of investments through a number of different accounts: a SIPP, stocks and shares ISA, Lifetime ISA and dealing account. It also offers an ISA, SIPP and dealing account for children.
Alliance Trust Savings
Owned by Alliance Trust PLC, one of the oldest generalist investment trusts in the UK. Alliance Trust Savings started life as a savings scheme for trust shareholders, but when PEPs (the forerunners to ISAs) were launched in 1986, it became an investment trust supermarket. Today it offers a broad array of investments and wrappers including ISAs, Sipps and general dealing accounts for adults and children.
Aviva Consumer Platform
Aviva is a well-known insurance provider. Its direct-to-consumer platform is embedded into its broader consumer portal. As well as providing access to a variety of insurance products and policies, consumers can open general investment accounts, ISAs and pensions.
Barclays Smart Investor
This is Barclays’ new D2C platform which replaced its previous stockbroker site. The new site combines the platform with online banking, so if you’re a banking customer, all your accounts will be seamlessly integrated with just one set of credentials for access. At the moment, customers can open an ISA or general investment account.
Bestinvest
Bestinvest is a DIY platform offering a broad variety of products and investments. The platform is anchored in strong and independent research (the research team is highly respected), providing investors with tools to help them make informed choices and good investment selections. As well as offering a DIY platform, Bestinvest also has advice and discretionary arms for investors who want to hand over the reins at some point or for more complicated investment objectives.
Cavendish Online
Cavendish Online is an execution-only broker offering a range of products from home and life assurance to annuities, pensions and investments. The investment part of the platform is underpinned by the Fidelity Fundsnetwork platform.
Charles Stanley Direct
Charles Stanley Direct is one of the UK’s better known DIY platforms. With a good range of investments, regular news updates and email reminders, it aims to make investments easy for customers while still offering lots of features. It also offers advisory and discretionary services.
Chelsea Financial
Chelsea started life in 1983 as a discount broker. More than 30 years later, it has developed a reputation for independent fund research and a personalised service. The platform is underpinned by the Cofunds institutional platform. It works closely with its sister company, FundCalibre, which specialises in fund research and ratings, and model portfolios.
Close Brothers
As well as providing advisory and discretionary services for its mainly high-net-worth client base, Close runs a DIY platform. Initially launched for existing clients, it is now available to all consumers.
Equiniti Shareview
Equiniti Shareview is a low-cost, trade-heavy, investment service. It acts as a registrar for over 700 companies and employers, managing some 24 million shareholder accounts.
Fidelity
Fidelity is a long-established fund management company with investment platforms for advisers, employers and consumers. The DIY platform offers a wide array of products, tools and research to make investing easier for investors.
Financial Discounts Direct
Financial Discounts Direct is a DIY platform that is supported by the Cofunds institutional platform. Its aim is to provide a high-quality, low-cost service to private investors.
Fundsnet
Fundsnet is a DIY platform run by City House Investors, a financial planning and wealth company. It aims to provide a simple and low-cost service for retail investors. The platform is underpinned by the Cofunds institutional platform and offers customers a good range of research tools and guidance.
Halifax Share Dealing
The Halifax Share Dealing is the Halifax (part of Lloyds Banking Group) DIY investment and share-dealing platform.
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown is the oldest DIY platform in the UK with more than 35 years’ experience under its belt. This Bristol-based company started life as a small advice firm and has grown into a FTSE 100 company with a wide range of services including advice, discretionary management, its own investment funds and model portfolios.
Interactive Investor
Interactive Investor started life in 1995 providing data and information for self-directed, mainly savvy, investors. Since then it has continued to grow strongly and today counts more than 7m users in the UK. Customers can choose from investment options including share and fund dealing, SIPP, ISA and Junior ISA trading accounts, an extensive research range, investment filters and a selection of ready-made investment option, underpinned by a simple ‘flat fee’ pricing model. In October 2018 it announced it was acquiring Alliance Trust Savings.
iWeb
iWeb is a DIY platform operated by Halifax Sharedealing. Like the Halifax service, it is heavily focused on delivering a low-cost, effective way of share and fund dealing. It offers a range of investments and accounts including ISAs and SIPPs.
Santander Investment Hub
Santander Investment Hub is Santander Bank’s online DIY platform for existing and new customers. The platform is brand new and has a slick, easy-to-use interface.
Selftrade
Selftrade is a DIY platform that that is backed by Equiniti. As the name indicates, it has a trading heritage. It provides a comprehensive range of investments and access to ISAs, Sipps and general investment accounts.
Strawberry Invest
Strawberry Invest was launched by P1 Investment Management, a financial advice and wealth management company. Designed for novice investors but suitable for all, it has a good range of investments and research.
SVS XO
SVS XO is a DIY platform for traders only. Only stocks and shares can be added to its GIA and ISAs.
The Share Centre
As indicated by its name, the Share Centre is a stock-broker that offers a broad array of investments. Products include ISAs and general investment accounts for adults and children as well as Sipps. Consumers also have a wide choice of investments to choose from.
True Potential Investor
This is the direct-to-consumer platform owned by True Potential, the financial advice group. The platform provides access to 10 discretionary portfolios managed by True Potential through ISA, SIPP or General Investment accounts.
Vanguard
This is Vanguard’s direct-to-consumer platform. Vanguard is one of the largest fund groups in the world and an advocate of passive investing. The platform was launched in May 2017 and gives investors access to Vanguard funds through an ISA, junior ISA and a general investment account. Investors can choose from blended funds (the LifeStrategy and Target Retirement range), index and active funds.
Willis Owen
Willis Owen is one of the oldest DIY platforms in the market. Its interface has recently been updated and refreshed and there are further platform enhancements expected this year.