The ETFMatic app is the most downloaded robo-adviser app in Europe. It’s simple to use and allows you to check your investments as easily as your Twitter feed.
This robo focuses on keeping costs down and is one of the cheapest we’ve seen, but it hasn’t cut any corners either. There are some complex features that you don’t normally see in a robo in this price range, but it helps to be a more experienced investor to get the most out of them.
If you’re new to the investing game and keen to learn, there’s a large resource of educational material to broaden your knowledge. You can safely test your newfound skills in the safety of the simulation site, though some of the features are restricted. There are a host of incentives to get you more engaged in the app that earn you discounts on charges. They could be reading an article, watching a video or inviting a friend to open an account.
Investments
ETFMatic offers a smaller range of products than most robos with just an ISA and a General Investment Account (GIA) available. All can be opened with a minimum of £100.
There are three ready-made Starter portfolios: Defensive, Balanced or Aggressive. Investors can manually tweak the default asset allocations to make a bespoke portfolio. The whole process is straightforward and can be done through the app or the website.
ETFs from the usual big hitters like BlackRock, HSBC and Vanguard are the portfolio building blocks. Once a portfolio has been created, and even if you have tweaked the asset allocation to create a bespoke portfolio, ETFMatic manages it and rebalances the portfolio at regular intervals to maintain the asset allocation. This is an important point as good asset allocation will have more of an impact on your returns than the specific funds or ETFs you pick within any given asset class.
How much does it cost?
ETFMatic’s fee is 0.48% a year and portfolios cost on average 0.12%. For an ISA worth £2,000, both costs amount to £12 a year. There are no other charges to pay for trading, adding or withdrawing money.
Support and guidance
There are lots of guides, articles, videos and blogs to help customers understand how investing works. Financial advice isn’t available, but the large library of educational material covers pretty much everything you want to know about investments. Some of the articles could be easier to read and are obviously targeted at investors with some experience, but hopefully as the resource grows these will be easier to digest.
What else?
Though not perfect, you get plenty of bang for your buck with ETFMatic. The app is easy to navigate and investment and performance information is clean, easy to understand and quick to find.
We give ETFMatic a middle of the road 3 rating. Click here to see more on ETFMatic and here to run our calculator.
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