How to invest on a platform
Platforms, sometimes known as fund supermarkets or online brokers, allow you to buy, hold and sell investment companies. But which platform should you choose? Read on to find out more.
There are a few things to bear in mind when choosing a platform to buy investment company shares.
First, you’ll need to make sure the platform actually offers investment companies! Most do, but as you can see from the table below, not all of them.
Do you want to invest in anything besides investment companies, such as funds, or maybe shares or \bonds? You’ll need to check the platform offers those too.
Do you want to hold your investments in an ISA, self-invested personal pension (SIPP) or just an ordinary investment account? Do you need a Junior ISA for the kids? The table below shows what kinds of tax-advantaged account (sometimes called ‘tax wrappers’) are available on each platform.
You’ll need to think about the sort of service you need: for example, do you want to deal over the phone, or just online? Finally, you’ll want to compare costs.
The table below gives an overview of some major investment platforms and the investments and accounts they offer.
| Platform | Investment account | Pension | ISA | Junior ISA | Flexible ISA | Lifetime ISA | Can hold funds | Can hold investment companies | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Bell | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Aviva Consumer Platform | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
|
| Barclays | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Bestinvest | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Charles Stanley Direct | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Close Brothers A.M. Self Directed Service | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Fidelity Personal Investing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Freetrade | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Halifax Share Dealing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Hargreaves Lansdown | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| iDealing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
|
| IG | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
|
| Interactive Investor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| iWeb | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| Santander | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
|
| shareDeal active | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
|
| Willis Owen | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
| X-O | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
|
Source: AIC/the lang cat (last update 13/05/24)
Costs at a glance
Find out how much it costs to buy, sell and hold investment companies on different platforms.
