Interactive Investor Review
Ideal for the active or fund investor
Pros
- Ideal for investing in funds
- Excellent customer service
- Good fundamental research
Cons
- Limited technical research
- Monthly fee
Contents
9.
Introduction
Interactive Investor (ii) was established in 2004 and has more than 300,000 customers. Unique with this share dealing broker is that you pay a flat-fee per month. If you trade multiple times a month, you can take your subscription to a higher plan which lowers commissions on share and fund investments. However, if you are a passive investor and do not trade more than 1-2 times a month, you will be cheaper at DEGIRO.
Target audience
Due to a lack of education and the monthly fee, this broker is less suitable for beginners. If you are a passive investor, this broker can be reasonably expensive. However if you trade multiple times a month this broker may be the right choice for you. This broker also offers a wide range of funds and low fund fees, which makes it ideal for fund investors.
The customer reviews on trustpilot are all very positive. With more than 8,500 reviews, Interactive Investor gets a score of 4.6 which is excellent. Customers are particularly pleased with the helpful customer service.
Trading instruments
The range of investment products is excellent. You can invest in shares, funds, Investment trusts, ETFs, Bonds and gilts and VCTs. If you want to invest in CFDs, options or futures then you better create an account with Saxo Markets or IG. The range of shares, bonds and ETFs is smaller than with most other brokers. Interactive Investor, however, offers a wide range of investment funds.
Stocks
Funds
Bonds
ETFs
Trading platform
Interactive Investor only offers a webtrader. The investment platform is user-friendly and offers ample opportunities for the active investor. There are more than enough options for fundamental analysis. The possibilities for technical analysis are limited. You can only use 3 different order types, namely Market, Limit and Stop Loss. The mobile app is user-friendly and offers everything you need to act quickly and easily on the move. Downside is that it is not possible to set price alerts on your mobile. The options for price alerts are also limited for the webtrader.
There are three different plans to choose from:
- Investor: £9.99 per month. £7.99 per share trade. £7.99 per fund trade.
- Funds Fan: £13.99 per month. £7.99 per share trade. £3.99 per fund trade.
- Super Investor: £19.99 per month: £4.99 per share trade. £3.99 per fund trade.
With every plan you will receive a free stock transaction worth £7.99. If you do multiple transactions per month, investing with Interactive Investor can be cheaper than with Saxo Bank or IG for example. Unlike Saxo Markets, ii does not charge inactivity compensation. They also do not have a minimum deposit and you can start from any amount. The rates for investing in funds is cheaper than with most other brokers.
Below, common transactions with associated transaction costs from different brokers are compared. The amount of service fee or custody fee of different brokers is also compared. Check out the comparison page for a complete fee comparison of all brokers. Interactive Investor charges average fees for share transactions, but the monthly fee is quite high.
Shares á £1.000
Shares á £10.000
Service fee á £10.000
£7.99
£7.99
€9.99 PM
£2.95
£2.95
£0
£1.89
£3.15
£0
£11.95
£11.95
£0
£9
£19
£12 PM
In short
This broker is different from other brokers because of the monthly fee you pay. If you invest several times a month, it may be cheaper to create an account with ii than with one of the competitors. If you are a passive investor, you should go to DEGIRO. The range of funds is large and the rates are fairly low. If you like investing in funds, or if you are an active investor, then Interactive Investor is a good broker for you.
- Ideal for fund investments
- Fundamental research
- Limited technical research
- Monthly fee
# Active investors
300,000
Money guaranteed
£85,000
Reliability
Securities lending
No
Mobile app
Minimum deposit
£1
Fees
Shares
£7.99
Options
Leveraged products
Futures
Funds or trusts
£7.99
ETFs
£7.99
Telephone order
£49
Service fee
£9.99 PM
Forex
CFDs
Cryptocurrencies
Customer service
Education
Usability
Trading platform
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
- Low fees
- Investment product range
- Analysis functionalities
- Securities lending
# Active investors
400,000
Money guaranteed
£20,000
Reliability
Securities lending
Yes
Mobile app
Demo account
Minimum deposit
£1
Fees
Shares
£1.75 + 0.014%
Options
€0,75
Leveraged products
£1.75 + 0.014%
Futures
€0.75
Funds or trusts
€0-€7,50+0,10%
ETFs
€2 + 0.03%
Telephone order
£8.50
Service fee
€0
Forex
CFDs
Cryptocurrencies
Customer service
Education
Usability
Trading platform
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
- Ideal for fund investments
- Fundamental research
- Limited technical research
- Monthly fee
# Active investors
300,000
Money guaranteed
£85,000
Reliability
Securities lending
No
Mobile app
Minimum deposit
£1
Fees
Shares
£7.99
Options
Leveraged products
Futures
Funds or trusts
£7.99
ETFs
£7.99
Telephone order
£49
Service fee
£9.99 PM
Forex
CFDs
Cryptocurrencies
Customer service
Education
Usability
Trading platform
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
- Professional platform
- Good education
- Customer service
- High minimum deposit
# Active investors
178,000
Money guaranteed
£85,000
Reliability
Securities lending
No
Mobile app
Minimum deposit
£450
Fees
Shares
£3 – £8
Options
£0.10
Leveraged products
Futures
Funds or trusts
£8
ETFs
£8
Telephone order
£40
Service fee
£24 PQ – paid commissions
Forex
CFDs
Cryptocurrencies
Customer service
Education
Usability
Trading platform
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
- Many trading instruments
- Advanced platform
- Inactivity fee
- High minimum deposit
# Active investors
100,000
Money guaranteed
€100.000
Reliability
Securities lending
No
Mobile app
Minimum deposit
£600
Fees
Shares
0.10% min. £8
Options
$0.85
Leveraged products
Futures
£3
Funds or trusts
0.10% min. £8
ETFs
0.10% min. £8
Telephone order
£50
Service fee
0.12% min. £12 PM
Forex
CFDs
Cryptocurrencies
Customer service
Education
Usability
Trading platform
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
* Estimated annual costs with £10,000 one-time investment, £100 monthly investment and an average investment profile. Investing involves risks of losses.