Best Mutual Fund Apps UK – Top App Revealed
More and more investors in the UK are turning to mutual funds. After all, they allow you to invest in a completely passive manner – with the provider in question deciding which assets to buy, sell, and trade – and when.
You can now complete the process via a dedicated trading app. This allows you to invest at the click of a button via an application which is usually compatible with iOS and Android phones.
In this guide, we review the best Mutual Fund Apps UK for 2022. We also walk you through the step-by-step process of investing in a mutual fund via a regulated app.
Contents
Best Mutual Fund Apps UK 2022 List
Don’t have time to read our full guide from start to finish? If so, below you will find the popular mutual funds apps UK for 2022!
- eToro – Best Mutual Funds App UK Accoring to Total Fees
- Fineco Bank – Build a Diversified Portfolio of Mutual Funds
- Degiro – Invest in Mutual Funds From £0 Commission
- IG – Mutual Fund App UK for Smart Portfolios
Best Mutual Fund Apps UK Reviewed
When searching for the best mutual fund apps in the UK – there are a number of important metrics that you need to cross-check before proceeding.
For example, you must ensure that the mutual fund app is regulated by the FCA and that it is competitively-priced. And of course, you need to check whether or not the app gives you access to your chosen mutual fund investment.
While there are many providers in the UK that meet these key requirements, below we review the best mutual fund apps UK to consider in 2022.
1. eToro – Best Mutual Funds App UK With Zero Commission
If you’re looking for a safe, beginner-friendly, and low-cost way of investing in funds, eToro is a popular option to consider. This regulated stock trading app allows you to buy and sell assets online or from the palm of your hand. In fact, you can invest in over 250+ funds at eToro, all of which are backed by leading ETF providers.
This includes heavy-weights like Vanguard, iShares, and SPDR. There are many benefits to choosing eToro as your go-to investment apps provider. Firstly, you can invest in funds without needing to pay a single penny in trading commission or share dealing fees. eToro itself doesn’t charge any ongoing fees, so it’s only the expense ratio of the respective fund manager that you need to take into account.
Additionally, eToro requires a small minimum investment of just $50 (about £40) when you purchase a fund. This is minute when you consider that the likes of Vanguard require a minimum capital injection of £500. And of course – when you invest in a fund on eToro, you will be entitled to quarterly dividend payments as and when they are distributed by the fund provider. Did you know that eToro is also one of the popular automated trading apps, allowing for passive investing via copy trading features.
eToro is popular if you want to invest in individual stocks – as the app is home to more than 2,400 shares from 17 UK and international exchanges.
- If your main priority is to invest and trade in a passive manner, eToro itself offers a couple of popular tools that might be of interest.
- For example, the Copy Trading feature allows you to actively day trade without lifting a finger.
- All of you need to do is select a verified eToro trader, choose the amount you wish to invest, and then all future buy and sell positions will be mirrored in your own portfolio.
- CopyPortfolios are also worth considering, which are professionally managed by the eToro team.
With more than 17 million investors now eToro – it makes sense that the app is heavily regulated. This includes a license with the FCA and your funds are also covered by the FSCS. To get started with this app – which is available on iOS and Android, you need to meet a minimum deposit of just $200. This can be done instantly by funding your account with a UK debit/credit card or an e-wallet like Paypal.
Read our comprehensive eToro app review to find out more about what this app offers.
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2. Fineco Bank – Build a Diversified Portfolio of Mutual Funds
Next up on our list of popular mutual fund apps UK is Fineco Bank. This platform is well-known for offering a low-cost way to buy and sell stocks. In fact, not only does Fineco support the London Stock Exchange and AIM, but dozens of international markets. In the case of mutual funds, Fineco Bank allows you to diversify across heaps of providers with ease.
In order to find a portfolio that meets your needs, Fineco Bank will collect some information from you – such as your financial goals and attitude to risk. From more than 70+ investment strategies, you will then be shown a range of portfolios that meet your requirements. Within each of these portfolios, there will be a number of different mutual fund providers – subsequently allowing you to diversify and mitigate your risk.
This includes the likes of Invesco, Fidelity, J.P. Morgan, Aberdeen Standard, Jupiter, and more. When it comes to fees, Fineco Bank is very competitive. For example, there are no fees to deposit money, no dealing charges for buying and selling funds, and no exit costs or spreads. You will, however, need to pay a small annual platform of 0.25% – which is calculated against the amount you invest. Fineco Bank also makes our list of the popular mutual fund apps UK because it supports small budgets.
In fact, the initial minimum deposit is just £100, and you can commit to an investment of just £50 thereon. An additional selling point of the Fineco Bank mobile app is that it offers ISAs. You can add funds, as well as shares, ETFs, and bonds to your Fineco Bank ISA – which is great for reducing or completely alleviating your tax liability. Finally, although Fineco is owned by an Italian bank, it is regulated by the FCA and your funds are covered by the FSCS.
There is no guarantee you will make money with this provider. Sponsored ad
3. Degiro – Invest in Mutual Funds From £0 Commission
This includes BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, Aberdeen Standard, Kempen, Fidelity, and more. In fact, as Degiro has direct access to exchanges in the UK, Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia – you can easily diversify across numerous financial markets. The second stand-out reason why Degiro makes our list of popular mutual fund apps UK is that it offers very competitive fees.
For example, mutual funds listed on the Euronext Fund Services exchange will cost you just € 7.50 + 0.10% per investment, plus a service fee of 0.20%. This is also the case for mutual funds that are classed as Non-Exchange Listed Investment Funds (STP). With that said, Degiro also allows you to invest in FundShare Cash Funds and Morgan Stanley Liquidity Funds on a commission-free basis, and no service fee applies. You can see which funds fall into these categories by browsing the Degiro app.
In terms of the fundamentals, the Degiro app is simple and easy to use. It is available to download free of charge and is compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems. There is no minimum deposit to use Degiro, which is great. However, the provider does not support debit/credit cards, so you’ll need to make a bank transfer. Finally, as a Netherlands-based broker, Degiro is regulated by Dutch authorities as opposed to the FCA. This still offers various investor protections nonetheless.
There is no guarantee you will make money with this provider. Sponsored ad
4. IG – Best Mutual Fund App UK for Smart Portfolios
IG is one of the longest-standing brokerage firms in the UK. Launched back in 1974, the platform is trusted and heavily regulated. On top of thousands of stocks, ETFs, and investment trusts, IG is also home to a number of actively managed funds. At the forefront of this is the IG Smart Portfolios feature – which is super popular with US investors that want to trade passively.
In a nutshell, Smart Portfolios are investment baskets that are fully-managed by experienced fund managers – such as BlackRock. A popular thing about them is that your Smart Portfolio will be built based on your financial goals and tolerance to risk. For example, if you want to build slow and steady returns with minimal risk, then your portfolio will likely contain funds that track bonds and blue-chip stocks.
If you’re more adventurous with your investment strategies, higher-risk Smart Portfolios might contain funds that track emerging stocks and bonds, and even commodities like gold and silver. In terms of past performance, IG notes that its most conservative portfolio made gains of 2% last year, which compared to the benchmark performance of 1.3%, is good. At the other end of the scale, its aggressive portfolio attracted 12-month returns of 10.9% this year, compared to just 4.% of the respective benchmark.
When it comes to pricing, IG has a variable commission structure that varies depending on which fund providers you have in your portfolio. With that said, management fees amount to just 0.5% per year, which is capped at £250 annually. If you like the sound of IG, you can open an account online or via the mobile app. The platform supports debit/credit cards and bank transfers. The minimum deposit stands at £250, albeit, you need to invest at least £500 into your chosen Smart Portfolio.
Read our comprehensive IG app review to find out more.
There is no guarantee you will make money with this provider. Sponsored ad
How to Choose the Best Mutual Funds App UK for You
So now that we have reviewed the popular mutual fund apps UK , we now need to explain what you should look out for before opening an account.
There are many metrics that need to be considered – such as safety, supports funds, payments, commissions, expense ratios, and more.
To ensure you sign up with the mutual funds app UK which meets your needs, below we discuss these key requirements in a little more detail.
Regulation
In response to the recent surge of retail clients investing and trading online in the UK, regulation of this space is now water-tight. That is to say, in order for mutual funds apps to accept UK residents, it must have authorization from the FCA.
This offers you a full suite of investor protections, such as:
- Risk Warnings: Mutual fund apps UK that are FCA-regulated must clearly present the risks of investing. This ensures that you have clear and realistic expectations of both potential returns and the risk of loss.
- Account Segregation: FCA-regulated mutual fund apps in the UK must keep your money in separate bank accounts. In other words, it can’t use your investment capital to meet its day-to-day expenses.
- FSCS: Not all trading apps in the UK are covered by the FSCS. But those that are offer a level of protection that cannot be rivalled. For example, a popular mutual fund app UK – eToro, is regulated by the FCA and covered by the FSCS. This means that were eToro to become insolvent, your capital is covered up to the first £85,000.
Ultimately, when searching for mutual fund apps UK, it’s crucial that you check whether or not the provider is regulated. If it is, then you know that the app is required to follow a number of investor protection rules.
User Experience
When we reviewed popular mutual fund apps UK, we found that there is often a disparity in the end-to-end user experience. Crucially, the mobile app in question must be simple to use – considering that you will be investing and trading via a small screen. In the case of eToro, this app allows you to navigate through the platform with ease.
For example, you can browse the many funds supported by eToro by using the filter button. Or, you can enter the name of the fund you are interested in gaining access to. When we tested out the order process on the eToro app, this was also a seamless experience. All you need to do is enter the amount you wish to invest in the fund and confirm the order.
At the other end of the spectrum, we also came across mutual fund platforms that are clearly more suited for desktop devices. This is because the mobile app had not been fully optimized for smaller screens. This resulted in an all-round poor user experience and thus – it hindered our ability to trade in a risk-averse manner.
Supported Funds
In finding the mutual funds app UK suited for your needs, it’s important to assess what investment you will have available to you. In other words, what funds does the investment app support?
We found that popular mutual fund apps UK cover large-scale providers like Vanguard, iShares, and SPDR. Other popular fund providers to look out for include Invesco, Fidelity, and Aberdeen Standard.
In addition to the specific fund provider, you need to assess the underlying make-up of your investment. For example, think about whether you want to invest in an individual mutual fund, or if you want to benefit from a more diversified and hand-off approach.
The likes of IG, for example, offers a Smart Portfolio tool that creates a basket of funds based on your stated financial goals and tolerance of risk. Fineco offers a similar feature, which is a great way to find an investment strategy that meets your requirements.
Fees
All investments attract fees. In the case of the mutual fund apps UK, there are several fees in particular that you need to check before proceeding.
This includes:
Dealing Fee
In a similar nature to buying stocks, some providers will charge you a dealing fee every time you buy or sell a mutual fund. In many cases, this is a flat fee that remains constant irrespective of how much you invest.
For example, Degiro charges a mutual fund dealing fee of €7.50 + 0.10% per investment. This means that if you invest £1,000 into the mutual fund of your choosing, you will pay €7.50 + £1. You will again need to pay the aforementioned dealing fee when you exit your mutual fund investment.
In other cases, you might need to pay a variable dealing fee. This is expressed as a percentage and multiplied by the amount you invest or sell. For example, if the dealing fee on mutual funds amounts to 0.2% and you invest £5,000 – this would amount to £10.
One of the popular mutual fund apps UK – eToro, charges 0% in dealing fees.
Platform Fee
Even the most popular mutual fund apps UK charge a platform fee. Otherwise referred to an annual maintenance fee, this is charged against the amount you have invested on the platform.
For example, Fineco charges a platform fee of 0.25% per year. Therefore, if you had £10,000 invested, your annual platform fee would amount to £25. Degiro, on the other hand, charges a ‘service fee’ of 0.20% on most of its funds. This works in the same way a platform or maintenance fee, albeit, under a different name.
Once again, the mutual funds app UK that we have discussed today – eToro, charges nothing in platform fees. As such, you can keep your fund investment on the platform for as long as you wish without needing to hand over unnecessary charges.
Expense Ratio
While mutual fund apps UK like eToro allow you to avoid both dealing fees and platform fees, expense ratios cannot be avoided. Crucially, this fee is charged by the respective mutual fund. In turn, this fee is passed from your chosen app provider on to you.
The expense ration covers a variety of individual fees, such as:
- Portfolio Management: It is important to remember that mutual funds allow you to invest passively, insofar that they buy and sell assets on your behalf. As such, the fund provider will charge a portfolio management fee to cover the costs of actively managing your money.
- Administration: You also need to consider the costs of administration tasks – such as collecting deposits, brokerage fees, and providing customer support.
- Distribution: When you invest in a mutual fund, you usually receive a dividend payment every three months. Once again, this attracts certain fees.
The good news is that mutual fund apps UK will build all of the above costs into a single fee – the expense ratio. This is expressed as a percentage rate- much like the previously discussed platform fee.
The specific fee that you pay will vary from fund to fund and your chosen brokerage app has no control over this.
Trading Tools & Features
We found that mutual fund apps UK offer a number of features to assist in the investment decision-making process.
This includes:
Financial Goal Assessment
Make no mistake about it – there are thousands of funds to invest in from the comfort of your home. Each fund will have a different strategy in place – meaning the risks involved can vary quite considerably. This can make it challenging to know which mutual fund to invest in.
With this in mind, mutual fund apps UK assist you in finding a suitable investment that meets your needs. This isn’t financial advice, rather, the app will ask you a set of questions to assess what your financial goals are.
More specifically, the app will seek to understand how much risk you feel comfortable taking to reach your investment objectives. Then, you will be presented with a range of mutual fund options that are likely aligned with your stated goals.
Copy Trading
The main drawback of investing in a mutual fund is that you have no control over where your money goals. This will suit many investors that simply want to take a hands-off approach. But, there might come a time where you want to invest in a specific asset that your chosen fund has no interest in buying.
If you are someone that wants to invest passively but you still want to retain control over where your money goes, it might be worth considering the eToro Copy Trading feature. As we briefly covered earlier, this allows you to choose an experienced trader and then not only mirror their portfolio but copy all future trades.
You can still add assets to your eToro portfolio. For example, you might decide to buy a few shares in BP or Tesla or even invest in gold. Additionally, you can manually remove assets that your chosen trader has purchased – should they not align with your financial goals.
Fractional Investing
We would also consider using a mutual fund app that supports fractional ownership. In simple terms, this means that you can invest in a fund without needing to meet the minimum stipulated by the respective provider. For example, if you were to invest in a fund directly with Vanguard, you will need to meet a minimum deposit of £500.
Although this might be fine for many investors in the UK, it won’t be if you are on a trading budget. As such, by using a provider like eToro – which supports fractional ownership, you can invest in funds from just $50 – or about £40.
Payment Methods
If you are looking to access all account features on your chosen trading app – then you’ll want to be able to deposit funds at the click of a button.
We found that popular mutual fund apps UK allow you to make an instant deposit with a debit or credit card. eToro goes one step further by also supporting instant deposits via Paypal, Neteller, and Skrill. It’s also useful if your chosen mutual fund app supports mobile payments – such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
We did, however, come across plenty of mutual fund apps that only support bank transfers – such as Fineco and Degiro. This means that you will need to manually transfer funds from your bank account. Not only is this cumbersome, but it can take several days for the mutual fund app to credit the deposit.
Customer Service
Finally, check to see what the customer support department is like on your chosen trading app. For example, explore whether the app offers support around the clock, or only during standard market hours. It’s also important that you are able to speak with a customer service representative directly from within the app.
In order to do this, the provider must support Live Chat. This is something offered by eToro 24 hours per day, Monday to Friday. Unfortunately, most mutual fund apps only offer assistance via email or support tickets. This means that you might need to wait a number of days before you receive a reply on your query.
How to Download a Mutual Funds App UK & Start Trading
Are you looking to get started with a mutual funds app UK right now, but need a little bit of guidance? If so, the walkthrough below will show you how to complete the process with a FCA-regulated broker in less than 10 minutes.
As soon as your account has been funded, you can invest in a fund.
To do this, you can search for the specific fund – if you already know which provider you want to go with.
Alternatively, you can click on the ‘Trade Markets’ button and find a fund that meets your requirements.
Once you know which fund you want to invest in, click on the ‘Trade’ button. This will populate an order form.
All you need to do is specify how much you wish to invest in the fund. The minimum on most funds is just $50.
Finally, click on the ‘Open Trade’ button to complete your commission-free fund investment!
Conclusion
In conclusion, this guide has reviewed the UK mutual fund apps to consider in 2022. All of the providers that we have discussed are regulated, offer heaps of markets, and competitive fees. This ensures that irrespective of which mutual fund app you go with – you can invest in a safe and low-cost environment.
With that said, we found that eToro is the best mutual fund app UK in the market right now. This FCA and FSCS provider allows you to invest without paying any commission, dealing fees, or platform charges. Plus, you can invest from just $50 into your chosen fund and getting started takes just 10 minutes!
FAQs
How much do you need to invest in the direct mutual funds?
Minimum mutual fund investments will vary depending on the provider and your choice of broker. For example, eToro requires a lumpsum of just $50 per fund. This allows you to invest in a low-cost and hassle-free manner!.
Is Groww available in the UK?
No, personal finance and mutual fund investment app Groww is only available to Indian residents at present.
What is an AMC Mutual Fund?
AMC stands for Asset Management Company. AMCs are in business to pool investor funds together to create a diverse portfolio of assets.
Do the mutual fund app UK providers pay dividends?
Yes, the vast majority of mutual fund providers pay dividends every three months. As such, the mutual fund app UK that you go with will forward on these dividends as soon as it receives a payment.
Are mutual fund app UK providers regulated?
Yes, the best mutual fund apps UK are regulated by the FCA. In most cases, your funds will also be protected by the FSCS up to the first £85,000 - but be sure to check this yourself before signing up.
