Evestor, Nutmeg or Wealthify S&S ISA

moi

👋🏻  I'm new to stocks & shares, so from what I've read an ISA seems to be the place to start. I'll definitely go for a "Robo-adviser" with low risk & will use my annual ISA allowance of £20,000. But I'm rather overwhelmed trying to compare all these fractions of percentages in charges of the Evestor, Nutmeg or Wealthify mentioned here: www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/#doitforme

I've also seen InvestEngine (0.61% fee ) & Moneyfarm (0.75%).

Obviously the investment & projected value isn't guaranteed for any of them, so the choice must be on these various fees, with or without a free 1st year offer. With £20K (& maybe next tax year's allowance in April too), am I right in thinking it may be better in the long run to go for Evestor with lower overall fees ("0.50% or less"), but no promotional year free (compared to Nutmeg Fully Managed 1.03% or Wealthify 0.82%)?

Does anyone have any experience of/opinions on things like user-friendliness of the platforms, reliability etc. or other reasons that could help pick one of these sites over another?

Any tips appreciated Thank you in advance.

Alexland

If you are going low risk they will all probably give you a portfolio with a high percentage of bonds which even with some equities seems unlikely to do much better than cash after the expensive robo fees.
You might do better taking more risk even if you invest less money to compensate and using a lower cost provider like Vanguard Investor etc.

Albermarle

The platform/ISA fees are important, but nowhere near as important as deciding on the right type of investment to hold within the ISA.
To follow up Alexlands comments , (as in choosing 'low risk ' could be a  mistake) I would suggest you need to do some more research on investing and levels of risk , before taking any action .
You could start here Investing in stocks for beginners: how to get started - MSE (moneysavingexpert.com)
Also the robo advisors you mention have some good info on their websites .

moi

Albermarle said:

The platform/ISA fees are important, but nowhere near as important as deciding on the right type of investment to hold within the ISA.
To follow up Alexlands comments , (as in choosing 'low risk ' could be a  mistake) I would suggest you need to do some more research on investing and levels of risk , before taking any action .

Oh, I was thinking that the 'ready-made' ones of a low risk were a good place to start. Alexland's comment also that they're unlikely to do much better than cash after the expensive robo fees is interesting. 

moi

Alexland said:

If you are going low risk they will all probably give you a portfolio wil a high percentage of bonds which even with some equities seems unlikely to do much better than cash after the expensive robo fees.
You might do better taking more risk even if you invest less money to compensate and using a lower cost provider like Vanguard Investor etc.

Thanks for the idea, I'm looking at https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/stocks-shares-isa

Alexland

Sorry I should have asked - how long do you intend to hold this investment before needing to spend the money?

moi

Alexland said:

Sorry I should have asked - how long do you intend to hold this investment before needing to spend the money?

Many years. I know the idea of S&S is for the long term, & have other cash accounts.  I understand that risk can even out over the years. Low risk is just my natural instinct, not because I'm trying to beat cash accounts for just a couple of years.
My thinking with the £20K ISA limit was dipping my toe into the water, so to speak, and then add to in years to come (as I understand more about these platforms & picking funds)

penners324

Why ISA? Pension will do the same investment and get the tax advantage as well.
Though lock away that cash until 55

moi

penners324 said:

Why ISA? Pension will do the same investment and get the tax advantage as well.
Though lock away that cash until 55

An ISA because that's what I read about the best way of starting out with stocks & shares. e.g. 

"Investing in an ISA should ALWAYS be your first port of call"

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/#doitforme

Alexland

Well S&S ISAs are better than general investment accounts but there are government incentives if using S&S Lifetime ISAs (if under 40) or pensions if you don't need access to money until later in life. S&S ISAs are useful for money needed before your pension minimum access age(s).
If investing over the long term there's no reason to hobble your likely long term return by going low risk and investing mostly in bonds which are ultimately low return assets.
Still if you want a S&S ISA and are in a position to invest £20k each tax year you might be better to use a fixed price platform such as iWeb (from Halifax) who could work out cheaper than paying percentage charges over enough years. You could use them to invest in a multi asset fund series such as Vanguard Lifestrategy or HSBC Global Strategy which are available at various risk levels 

Albermarle

moi said:

Albermarle said:

The platform/ISA fees are important, but nowhere near as important as deciding on the right type of investment to hold within the ISA.
To follow up Alexlands comments , (as in choosing 'low risk ' could be a  mistake) I would suggest you need to do some more research on investing and levels of risk , before taking any action .

Oh, I was thinking that the 'ready-made' ones of a low risk were a good place to start. Alexland's comment also that they're unlikely to do much better than cash after the expensive robo fees is interesting. 

Two issues with 'low risk ' investments 
Low risk usually also means low growth potential . If you are investing for the long term then better to go for higher risk ( or something in between) In any case 'risk' in this context does not mean losing everything but more that the funds will be more volatile.
These ready made funds are essentially a mixture of equities ( shares) and bonds . The equities provide growth ( and volatility) and the bonds normally offer low growth but stability . The low risk funds have more bonds than equities and the higher risk funds the other way around . However due to complex reasons in the financial markets , the outlook for bonds is rather poor .
So another reason not to aim at too low risk funds.