InvestEngine Review 2024 (Is It Legit?)

In this InvestEngine review, we will have a look at InvestEngine, an exchange-traded funds (ETF)-investing platform.

When buying funds, investors have numerous brokers to choose from so finding the right one for you can be a challenge.

Is InvestEngine trustworthy? Are InvestEngine’s fees competitive? My InvestEngine review below will tell you the answers and more.

Keep in mind that when you invest money, your capital is at risk.

🪧 Should you sign up through my affiliate links, I may receive a commission at no cost to you.

InvestEngine Review

InvestEngine is a legit online investment platform. InvestEngine specialises in ETFs and has one of the most competitive fees for DIY investors.

InvestEngine offers new investors an investment bonus of £10-£50 when they invest £100. If you are interested in this offer, see my InvestEngine referral link below.

Note that this offer is not risk free as your investments may lose value.

Terms and conditions apply

How to Get the InvestEngine Bonus
1. Click herethe button above and follow the sign-up instructions
2. Build a DIY or managed portfolio
3. Invest at least £100 in your portfolio
4. Wait five business days
5. After twelve months, you withdraw your money

You find more free cash offers on my free money offers list.

What Is InvestEngine?

InvestEngine is an online investment platform that enables users to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In fact, it is one of the best ETF brokers in the UK.

On the app, you can find managed and DIY portfolios of ETFs. You can either make your own portfolio or have InvestEngine do the job for you.

InvestEngine was established in 2019 by Simon Crookall, the co-founder of Gumtree, and Andrey Dobrynin. Nowadays, InvestEngine has over 23,000 customers.

The key features of InvestEngine are as follows:

• Minimum investment amount: £100
• 550+ ETFs available
• Managed portfolios available
• Cannot buy individual stocks
• Web platform and mobile app available

Is InvestEngine Legit?

InvestEngine is a legit company and not a scam. Its full company name is InvestEngine Limited which is registered with the company number 10438231.

Furthermore, the company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Its registration number is FRN 801128.

At the time of writing this InvestEngine review, InvestEngine has an average Trustpilot score of 4.4 out of 5.0. Overall, 88% of users rated InvestEngine as excellent or great.

Is InvestEngine Safe?

Yes, it is safe to deposit money with InvestEngine. Your money up to £85,000 is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

This means that should InvestEngine be unable to pay you, you are protected. Note that this does not cover investment losses. When you invest money, your capital is always at risk.

InvestEngine also ringfences your money and assets. This means your money is stored in a segregated client bank account with a recognised bank.

Your assets are held in a pooled client account at the UK’s Central Security Depository CREST. CREST is operated by Euroclear UK and Ireland.

This segregation gives you protection in case InvestEngine goes bankrupt.

What Fees Does InvestEngine Charge?

There are no fees for creating and managing your own portfolio. However, InvestEngine does charge some fees.

Type	Fee
ETF fee	Starting from 0.05%
Managed portfolio fee	0.25% annually
Market spread	0.07% (estimate)

ETF fee is the fee associated with each fund. These are set by the fund provider. These cover the cost associated with selecting the individual stocks within a fund.

Market spread is the cost associated with buying and selling an ETF and it is the difference between the buying and selling price for a given time.

There are no fees for depositing, withdrawing, or setting up an Individual Savings Account (ISA). Other platforms, for example, Freetrade (full Freetrade review) will charge a fee for ISAs.

How Does InvestEngine Work?

InvestEngine is an ETF broker. This means that InvestEngine connects customers to the stock exchange where they can buy and sell ETFs.

ETFs are baskets of stocks that are traded on the stock market just like single shares.

Signing up

Signing up with InvestEngine is easy and will only take a few minutes. To create an account, you must be aged 18 or older and be a UK resident.

If that describes you, head over to InvestEngine to set up your account. Then, follow the instructions below:

• Click Get Started
• Choose individual
• Enter your email address
• Choose a password
• Verify your email address
• Add your personal details (name, address, date of birth, phone number)
• Add your tax information (residency, national insurance number)
• Add your source of income (e.g. salary)

This is a lot of information but these details are required to ensure you are a legit person with legit money.

Fraud and scams are very common in the investment niche so this is for your own protection.

Choosing an Account Type

InvestEngine offers a personal account (General Investment Account) and an ISA. Both accounts are free.

• Personal account: This is the standard account and is subject to capital gains tax. You will need to pay this tax if make a profit above the tax threshold
• ISA: An ISA is a tax wrapper that protects you from paying tax on your gains. You can invest up to £20,000 per year into your ISA if you are a UK taxpayer*

*Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change. Your ISA allowance is set by the government and may be adjusted by it in the future.

Also, if you have already used a portion of your ISA allowance with another provider, you can only invest the remaining portion in your InvestEngine ISA.

InvestEngine does not currently offer a Self-invested Personal Pension. They do plan to offer a SIPP in the future but no date has been confirmed.

Creating a Portfolio

With InvestEngine, you can either create your own portfolio or have InvestEngine build and manage a portfolio for you.

The first option is for you if you are an experienced investor and want to be actively involved in your investments.

The second option is great for beginners and those looking for more passive investing. InvestEngine is also one of the best robo-advisors in the UK.

You can analyse your portfolio by regions, sectors, holdings, and asset class. If you want to make adjustments, you can also change your portfolio. Furthermore, there are options to auto-invest cash and set up a monthly top-up.

If you choose a managed portfolio you can choose between:

• Growth: invest in a managed portfolio for longer-term gain
• Income: invest for regular income of 2.2%, 4.4%, or 5.3% a year (estimated and variable)

Then, you will be asked for some details about your portfolio, your income, and the investment term. This information is used to create your portfolio.

I was recommended the following portfolio when I chose the Growth plan:

You will get your portfolio recommendation before you need to deposit or make a commitment.

Thus, even if you do not want to use InvestEngine to invest, you can use it to generate a portfolio for yourself.

Note that with investments, you are not guaranteed to make money and you can lose money even with these recommended portfolios.

Depositing and Withdrawing

Depositing is free and instant. You can deposit via your linked bank account. You can also set up a standing order or a direct debit if you do not want to deposit manually.

The minimum investment amount is £100.

Withdrawing from InvestEngine is also free. You can withdraw at any time and the money should be in your bank account within five business days.

What Can You Invest in With InvestEngine?

InvestEngine is an investment platform specialising in ETFs. Currently, there are over 550 funds available on InvestEngine, including a range of Vanguard funds.

These ETFs either track stock markets, bonds, or commodities. You can find the full fund list here.

You cannot buy single stocks on InvestEngine.

Does InvestEngine Have a Friend Referral Scheme?

When you open an account with InvestEngine, you will get a unique referral link that you can share with your friends.

If your friend signs up via your link and invests at least £100, you will receive an investment bonus of £10 to £50.

You can refer up to 25 friends. Note that you must keep your bonus invested for at least 12 months before you can withdraw it.

What Are the Pros and Cons of InvestEngine?

At the time of writing this InvestEngine review, there are several pros to the platform:

• Investing in a DIY portfolio with InvestEngine is cheap, even when compared to other platforms
• There are both DIY and managed options which suit different investors
• The website is easy to navigate
• ISA is available free of charge

But as you can see from this InvestEngine review, there are also some cons:

• You can only buy ETFs
• You need to invest a minimum of £100
• No self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is available

Can You Buy Vanguard Funds Through InvestEngine?

InvestEngine has over 550 ETFs available and these include a range of Vanguard funds.

However, some of the most popular Vanguard funds including the FTSE Global All Cap Index Accumulation and the Vanguard LifeStrategy range are not available on InvestEngine.

InvestEngine Review Summary

As you can see from this InvestEngine review, InvestEngine is one of the best investment apps in the UK and is a good alternative to Robinhood in the UK.

InvestEngine specialises in ETFs and you cannot buy single stocks through the platform.

With InvestEngine, you can either create your own portfolio or have your portfolio built and managed by InvestEngine.

Terms and conditions apply

If you go down the DIY route, you will not find a cheaper platform than InvestEngine as you will only be charged for fund management and market spread.

Overall, InvestEngine is a solid option for people looking to invest solely in ETFs.

You may also be interested in my Trading 212 review.

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