Moneyfarm review
- Price per trade
- £0
- Min. initial deposit
- £500
Our verdict
Moneyfarm is an all-round investing app with a strong focus on managed portfolios. It offers a range of account types and is often adding more features.
Moneyfarm is an investing app that offers a range of managed portfolios (what it’s best known for), but it’s also started expanding its investment offering to include share investing.
You can choose from a bunch of tax-efficient accounts, which is great. However, you need a minimum deposit of £500 - a fairly steep figure compared to other similar platforms.
We think Moneyfarm has some excellent advantages but it is slightly muddled in its approach and appeal. Overall, it can be quite cheap, but has a few different fee structures that depend on the size of your portfolio and your style of investing.
Pros
-
Expertly managed ready-made portfolios
-
A few account types to choose from
-
Variety of investing strategies
Cons
-
Tiered pricing structure isn’t the clearest
-
Limited range of investments
-
Not the cheapest platform
How we rated Moneyfarm's investment features
| Feature | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | ★★★★★ 2.9/5 | Moneyfarm offers decent value to some investors but it’s not the cheapest. |
| Investment choice | ★★★★★2.8/5 | It offers a decent choice of investments but is limited compared to some other platforms. |
| Safety and security | ★★★★★ 4.6/5 | Moneyfarm offers a secure and safe place for people to invest. |
| Account types and products | ★★★★★ 4.2/5 | The platform has a solid range of account types with most products covered. |
| Ease of use | ★★★★★ 4.5/5 | Moneyfarm offers a well-rounded investing experience that most customers seem happy with. |
| Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ 3/5 | With simplicity at its core, Moneyfarm is lacking in some additional investing tools and resources. |
Moneyfarm is a trading app designed to make investing easier. It offers a range of actively and passively managed portfolios along with the ability to customise portfolios or pick individual investments. Find out if you can make hay while the sun shines with this investment app and what we thought about the features and fees.
What is Moneyfarm?
Moneyfarm is a digital wealth management platform that began in 2011 and now serves over 125,000 active investors, with more than £3.5 billion in assets under management.
It began as a straightforward robo-advisor, but has since expanded its platform to offer a diverse range of investments and accounts.
Moneyfarm fees
| Fees score | ★★★★★ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | Active management 0.75% Fixed allocation Share investing Liquidity+ Thematic investing | |||||
| UK shares | £3.95 | |||||
| US stocks | N/A | |||||
| International shares | N/A | |||||
| Funds/ETFs | £3.95 | |||||
| Foreign exchange (FX) fee | 0.7% | |||||
| Regular investing | Yes | |||||
| Withdrawal/deposit fee | £0 | |||||
| Inactivity fee | £0 |
| Strategy | Under £10,000 | £10,000 to £20,000 | £50,000 to £100,000 | £100,000 to £250,000 | £250,000 to £500,000 | £500,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active management | 0.75% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.45% | 0.4% | 0.35% |
| Fixed allocation | 0.45% | 0.45% | 0.45% | 0.35% | 0.3% | 0.25% |
| Share investing | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Thematic investing | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Liquidity+ | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
Although for share investing there’s an additional 0.35% fee if you’re using a stocks and shares ISA, which is capped at £45 per year.
Along with the platform (management) fee, you’ll also pay an ongoing investment fund fee and an additional cost to account for the market spread:
- Active management. Annual average underlying fund fee of 0.2% and market spread of 0.1%.
- Fixed allocation. Annual average underlying fund fee of 0.15% and market spread of 0.02%.
- Thematic investing. Annual underlying fund fee of up to 0.26% and market spread of 0.1%.
- Liquidity+. Underlying fund fee of 0.1%
Other than the investment ISA, there’s no additional account fees for using the pension or Junior ISA, it’s all about how you choose to invest and the size of your holdings.
If you use the share investing account to buy UK shares, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), there’s a flat £3.95 commission. International investments are supposed to be coming soon and there’s a 0.7% FX fee for any currency conversion. The share investing account is still in the “early access” stage, so things could change.
Moneyfarm investment choice and stocks
| Investment choice score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Asset options | 4+ |
| Markets | 4+ |
| Number of investments | 5+ |
| Number of ETFs/funds | 5+ |
| Fractional shares | |
| Minimum deposit | £500 |
| Minimum investment | £100 |
Moneyfarm has limitations when it comes to investment choice, but that’s by design. The app’s aim is to make investing straightforward and accessible. So, there’s not an overwhelming choice of investments.
However, we do think that investment choices (like the fees) are structured in quite a confusing way. Moneyfarm used to be a lot simpler, but since it expanded its offering and the investment choice, it hasn’t done a great job of communicating this.
With Moneyfarm there are now a few ways to invest:
- Actively managed. With this option, you answer a questionnaire and Moneyfarm will build a portfolio from ETF investments and regularly rebalance based on your goals and risk profile.
- Fixed allocation. This is a more passive approach, still using ETFs to invest, but the allocations are set and the team doesn’t change or rebalance things.
- Share investing. You can now build your own portfolio of stocks, ETFs and mutual funds (you can also use this alongside an actively managed portfolio).
- Liquidity+. Ideal for short-term cash management, this is a lower risk option that invests in money market funds that are selected and managed by the Moneyfarm team (available only with the GIA or stocks and shares ISA).
- Thematic investing. This gives you the option to add a satellite growth theme to your core portfolio (only available with GIA and stocks and shares ISA, also you need a portfolio worth at least £10,000).
For most investments and accounts with Moneyfarm, you need at least a £500 lump sum to get started, and you can set up a regular monthly direct debit investment from £100. The only exception is thematic investing, which requires you to have a portfolio worth at least £10,000.
If you choose the active management or fixed allocation, you’re also able to choose for it to be an ESG portfolio.
Is Moneyfarm safe?
| Safety and security score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Biometric login/2FA | |
| FCA regulated | |
| FSCS protection | |
| SSL certificate | |
| Public company |
Moneyfarm is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection. So your deposits of up to £85,000 are covered in the event that Moneyfarm goes bust.
Like any other type of investment, your capital is at risk when you invest using Moneyfarm and you may end up with less than what you originally invested. The performance of investments will vary, and there is no guarantee of return.
Moneyfarm account types and products
| Account types and products score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| General investment account (GIA) | |
| Stock and shares ISA | |
| Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) | |
| Lifetime ISA (LISA) | |
| Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP) | |
| Business Account | |
| Interest on cash balances |
Moneyfarm offers a solid range of account options, including a:
- General investment account (GIA)
- Stocks and shares ISA
- Junior ISA (JISA)
- Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)
Keep on reading to find out more about these products and the main differences between them.
What products does Moneyfarm offer?
Here’s a quick breakdown of each account:
- Stocks and shares individual savings account (ISA). An investment ISA lets you invest up to £20,000 in each tax year without paying any capital gains or dividend tax on your profits.
- General investment account (GIA). This is a regular investment account with no upper investing limit, but it’s not tax-efficient like an ISA, so any gains above your tax-free allowances mean paying dividend or capital gains (CGT) tax.
- Junior ISA (JISA). This tax-efficient account lets you save and invest up to £9,000 each tax year for a child and this allowance is separate to your individual £20,000 ISA allowance.
- Self-invested personal pension (SIPP). Moneyfarm’s pension allows you to invest for your retirement. With this personal pension, you can receive tax relief on the contributions paid in (based on your income tax bracket). Moneyfarm offers the opportunity to transfer your pensions into it, bringing them all into the same pot. You can access money in a SIPP when you reach 55 (rising to 57 in 2028).
There are a few differences across the accounts in terms of what you can invest in. For the most part, the fees are the same across all accounts apart from the fact that you pay an extra 0.35% (capped at £45 per year) if you use the share investing feature with a stocks and shares ISA.
Also, the Liquidity+ investments are available only with the GIA or stocks and shares ISA accounts with Moneyfarm.
Moneyfarm ease of use
| Ease of use score | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Apple iOS rating | 4.6/5 |
| Google Play rating | 4.3/5 |
| Ways to contact customer service | Phone and email |
| UI/UX | Good |
| Desktop or mobile app | Both |
Moneyfarm scored pretty well in our ease of use assessment. We like that there are a couple of ways to get hold of its online customer support team and most customers seem quite happy with the platform.
On the App Store, Moneyfarm scores an impressive 4.6 out of 5, and on Google Play it has a slightly lower 4.3 out of 5 (as of February 2024). You can invest using the mobile app or the desktop platform.
Moneyfarm customer reviews
| Score | Rating |
|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 4/5 |
| User reviews | 3.3/5 |
Trustpilot reviewers gave Moneyfarm a 4 out of 5 “great” rating (as of February 2024).
For other reviews provided to Finder, Moneyfarm scores a 3.3 out of 5.
Moneyfarm tools, resources and features
| Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Analysis features | |
| Tools for investing/trading | |
| Social features | |
| Learning resources | |
| Additional Features |
With the goal of keeping things simple, Moneyfarm has a limited range of tools and resources, along with some learning materials like articles and guides.
One unique offering from Moneyfarm is that it gives customers access to a team of dedicated financial consultants who are on hand to help.
This expert guidance comes with no extra cross and means you can:
- Have a phone call or video call if you want to learn more about the products, discuss the market or find out more about the views of the portfolio management team.
- Receive guidance to better understand Moneyfarm’s products and services and find out more information about its digital suitability assessment.
- Get a free, unbiased analysis and insight of your investments (with insight in a visual report or as a discussion).
Keep in mind, this is just guidance and not financial advice that Moneyfarm is offering.
Frequently asked questions
Share dealing platform scores
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
