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Vanguard and interactive investor (ii) are two of the most well-established investing providers available to UK retail investors. They’re fairly comparable some ways but quite different in others in terms of what they offer and their target audience. But, who comes out victorious when its ii vs Vanguard?
Both interactive investor and Vanguard offer a decent range of account options, including a stocks and shares ISA and a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). However, they’re very different when you look at the fees and choice of investments.
So, check out our breakdown of interactive investor (ii) vs Vanguard and hopefully this will help you pick who’s best, depending on what’s most important to you – whether that’s fees, investment choice, account types or anything else.
interactive investor (ii) vs Vanguard: At a glance
Vanguard and interactive investor are pretty close when it comes to their Finder scores, with interactive investor scoring a solid 4.2 out of 5, and Vanguard scoring a slightly higher 4.3 out of 5.
Both platforms offer stocks and shares ISA, and both come with full Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection of up to £85,000.
ii and Vanguard are also both pretty even when it comes to their most recent Finder Investing Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024 results.
However, where the platforms go different ways is with the fees score. ii has a 2.7 score for fees vs Vanguard’s 4.7 fees score (both out of 5).
Round 1: Products
General investment account | ||
---|---|---|
Stocks and shares ISA | ||
Lifetime ISA (LISA) | ||
Pension (SIPP) | ||
Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP) | ||
Interest on cash balances | ||
Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
Go to site More Info | More Info |
Both interactive investor and Vanguard tick most boxes when it comes to account types available on each platform. The only account each provider is lacking is a lifetime ISA (LISA).
So, in this category it’s hard to separate ii vs Vanguard.
Winner: Tie
Round 2: Investment choice
Investment choice score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
---|---|---|
Available markets | 7+ | 4+ |
Number of investments | 40,000+ | 85+ |
Number of ETFs/funds | 4,000 | 85 |
Fractional shares | ||
Min. initial deposit | £0 | £500 lump sum (or £100/month) |
Min. investment | £1 | £100 |
Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
Go to site More Info | More Info |
This category is an easy win for interactive investor, it has one of the largest investment selections around with over 40,000 investments.
interactive investor’s investing options covers a wide choice of markets and assets. The only downside with ii is that it doesn’t offer fractional shares.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks with Vanguard is that you can only invest in index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), on top of this, you’re also limited to Vanguard’s own funds. So there’s roughly about 85 options and that’s it.
Winner: interactive investor (ii)
Round 3: Fees
Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
---|---|---|
Platform fees | From £4.99 a month | 0.15% |
US shares | £3.99 | £0 |
UK shares | £3.99 | £0 |
International shares | £9.99 (Investor Essentials/Investor) £5.99 (Super Investor) | N/A |
Funds/ETFs | £3.99 | £0 |
Foreign exchange fee | 1.5% | 0% |
Regular investing | Yes (from £25/month and means no commission) | Yes |
Withdrawal fee | £0 | £0 |
Deposit fee | £0 | £0 |
Inactivity fee | £0 | £0 |
Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
Go to site More Info | More Info |
This is an easy win for Vanguard. If you look at Vanguard’s fees vs ii’s, there’s no comparison (and this is reflected in the overall Finder fee score).
Vanguard’s platform fee is extremely cheap at 0.15%, whereas ii charges a flat fee starting at £4.99 a month but rising to £11.99 a month once your portfolio reaches £50,000. The benefit with ii’s flat fee structure is that it can be good value for those with larger portfolios, however, Vanguard’s fees are also capped at £375 per year.
You can avoid ii’s commission fee by arranging a regular scheduled investment, but otherwise its commissions for shares and funds are a bit steep.
Winner: Vanguard
Round 4: Ease of use
Ease of use score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
---|---|---|
Apple iOS rating | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 |
Google Play rating | 4.4/5 | 3.7/5 |
Ways to contact customer service | Phone, post and secure in-app messaging | Secure message, email, phone, chatbot |
UI/UX | Good | Good |
Desktop or web access | ||
Mobile app | ||
Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
Go to site More Info | More Info |
It’s a dead heat in this category. On paper, ii and Vanguard are fairly similar when it comes to ease of use.
Vanguard’s desktop and mobile app are pretty basic, but ii offers a more in-depth investing experience.
Winner: Tie
Round 5: Tools, resources and features
Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
---|---|---|
Analysis features | ||
Tools for investing/trading | ||
Social features | ||
Learning resources | ||
Additional features | ||
Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
Go to site More Info | More Info |
interactive investor and Vanguard offer quite similar tools, but ii has a bit more to help investors research and dig into investments. It also offers plenty of expert analysis and insights on the platform.
Both are lacking any sort of social features and Vanguard has no tools for investing or trading (because you can’t trade most assets or investments with Vanguard).
Winner: interactive investor (ii)
Overall winner: Is interactive investor better than Vanguard?
If you want a platform brimming with features and investments to choose from, then ii could be the way to go.
However, if you want to keep things simple and cheap, then Vanguard might better suit your needs.
It’s quite hard to separate these two because they both offer different advantages to suit different types of investors.
Vanguard edges a slight win here in large part due to the excellent value it provides investors with extremely low fees and this is reflected in its overall Finder score.
Winner: Vanguard
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