Last updated: 21 September 2026. I checked every fee, minimum and account type in this managed investment platforms comparison against the provider's own pricing pages on 10 September 2026.
By Stiv · Design, technology and personal finance
Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.
This is not financial advice, and CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. I hold real money with three of the seven platforms below, so treat this as one person's research rather than a recommendation, and make your own call.
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Want a sign-up offer with your managed portfolio?
Two of these managed investment platforms run a sign-up offer right now, so I keep the live J.P. Morgan and InvestEngine offers, and how to claim them, on my referral pages.
See the J.P. Morgan referral offer See the InvestEngine welcome offer
Seven platforms that pick the funds for you, and what each really costs
Managed investment platforms do the part of investing most people put off. You answer a questionnaire about your goals and your appetite for risk. Then the platform builds a diversified portfolio and rebalances it for you. So I compared the seven UK managed investment platforms I would actually consider, from the premium service I pay for myself to the bank app that lets you start with a pound. On a £10,000 pot, then, the all-in annual bill runs from about £39 to £97. Meanwhile the cheapest one lives inside a bank app, and the one everyone calls cheapest is closed to new customers for now.
What managed investment platforms actually charge
Every managed portfolio carries three layers of cost, but the marketing usually shows you one. First, the management fee pays the platform to choose and rebalance the funds. Second, some platforms add a separate platform or account fee for running the app itself. Third, the funds inside the portfolio charge their own ongoing costs. Those come out of the fund price before you ever see a number, so you never see them as a line on a statement. So a headline of 0.25% can mean 0.45% once everything is counted, and a headline of 0.75% can mean 0.97%.
Because of that, I have quoted an all-in figure wherever the provider publishes its own average fund cost. Monzo, however, needs one extra word of care. Its fees document gives a worked example for the three ready-made funds only, 0.39% all in, and that is the figure I have used. Pick one of its other 14 investments instead and the fund charge changes, so the total changes with it. I checked every figure on 10 September 2026, on the provider's own pricing page or fees document rather than on a comparison site.
The annual bill on a £10,000 pot, all in
| Platform and style | Fees to the platform | Fund costs | All in on £10,000 | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monzo Investments, ready-made fund | 0.25% (0.20% on a paid plan) | 0.14% (MyMap 8 Select ESG) | £39 (0.39%) | £1 |
| InvestEngine Managed (paused for new customers, 10 Sept 2026) | 0.25% | 0.12% plus 0.08% spread | £45 (0.45%) | £100 |
| Moneybox, Moneybox Fund | 0.15% plus £1 a month | 0.33% (Balanced) | £48 (0.48%) | Not stated |
| Vanguard Managed ISA | 0.20% plus 0.15% account fee | 0.17% average | £52 (0.52%) | £500 |
| Moneyfarm, Fixed Allocation | 0.15% plus 0.25% platform fee | Up to 0.17% incl. spread | £57 (0.57%) | Not stated |
| J.P. Morgan, Fixed Allocation | 0.45% | 0.14% plus 0.04% spread | £63 (0.63%) | £500 |
| Wealthify, Original Plan | 0.60% | 0.14% approx | £74 (0.74%) | £1,000 |
| Moneyfarm, Actively Managed | 0.45% plus 0.25% platform fee | Up to 0.21% incl. spread | £91 (0.91%) | Not stated |
| J.P. Morgan, Fully Managed | 0.75% | 0.18% plus 0.04% spread | £97 (0.97%) | £500 |
Monzo's 0.14% is the ongoing charge of one fund, the MyMap 8 Select ESG fund that sits behind its Adventurous option, and its 14 other investments carry their own charges. Moneybox waives its £1 monthly subscription once you hold £5,000 or more, so it does not appear in the £10,000 figure; on a £3,000 pot the same Moneybox Fund costs 0.88% a year. All figures from each provider's own pricing page or fees document, 10 September 2026.
Section 01 / The platforms
The best managed investment platforms UK investors can open, ranked
Ranked on what you get for the fee, not on the fee alone. I hold money with the first three, so those entries also carry my own experience.
J.P. Morgan Personal Investing
This is the business that used to be Nutmeg, which retired into the J.P. Morgan brand on 3 November 2025. It is also the most expensive of the managed investment platforms here, and yet it is the one I would still put first. You get five wrappers, more than anyone else in this list: a stocks and shares ISA, a Lifetime ISA, a Junior ISA, a personal pension and a general account. You also get free financial guidance calls, a track record you can read on the site, and a fee that drops above £100,000.
Fully Managed costs 0.75% on the first £100,000 and 0.35% beyond. Add fund costs and spread and that comes to 0.97% a year all in. Fixed Allocation costs 0.45% and 0.25%, or 0.63% all in.
The small-pot problem
The catch, however, is the price on a small pot. On £2,000, Fully Managed is about £19 a year against £9 at InvestEngine. The ISA is not flexible either, though. So money you withdraw and put back in the same tax year uses your allowance twice. I hold my own managed portfolio here and pay the fee for the top-holdings breakdown and the guidance. My J.P. Morgan Personal Investing review covers the app in detail.
For someone who wants the whole job done, a pension and a Lifetime ISA in the same app, and a person to ring.
0.97% a year all in on Fully Managed, 0.63% on Fixed Allocation. Open from £500.
Get the J.P. Morgan referral offer
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Monzo Investments
Monzo's investing tab is the lowest-friction way to start on this list, because it lives inside a current account you may already have. You pick one of three ready-made funds run by BlackRock, Careful, Balanced or Adventurous, or choose from 17 investments in total, and you can start with £1. The platform fee is 0.25% a year, or 0.20% if you pay for Perks or Max instead, and Monzo's own fees document puts the ready-made funds at 0.39% all in.
I then checked that against the fund I hold. The Adventurous option is BlackRock's MyMap 8 Select ESG fund, and its July 2026 factsheet gives an ongoing charge of 0.14%. So a £10,000 pot costs £14 to BlackRock and £24.96 to Monzo, which makes Monzo the cheapest managed portfolio you can open today. Above £100,000, Monzo charges nothing at all, and round-ups from your card invest for you in the background.
The three trade-offs
The trade-offs are real, though. First, you need a Monzo current account. Second, the wrappers stop at an ISA and a general account. Third, that 0.39% is for the three ready-made funds only. Pick one of Monzo's themed or geographic funds instead and the fund charge changes, so read the fee shown in the app before you buy. Seccl Custody Limited holds the investments, not Monzo itself, and holdings visibility is thin next to J.P. Morgan's breakdown. I have paid £50 a month into the Adventurous fund since November 2025. My Monzo Investments review has the full account of what that has felt like.
For a first pot you want to forget about, funded mostly by spare change.
0.25% a year platform fee plus the fund's own charge. Open from £1.
InvestEngine Managed
InvestEngine's Managed portfolios charge 0.25% a year, and that number is the reason the platform is on this list. Because they hold ETFs, the average fund cost inside a Growth portfolio is 0.12%, with a spread of about 0.08%. So the all-in figure is roughly 0.45%, which only Monzo's ready-made funds beat among the managed investment platforms in this comparison. You can hold one in an ISA, a SIPP or a general account, too. You start from £100, or from £10 a week through a Savings Plan, and the platform charges no dealing, FX or withdrawal fees anywhere.
There is one large catch, however, and I saw it in my own app on 10 September 2026. New Managed portfolios are temporarily unavailable while InvestEngine reworks its portfolio-building questionnaire. Existing Managed customers carry on as before. Meanwhile the DIY account, where you pick the ETFs yourself for no platform fee, stays open. That is what I use, and my InvestEngine review covers it in detail. Until Managed reopens, therefore, this entry is a fee you cannot yet pay. I will update this line as soon as it changes.
For an ETF-only managed portfolio at 0.25%, once it reopens.
About 0.45% a year all in. Open from £100, or £10 a week. New Managed portfolios paused as of 10 September 2026.
Vanguard Managed ISA
Vanguard's Managed ISA, meanwhile, is the quiet bargain for anyone who does not bank with Monzo. The management fee is 0.20% a year and the account fee is 0.15%, capped at £375, so the two together come to 0.35%. The funds inside cost 0.17% on average, so the whole thing comes to about 0.52%. Vanguard then builds the portfolio from up to twelve of its own index funds, from a UK all-share tracker to a global corporate bond fund. Then you start with £500 or £100 a month. Notably, the £4 monthly minimum that makes Vanguard's self-managed account expensive on a small pot does not apply to the Managed ISA.
The limits, of course, are the flip side of the price. First, it is an ISA only, with a managed pension version at 0.30%. So there is no managed general account for money above the £20,000 allowance. Likewise, it is Vanguard funds only, with no thematic options, no human to talk to, and an app that does the job without any warmth. If none of that bothers you, it is the cheapest managed portfolio here that does not require a particular bank account.
For an ISA you want run by index funds and left alone.
About 0.52% a year all in. Open with £500 or £100 a month.
Moneybox
Moneybox pitches itself at people who invest their spare change, so its fees follow that shape. Its own three ready-made Moneybox Funds, Cautious, Balanced and Adventurous, carry a 0.15% service fee. Other providers' funds and US shares cost 0.45%. On top sits a £1 monthly subscription from the fourth month, which Moneybox waives once you hold £5,000 or more. The Balanced fund's own cost is 0.33%, so on £10,000 the bill is about 0.48% a year, for example. On the other hand, it offers more wrappers than most: a stocks and shares ISA, a Lifetime ISA, a Junior ISA, a general account and a pension.
The £1, however, is the problem. On a £3,000 pot it adds 0.40% and takes the Balanced fund to 0.88%. As a result, Moneybox is one of the dearest options in this table for exactly the small saver it courts. Moneybox's fees document does not state a minimum deposit for the investing products, so I have left that cell honest rather than guessing.
For someone whose pot is going to pass £5,000 and who wants a Lifetime ISA in the same app.
0.15% plus £1 a month plus fund costs. About 0.48% all in once the £1 is waived.
Moneyfarm
Moneyfarm, by contrast, is the robo-adviser that kept the humans. Its Actively Managed portfolios charge 0.45% on the first £50,000, 0.20% from £50,000 to £100,000 and 0.10% above that. On top of that comes a 0.25% platform fee with a £1.25 monthly minimum. Add fund costs and spread of up to 0.21%, and a £10,000 Active portfolio costs about 0.91% a year. The Fixed Allocation style, which rebalances rather than trades, drops the management fee to 0.15%. Consequently the same pot costs about 0.57%. You can hold it in an ISA, a Junior ISA, a SIPP or a general account, and the higher Wealth tiers come with a dedicated qualified wealth manager.
Even so, Active is almost as dear as J.P. Morgan's Fully Managed, and the £1.25 monthly minimum turns a 0.25% platform fee into 0.30% on a £5,000 pot. Moneyfarm's pricing page does not state a minimum deposit, so that cell reads not stated.
For a larger pot where a human on the phone is part of the point.
About 0.57% a year all in on Fixed Allocation, 0.91% on Actively Managed.
Wealthify
Aviva owns Wealthify, and it runs the simplest price of the managed investment platforms in this list: 0.60% a year for managing your investments. The part of a personal pension above £100,000 pays 0.30%. Fund and trading costs then add about 0.14% for an Original Plan or 0.46% for an Ethical Plan, so the all-in figure is 0.74% or 1.06%. Five risk styles run from Cautious to Adventurous, so there is a plan for most appetites. The ISA is flexible, and you can hold a Junior ISA, a general account and a pension too.
Two things put it last, though. The minimum is £1,000 for an ISA or Junior ISA and £5,000 for a pension or general account, the highest entry in this comparison. And a flat 0.60% never falls as the pot grows. So a £50,000 Wealthify ISA pays £300 a year in fees to the platform, where Vanguard's Managed ISA pays £175. Aviva's ownership is the reassuring part, and the price is the part to weigh against it.
For someone who wants a big insurer's brand and does not mind paying for it.
About 0.74% a year all in on an Original Plan. Open with £1,000.
Section 02 / The finding
Fixed allocation is the quiet bargain on managed investment platforms
Two platforms sell the same portfolio twice, at two prices, and the difference is whether a human trades it.
All-in annual cost of a £10,000 managed portfolio, using each provider's own published average fund cost. Monzo's line uses its three ready-made funds only, because its other investments carry different charges. Checked 10 September 2026.
For example, look at Moneyfarm and J.P. Morgan side by side. Both offer an actively managed portfolio, where the investment team shifts the mix as its view changes over time. Both also offer a fixed allocation portfolio, which matches your risk level and rebalances on a schedule. At J.P. Morgan the two cost 0.97% and 0.63% all in. Similarly, at Moneyfarm they cost 0.91% and 0.57%. In other words, the fixed version is roughly a third cheaper at both. It is also the version closest to what Vanguard, InvestEngine and Monzo sell as their only option.
The cheapest managed portfolio in the UK lives inside a bank app, and the one everybody calls cheapest is closed.
The InvestEngine problem
InvestEngine's 0.25% fee is the one everybody quotes as the cheapest managed option in the country, and that quote is now wrong twice over. Yet on 10 September 2026 my own app told me new Managed portfolios are temporarily unavailable, and even at about 0.45% all in it is not the cheapest anyway. Monzo's ready-made funds come to 0.39%, and Vanguard's Managed ISA at about 0.52% is next among the platforms that do not need a particular bank account. Meanwhile the platforms with the biggest marketing budgets sit at the top of the price table, not the bottom, because a brand costs money and somebody has to pay for it.
Why the flat fees hurt small pots
A percentage fee grows with your pot, but a flat charge bites hardest when the pot is small. Moneybox's £1 a month is 0.40% on £3,000 and 0.12% on £10,000, before it disappears at £5,000. Likewise, Moneyfarm's £1.25 monthly minimum works the same way. So if you are starting with £200 or £300, the two platforms built for small savers are the two whose small print costs you most. Monzo, by contrast, has no minimum fee at all, so it treats a £50 pot the same as a £50,000 one.
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
How I compared the managed investment platforms
To keep the managed investment platforms comparable, I priced the same job on every one: a medium-risk managed portfolio, held in a stocks and shares ISA, on a £10,000 pot. Every management fee, platform fee, account fee and minimum came from the provider's own pricing page or fees document on 10 September 2026. For Moneyfarm, I read the calculator at seven different pot sizes to work out its tiers rather than trusting a summary. Where a provider publishes an average fund cost, I then added it. Where it does not, I said so instead. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.
The ranking is then a judgement about value, because three of the seven are accounts I pay into every month. If you would rather see the wrapper first and the platform second, my best investment ISA guide takes that route. Meanwhile my beginner's guide to investment risk explains what the questionnaire is actually asking you.
Managed versus doing it yourself
A managed portfolio pays someone else to choose, hold and rebalance. By contrast, the alternative is a DIY account, where you pick a handful of funds yourself and pay only their own costs, usually 0.10% to 0.25%, with no management fee at all. On a £10,000 pot that is the difference between roughly £15 a year and roughly £50 to £97, and the gap compounds over a decade.
Even so, cheapest is not the same as best for everyone. A managed portfolio that you keep paying into beats a DIY account you abandon in March because the market wobbled. In addition, the questionnaire stops you holding a 100% equity fund with money you need in two years. If you want to pick your own, my comparison of the cheapest investment apps in the UK covers the DIY brokers and their FX charges. My guide to how to start investing in the UK walks through the first account.
Who regulates these managed investment platforms, and what the FSCS covers
Eligible investments are protected up to £85,000 per person per FCA-authorised firm by the FSCS. However, that cover applies only if the firm fails, never if your investments fall in value. Every record below is on the FCA Register, and I read each one there on 10 September 2026.
- J.P. Morgan Personal Investing Limited, FRN 552016, formerly Nutmeg Saving and Investment Limited
- Monzo Bank Limited, FRN 730427
- InvestEngine (UK) Limited, FRN 801128
- Vanguard Asset Management, Ltd., FRN 527839
- Digital Moneybox Limited, FRN 712935
- MFM Investment Ltd, trading as Moneyfarm, FRN 629539
- Wealthify Limited, FRN 662530
Managed investment platforms: frequently asked questions
What is a managed investment platform?
A managed investment platform, sometimes called a robo-adviser, builds and runs a diversified portfolio for you, so you never pick a fund yourself. You answer questions about your goals, timeframe and appetite for risk. Then the platform picks the funds, keeps them in proportion and charges a percentage of your pot each year for doing so. In other words, you do not choose individual shares or funds yourself.
Which is the cheapest managed investment platform in the UK?
On my 10 September 2026 check, Monzo's three ready-made funds are cheapest at 0.39% a year all in, using Monzo's own worked example and the 0.14% charge on the MyMap 8 Select ESG fund. InvestEngine Managed comes next at about 0.45%, but InvestEngine had paused new Managed portfolios at the time. Among the rest, a £5,000-plus Moneybox Fund at about 0.48% and Vanguard's Managed ISA at about 0.52% are the lowest. Monzo's other 14 investments carry different fund charges, so that 0.39% is for the ready-made funds only.
Is InvestEngine's managed portfolio worth it?
On price, yes: 0.25% for the management plus ETF costs is the lowest fee here, and there are no dealing, FX or withdrawal charges either. However, you cannot currently open one. I scored InvestEngine 4 out of 5 in my review for its DIY account. I will revisit the managed side once it reopens to new customers.
Are managed investment platforms safe and FSCS protected?
All seven platforms here are FCA-authorised. Eligible investments are protected up to £85,000 per person per FCA-authorised firm by the FSCS. That protection applies only if the firm fails, though. It does not cover a fall in the value of your investments, which is the normal risk of investing and nobody insures it.
Managed investment platforms versus DIY investing: which is better?
DIY is generally cheaper, usually by 0.30% to 0.80% a year, because you pay no management fee to any of the managed investment platforms. Managed is better for anyone who would otherwise never start. It also suits anyone who would sell in a panic without a questionnaire and a rebalancing schedule holding them to a plan. In short, the right answer depends on whether you will actually do the work, not on the fee table.
Can I hold a managed portfolio in an ISA or a pension?
Yes. First, all seven offer a stocks and shares ISA. Second, J.P. Morgan, Moneyfarm, Wealthify, Moneybox and Vanguard also offer a managed pension, while InvestEngine offers a SIPP. However, only J.P. Morgan and Moneybox offer a Lifetime ISA. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.
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Disclaimer. Fees, minimums and terms change. I checked every figure here on 10 September 2026 against the provider's own pricing page or fees document, and InvestEngine's Managed availability in my own app the same day. This article is not financial advice and CoolCuration is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. If you are unsure what suits you, please consider speaking to a qualified financial adviser. This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.
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