
Investing has come a long way in the last few years, and that’s largely thanks to the rise of the internet. If you’ve taken a look at some of my recent guides to online investing, you will already know that I’ve looked at a handful of platforms out there which are starting to gain some prominence. Naturally, I thought it would be worthwhile to consider which of the major UK online investment platforms was worth more of our time and money.
Investing has been made easier thanks to platforms such as
I’ll take you through everything you need to know about both
Nutmeg vs Wealthify : Summary
- Depending on the package you choose,
Nutmeg will let you pay as little as 0.25% in fees each year.Wealthify has a fixed fee of 0.6%. - Both services offer an automated investment system to an extent, though you will still have access to human expertise and support through
Nutmeg . Wealthify is virtually free to join and start investing in, however, withNutmeg , you will need to pay in at least £100, or £500, depending on the plan or package you choose.Nutmeg allows you to dabble in both ISAs and pension schemes as you wish.- Both services are protected via the FSCS, meaning that any money you put in up to £85,000 is backed.
- Both services take an approach of diversifying your finds as much as possible.
Nutmeg is backed by Oxford Risk, which should supply a modicum of confidence.- Wealthify is backed by Aviva, which should give some confidence to seasoned investors.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify
What is Nutmeg ?
Nutmeg offers online investment to people who are just getting started in the world of growing their money. However, what is refreshing about this service is that it appears to be levelled towards experienced investors, too. That may go down well with various people in different ways, however, it is a good sign that the platform is willing to diversify.
Nutmeg now has over 200,000 clients and manages assets in excess of £4.5 billion.
Get 6 Months of No Fees with Nutmeg
You can get 6 months of no management fees when you sign up to Nutmeg using the link below
How Does Nutmeg Actually Work?
The way
The sign-up process is pretty straightforward. Any beginners who are worried about getting ‘in too deep’ will only need to answer a handful of pointed questions to build a profile. The experts at
Further Details
Once you’re up and running, you can use
Want more say over your investments, risks, and where your
money is headed? Don’t worry. A fixed allocation plan is offered to people
who would rather than the
What’s interesting about
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What Does Nutmeg Charge?
Thankfully, there are no extra fees and costs at play here, which means
What Can Nutmeg Invest In?
Can You Control Investments Through Nutmeg ?
Yes – to some extent.
You will need to establish how you’d like to manage your portfolio and
choices when you first start out, however, there are various plans on offer
which will give you a wider playing field to pick from over some systems. Many people prefer the hands-off appeal that
I don’t think there is much to worry about when it comes to automating your investments via

Are Nutmeg Investments Protected?
Yes. Any money you invest via
What is Wealthify ?
Wealthify is a bit of a different fish to

Which type of accounts does Wealthify offer?
Wealthify offers stocks & shares ISA, junior stocks & shares ISA, general investment accounts, and pensions accounts. Additionally, Wealthify also offers a savings account. However at the time of writing, the interest rate was a paltry 0.17%, so you’re like better off with someone like Chip where the rates are significantly higher.
How Does Wealthify Actually Work?
Wealthify works on a similarly passive model to Moneyfarm and Nutmeg, in the sense that it wants to diversify the money you put in as much as possible. It’s even more hands-off than Moneyfarm, in a way, as while there are experts involved behind the scenes, there is very much an emphasis on automating the investment process. This could appeal to plenty of people, but at the same time, something of a human touch is generally recommended, especially when you are looking at big sums of money.
Wealthify offers a similar process to Moneyfarm when it comes to signing up. That means you can expect to receive a series of questions which will ask you about your general investment experience, as well as where you’d like your money to go.

Once you have entered your data, you get an output showing the sample portfolio construction. Like most services, Wealthify uses a mix of passive funds from the well known providers like Vanguard, Fidelity, Blackrock, etc.

A good feature installed into this process is an automatic block, which means that Wealthify will stop you if it believes that the system is not going to benefit you long-term. There are some online investment services which simply let you continue, which isn’t always a great look if you’re trying to help people be responsible with their funds.
Wealthify doesn’t have anything akin to an advisor team ready to help look at your finances, however, there are always some specialists working behind the scenes to ensure that their robo-investment standards are doing exactly what they are supposed to. Again, some form of human touch would be palatable, however, it’s easy to see the appeal in going completely hands-off.
Having said that, Wealthify does have a support team for general inquiries and assistance. They’re available via the phone, live chat, or messaging through their platform.

What Does Wealthify Charge?
Wealthify used to have a tiered fee structure, but they have moved to a flat rate structure now. Wealthify now charges a flat rate of 0.6%, regardless of the amount invested. They do highlight that there are additional investment charges – typically the costs associated with the underlying funds’ management fees and market spread. However this latter fee is standard across all platforms.
Wealthify’s fees are higher than Moneyfarm’s fees for their Fixed Allocation portfolio. On the Actively Managed offering, Wealthify is cheaper if your portfolio is less than £100,000. Beyond this, Moneyfarm is once again cheaper.

What Can Wealthify Invest In?
If you want to let Wealthify take control of your portfolio, you will need to entrust it to spread your money over a wide array of smaller, diverse pots which the system believes will be worth your while. The Wealthify approach is, on the whole, to spread your money as far and as wide as possible.
The actual holdings are exclusively passive funds, whether they’re ETFs or mutual funds. As stated earlier, they offer a mix of funds from providers like Vanguard, Fidelity, Blackrock, etc.
When creating your portfolio mix, Wealthify first offers two options:
- Original: This is the typical market portfolio that would would think of which includes a mix of cash, bonds, stocks, and alternative investments.
- Ethical: In tune with the market demand, Wealthify offers funds that have been specially selected to deliver higher scores on ESG metrics.
It appears that Wealthify lets the investor decide what their risk profile is so you have to select whether you want to be in a balanced allocation (Wealthify calls this “Confident”), growth focused (“Ambitious”), or nearly all in on equity (“Adventurous”).
In looking at their portfolio allocation, I feel that their buckets are skewed a little bit towards the conservative side. Consider for example the industry standard allocation for a balanced investor – 60% in equity and 40% in bonds. Wealthify’s equivalent plan, called Confident, has a 50-50 allocation. Similarly, the industry would have a growth investor at 80-20, whereas Wealthify’s Ambitious plan is at 70-30.
What this means is that in the long run, a Wealthify portfolio will underperform even a standard Vanguard Lifestrategy fund due to a more conservative allocation than perhaps necessary.
If your risk tolerance tends to be on the lower side, then you’re going to be fine. However for those who have a neutral or higher risk tolerance, Wealthify will most likely undershoot on expectations.

Can You Control Investments Through Wealthify ?
Ultimately, you have very little to do with how your investments are handled via

Does Wealthify have an app?
Yes, Wealthify does have an app and it works on both iOS and Android.

Are Wealthify Investments Protected?
Yes – again, like
Before we wrap up completely, let’s take a look back at both
Nutmeg vs Wealthify : Pros and Cons
Nutmeg – Pros and Cons
Pros
Nutmeg has a good edge on many investor services when it comes to fees, as depending on the package you go for, you could be subject to as little as 0.25%. Plus sign up via my link you can get 6 months of no fees at all.- There is a fair amount of risk involved with
Nutmeg thanks to its hands-free approach. However, it tempers this by making sure it’s backed by Oxford Risk, which should encourage seasoned investors to get involved. - 24 hour access to your portfolio is always a good thing, even if you don’t always have full say over what’s going on with it.
Nutmeg completely knuckles down on extra fees, with just a £20 charge applying if you want to move stocks over to a different investor.- The service does offer a nice range of investment packages and plans, with a pension option open for anyone who is happy for the
Nutmeg experts to manage their retirement pot. Nutmeg takes something of a diverse approach to investing, in that it prefers to spread itself thin with very low risk money attached to each pot. This is definitely a positive if you’re keen to take on as many different markets as possible. And why not?- The sign-up process is very straightforward, and the system will build a thorough profile for you based on just a handful of questions.

Cons
Nutmeg ’s range of investment opportunities may not appeal to everyone, especially as there are systems elsewhere which go a little more diverse.- The entry investment at
Nutmeg can start at £100, but most people will likely need to spend at least £500 to get up and running. - There are more than a few terms and conditions attached to pension management, which means that you should certainly look carefully at the small print before you get started.
Nutmeg ’s approach to diversifying investments and keeping manual control off the table isn’t going to appeal to everyone, however, it will provide plenty of newbie investors with the chance to explore the world of investing at a safe distance.
Wealthify – Pros and Cons
Pros
- Wealthify is extremely cheap to start with. You can put in £1 and start making money back!
- There are no account closure fees, though do be aware that other charges may apply during your time investing through the platform.
- The hands-off approach here lets you completely automate the money you spread across investments. This could appeal to people who want to avoid having to make tough decisions!
Wealthify benefits from the backing of a big name in the world of finance – Aviva. This should do a lot to balance out the perceived risks of letting the system completely manage your money for you.- There’s a useful ‘block’ which comes into play if
Wealthify believes that investing, and robo-investing, aren’t going to be worth your while. It’s a very nice touch which shows the brand is concerned about risk. - There is a dedicated app available, which will let you check how your investments are performing on the move.
Wealthify appears to be a good choice for anyone who may not be confident about investing.

Cons
- One of the main drawbacks of
Wealthify lies in the fact that it is completely free from human expertise. There are people working behind the scenes, but you won’t get the benefit of personal assistance or control. - In addition to this, there are fees which will apply along the way. While
Nutmeg goes completely hands-off when it comes to transaction fees and additional costs,Wealthify doesn’t. - Wealthify’s asset allocation takes a more conservative approach than industry standard. If you are a young investor and/or have higher risk tolerance, you may end up underperforming.
- Do also be aware that
Wealthify is fully automated, which means that there is even less control here than there is throughNutmeg .
Nutmeg vs Wealthify : Verdict
Both Nutmeg and Wealthify are similar in terms of their approach to online investing. They both believe in a model where you should feel free to let a service or a robot make the right choices for you. To many people, this will definitely be appealing. To others, there may simply be too much risk on the table. There’s a difference in terms of fees here, which
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With investing, your capital is at risk. InvestEngine (UK) Limited is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN [801128]