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Vanguard ReviewVanguard UK Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball, Jeff Anberg
Your capital is at risk.
Vanguard U.K. Investor is part of the Vanguard group, one of the world’s largest fund managers. A big benefit to Vanguard is that it’s cheap and easy to use. As such, Vanguard has built up a loyal following among investors looking for inexpensive index funds for long-term investing, and it appeals to beginner investors due to its simplicity. Vanguard continues to roll out improvements like the recent launch of a mobile app, making it easier to monitor your account.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£500 -
ISA:
Yes -
SIPP:
Yes
| Investment Choices | |
| Charges & Fees | |
| Website | |
| Education | |
| Mobile App | |
| Ease of Use |
Check out UK.StockBrokers.com's picks for the best investment platforms in 2025.
| #1 SIPP Provider | Winner |
| 2025 | #20 |
| 2024 | #17 |
Table of Contents
Pros & cons
Pros
- Excellent value for portfolios above £32,000.
- Great for low-cost, diversified investing.
- Ideal for beginners seeking simple, long-term options.
Cons
- Limited to Vanguard funds and ETFs only.
- Website experience could be improved.
- £4 monthly fee is steep for small portfolios.
- Other platforms may be cheaper for larger portfolios.
My top takeaways for Vanguard UK Investor in 2025:
- Vanguard has launched a new £4 monthly fee for investors with less than £32,000 across all its accounts. If you have less than this held on the Vanguard platform, this fee will make the platform more expensive than many competitors.
- There is no ability to buy shares, investment trusts, or to invest in alternative assets such as commodities or crypto with Vanguard.
- Vanguard has increased the educational material on its website in the past few years, featuring around 100 articles on a range of topics like how ETFs work.
Vanguard fees
Vanguard is well known for its low fees and charges. For clients with more than £32,000 invested, it charges an annual management fee of 0.15% a year of the value of your investments. The total is capped at £375 across all accounts you fund on the platform, meaning once the value of your investments goes above £250,000, you’ll have no management fees beyond that fee.
However, Vanguard has launched a new £4 monthly fee for investors with less than £32,000 across all its accounts (including ISAs, SIPPs, and general investment accounts). If you have less than this held on the Vanguard platform, this fee will make the platform more expensive than many competitors. On a total investment of £1,000, for example, you’d pay fees of £48 — equivalent to a 4.8% annual percentage platform charge. In comparison, AJ Bell charges platform fees of 0.25%, equal to £2.50 in this example, and Hargreaves Lansdown charges up to 0.45% (£4.50).
Compare Vanguard UK Investor to Top Competitors
Vanguard’s new £4 monthly fee will start to apply at the end of January 2025. It will not apply to junior ISAs.
Like all investment platforms, there are separate annual management fees for each fund you invest in. These average at 0.2% across Vanguard’s funds but the cheapest fund is just 0.07%.
There are no fees for buying, selling, or switching funds. Vanguard places bulk deals twice a day, and your purchase will be included in that for free. However, if you want to buy or sell an ETF in real-time, you’ll pay a £7.50 fee.
There are no exit or transfer fees.
Vanguard still offers great value for money for investors with larger portfolios. However, if you have a portfolio worth more than £100,000 then a platform that charges a flat fee — such as Halifax, Interactive Investor (ii), or even Hargreaves Lansdown — may be more economical. Halifax, for example, charges £36 a year for its ISA or share dealing account although you do pay trading charges, unlike with Vanguard. You should weigh up how often you’ll be trading and your investment choices when working out which is the better value.
Scenario pricing: When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in a traditional, taxable share dealing account invested in a fund with 0.2% ongoing management fees — on top of the 0.15% account fee — here are five scenarios of how much Vanguard U.K. would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = N/A
- 12 trades per year = N/A
- 36 trades per year = N/A
- 120 trades per year = N/A
- 3 fund trades per year = £108
| Feature |
 Vanguard UK Investor
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £500 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | N/A |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | N/A |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | N/A |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | Under £32,000: £48 / Over £32,000: 0.15% |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £375 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £375 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £375 |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | N/A |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | N/A |
| ETFs - Fee | 0.02% to 0.14% |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | N/A |
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See my picks for the best UK trading platforms for beginners. More experienced traders should check out my guide to the best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders. If you're looking to trade shares on the go, read my guide to the best UK stock trading apps.
Range of investments
There are very few investment options through Vanguard U.K. There is no ability to buy shares, investment trusts, or to invest in alternative assets such as commodities or crypto.
However, you can invest in mutual funds or ETFs that invest in these assets. The benefit is that investors will benefit from wide diversification. Vanguard funds cover markets worldwide, including emerging markets, the U.S. and Europe.
There are 85 funds to choose from, including ones that track an index such as the FTSE 100 or S&P 500, and others such as the Lifestrategy range that invest in a range of indices and bonds on your behalf. Many new investors opt for a Lifestrategy fund as a starting point as the funds are essentially a ready-made portfolio.
You can invest through a Vanguard ISA, SIPP, general investment account, or even a Junior ISA if you’re saving for a child.
Vanguard also offers a “Managed ISA” option, matching investors with one of five portfolios to reflect their saving goals and attitude to risk for an average cost of 0.62%. These investments are regularly monitored and adjusted by Vanguard to suit your risk level and investment preferences.
| Feature |
Vanguard UK Investor
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | |
| CFD Trading | |
| ETFs | Yes |
| Funds | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | |
| Investment Trusts | |
| Spread Betting | |
| Crypto Trading | |
| Advisor Services |
Mobile trading apps
Vanguard launched its long-awaited mobile app in September 2024 after a successful testing stage with selected customers. The app is still in development and doesn’t yet offer all the features offered through the website, such as educational articles and live ETF trading (keep in mind that live trading comes with a £7.50 fee anyway).
Elizabeth's take:
"In my testing, I found the app quite comprehensive. It’s great to see all my accounts on the go, without having to log into the platform on a web browser. It means I can check my accounts more frequently. You can see in bullet points where the bulk of your investments are held, such as in equity funds, cash, or ready-made portfolios."
Trading platforms
The Vanguard U.K. website is very basic in its design. However, I found it easy to open an account in just a matter of minutes. You can link to another account, which means you can view another person’s account (with permission) and they can see yours. This is handy for couples when managing their household finances. Other investment platforms, such as Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell, also offer this feature. You can also see Junior ISA accounts you may hold for any children. Vanguard does not offer Junior SIPPs.
Research, help, and support is more limited than at other brokers. But Vanguard’s lack of extensive investor options means it is easy enough for even a novice investor to figure out. Just pick a fund and start investing. There are no charges for switching investments if you feel you have made an error. It’s worth doing some reading elsewhere on the difference between accumulation and income choices and how to decide whether you want to lean towards equities or bonds. Interactive Investor, Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity or AJ Bell are helpful for this type of guidance.
| Feature |
Vanguard UK Investor
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 0 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 0 |
| Charting - Notes | |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | |
| Charting - Index Overlays |
Education
Vanguard has increased the educational material on its website in the past few years, featuring around 100 articles on a range of topics such as how ETFs work and how to choose between income and accumulation.
There are no podcasts or webinars. I think it would be great if Vanguard could offer more variety of educational content on its website and app.
You can create a Portfolio Valuation Report from your account. This includes a pie chart showing your asset allocation — such as how much you have in U.K. equities and other global equities — along with gains and losses since your initial investment. This is created in a matter of seconds and is helpful for seeing all your funds and total gains or losses in an understandable list format.
| Feature |
Vanguard UK Investor
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | |
| Education (Funds) | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes |
| Client Webinars | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
Final thoughts
Vanguard is basic in functionality and choice but offers a very good service for less experienced investors and those looking for simple long-term investments — perhaps those looking ahead to retirement. Fees in general are low. Vanguard is worthy of consideration by savers looking to take a hands-off approach to investing. The new addition of the mobile app is also great for being able to view your account easily through your smartphone.
Vanguard Star Ratings
| Feature |
Vanguard UK Investor
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Charges & Fees |
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| Investment Choices |
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| Mobile App |
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| Website |
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| Ease of Use |
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| Education |
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Our testing
Why you should trust us
Elizabeth Anderson has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. She’s written for major national newspapers, contributed to corporate reports and research, and reviewed dozens of share dealing platforms, SIPP providers, ISAs, and brokerage firms. Elizabeth started her career at Bloomberg and has worked for the BBC, The Telegraph, The Times and the i newspaper. She is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing. A keen investor herself, Elizabeth invests through general dealing accounts, ISAs and several SIPPs.
All content on UK.StockBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the U.K. brokerage industry.
Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Click here to learn more about how we test.
How we tested
At UK.StockBrokers.com, our online broker reviews are based on our collected quantitative data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research and collect hundreds of data points while testing brokerage firms, share dealing platforms, SIPP providers, ISA providers, and other financial service providers relevant to U.K. investors.
Mobile testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available:
- For Apple, we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest version of and the iPhone 15 running the latest version of iOS.
- For Android, we use the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra devices running Android OS 14.
All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.
Our researchers thoroughly test a wide range of key features, such as the availability and quality of trading platforms for web, desktop, and mobile, charting, real-time and streaming quotes, and educational resources – among other important variables. We also evaluate the overall design of the mobile experience, and look for a fluid user experience moving between mobile and desktop platforms.
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About Vanguard
Vanguard pioneered index investing when it launched in the U.S. in 1975, founded by legendary investor John Bogle, who is credited with inventing the index fund. Vanguard launched its U.K. retail platform in 2017 and says it has gained more than 30 million customers since then.
About the Editorial Team
Elizabeth Anderson, lead writer and researcher, has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. In addition to her work with UK.StockBrokers.com, she has written extensively for major publications including BBC, The Times and Bloomberg. A keen investor herself, she is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing.
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for UK.StockBrokers.com and ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for Reink Media and former lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.
Jeff Anberg is a Senior Editor at UK.StockBrokers.com. Along with years of experience in media distribution at a global newsroom, Jeff has a versatile knowledge base encompassing the technology and financial markets. He is a long-time active investor and engages in research on emerging markets like cryptocurrency. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature with a minor in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.