AJ Bell Youinvest Review

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AJ Bell Youinvest are an online broker that aims to make trading and investing quick and easy for users of all experience levels. You can access the markets via user-friendly trading apps that allow you to analyse the price of various financial instruments, place and manage positions. I found them to have very reasonable fees and excellent customer service. They are quick to deal with queries and respond to messages. The price charged for dealing is one of lowest you will find on the market. The website is easy to use and very informative, with plenty of content to educate those who are new to the world of investing online. I think they are an option worth consideration if you are based in the UK and just want to buy a few funds or shares. However, if you are looking to trade CFDs on Forex and Cryptos, you might find them to be limited and want to look for another option from our broker reviews.

Summary

AJ Bell was founded in 1995 and AJ Bell Youinvest was launched in 2010. Since then, they have grown into one of the UK’s largest online investment platforms. You can access a user-friendly platform for competitively priced online trading and have a nice variety of different investment services to choose from. I found the website easy to use with plenty of educational resources which could make them a viable option for beginners. You are provided with award-winning accounts, backed up with excellent service at a low cost. The low-cost accounts include a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), Stocks and shares ISA, Lifetime ISA and Junior ISA.

AJ Bell Youinvest have a wide choice of investments including stocks, shares, bonds, funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and investment trusts. They charge £9.95 per trade as standard although traders who place over 10 trades per month get a discounted rate of £4.95 per trade. They also provide clients with industry leading market research tools and analysis from third-parties which can be a great help to inspire investment ideas.

I believe that AJ Bell are financially amongst the strongest investment platforms you will find, with billions of assets under administration for hundreds and thousands of customers. You can choose what works best for you according to your own financial goals and risk preferences. The broker has succeeded by staying true to their beliefs and by carefully understanding the needs of each investor. It doesn’t matter if you are a master of the markets or a novice just getting started, they try to make things as easy as possible for everyone.

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Regulation

I am more than satisfied with the AJ Bell Youinvest regulation. They are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. Its role includes protecting consumers, keeping the industry stable, and promoting healthy competition between financial service providers. The company is listed on the London stock exchange (LSE: AJB), which should provide you with additional confidence in the broker. I wouldn’t have any problem trusting them with my funds and I am pleased to see that I can access different investment services in a regulated environment which helps to give me peace of mind.

Platforms

AJ Bell Youinvest provides you with seamless access to their intuitive and modern platform via trading apps for your mobile devices. They don’t have any desktop version of the platform but it isn’t really necessary when you can simply login through your web browser on any device. This can be advantageous as you don’t need to install any specific software and will always be using the most up to date version of the platform. The trading app is also ideal for taking your account with you at all times and managing your investments whenever you feel like it. I found that it had a simple interface that made it a breeze to navigate.

AJ Bell Youinvest App

AJ Bell Youinvest app

Using the AJ Bell Youinvest app, you can easily monitor and manage your account and investments from anywhere in the world where you have an internet connection. I really like the convenience of being able to take the markets with me in my pocket. The app can deliver real time market news so I know what is happening in the markets at all times. There are some technical indicators which can be used for conducting market analysis whilst on the go. That being said, the charting tools could be improved as could the overall functionality of the platform. This is simply because I have used MetaTrader for many years and that platform is loaded with more features than most of you would ever need. If you are curious to see how it compares, IG are one of the top brokers offering the MetaTrader platforms amongst others. I think the AJ Bell platform will suffice if you are just looking to manage your investments over the long term rather than day trade.

• View and check your portfolio whilst on the go
• Trade from anywhere with a range of multiple order types
• Use the mobile app to enable two-factor authentication for added security
• View all your current active positions
• Read and send secure messages
• Set alert notifications

Tools

AJ Bell Youinvest give you access to some excellent tools which can help you with your trading and investing, including some brilliant share screeners. You will find everything you need to choose shares for your portfolio, from market indices, to risers and fallers, to the latest economic news and views. I appreciate how they help to make your research easier with our essential investing hub. From here, you are able to get a snapshot of the market with the latest FTSE 100 data, find out which stocks are rising – and falling – and read or watch the AJ Bell experts’ analysis of the latest business news from across the markets. I would have preferred to have the tools packaged in a more accessible way as I got lost trying to find them when browsing through the different sections of their website. Clients who have a balance of £4,000 or more in their AJ Bell account can receive the Shares magazine online, completely free of charge. Each week this magazine has in-depth reporting on the events that can move the markets and helps to inspire trading ideas on new investments.

Education

I was pleased to see a generous selection of informative videos, guides and research to help with your market analysis and investment decisions. I think these are really professional done, with something for everyone to learn from and be inspired by. In particular, I was impressed with the investment ideas. This can give you easy, expert solutions to the questions of where to put your wealth. Whether you’re after some fund suggestions, or want investment specialists to do the hard work for you, AJ Bell can help. However, as with the tools, I think they could perhaps package the educational content into one dedicated academy to make it easier for users to find what they are looking for.

Markets

AJ Bell Youinvest have a wide choice of investments to choose from. That includes popular shares (including the FTSE 350), over 2,000 funds and hundreds of investment trusts and ETFs. They support overseas share trading in an impressive 24 international markets including the US, Canada and major European markets. Interestingly, whatever investment you choose, the dealing charge is very competitive.

Unfortunately, the broker does not provide you with other asset classes such as forex, options, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Saxo Bank is a bank and broker that also has plenty of trading instruments from various asset classes if you are looking to diversify your portfolio into some asset classed not available at AJ Bell.

Accounts

Dealing Account

The AJ Bell Youinvest Dealing account is an easy, low-cost way to invest online. You are in control of the investment decisions and can choose from a wide range of investment options, including shares, funds, investment trusts and bonds. Unlike a tax wrapped account such as an ISA or self-invested personal pension, there are no limits to the amount you can pay in to your Dealing account, and you can withdraw your money whenever you like.

Some of the key benefits of Dealing account include the following:

• Low-cost online share and fund trading from just £1.50
• Wide choice of investments including shares, funds and investment trusts
• Range of investment tools, videos and research to support your investment decisions
• Easy to manage your investments via the mobile app
• Overseas share trading in 24 international markets
• Regular savings from £25 per month – a great way to access the markets
• You can open a Dealing account in joint names by completing the joint dealing account application form

There is no charge to set up or transfer a share dealing account to the broker and no charge to pay money into the account. You can deal from as little as £1.50, and you will never pay more than £9.95 per online deal. You should be comfortable with trading on your own as this account does not offer any investment advice. Share dealing accounts can be opened in joint names if required. I noticed that AJ Bell Youinvest have a tiered fee structure which is common practice with most UK brokers. The tier you full under is dependent on the numbers of trades you make each calendar month. Generally speaking, I found the fees to be very good and in line with what I would expect from competitors.

• Stocks, Shares & Bonds – £9.95 (0-9 trades per month), £4.95 (10+ trades per month). There is a 0.25% per annum on holdings of shares with a maximum £7.50 per quarter.
• Funds – £1.50 per deal and holdings of 0.25% from £0 to £250,000, 0.10% for holdings of £250,000 to £1 million and 0.05% for £1 million to £2 million. There is no charge for holding funds over £2 million.

Account Signup

Opening a Dealing account or transferring an existing online share dealing account to AJ Bell is a relatively straightforward process. You can open an account online and start trading straight away. Do keep in mind that you need to be 18 or over and have your personal and bank details to hand. It takes around 10 minutes to apply for the account. Once you have completed your personal information and verified your account, you will be able to fund it using any of the available methods and commence trading.

Support

The broker provides customer support via online chat, telephone and email. It’s simple to contact them for all your general, technical and account questions. They also have a comprehensive range of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to get some instant answers to commonly asked questions. I really appreciate how the broker talks to you like a normal person, not like a corporate robot. They go above and beyond to explain things as clearly and as plainly as possible at every stage of every process, so you can know exactly what’s going on. From my experience, the members of staff who provide support from AJ Bell You Invest are always very professional, helpful, patient and polite.

Funding

The funding methods are limited to just wire transfer, card and personal cheques. Card payments can be instant, bank transfers can take a few days to arrive and cheques can take up to five working days to clear. You can also setup regular payments using direct debit. I think it would be more convenient if they offered some online payment solutions such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller. I use other brokers such as Trading 212 who have plenty of payment methods which makes it easier to move money around in my opinion.

Conclusion

AJ Bell Youinvest is an online brokerage that makes investing and trading online as easy as possible. You can choose from an excellent range of financial instruments across different asset classes via the brokers award winning mobile app. I think that they have really competitive fees and I am impressed with the professional research tools and market insights they provide to help us make informed decisions. Customer support is amongst the best you are likely to find anywhere. Despite the positives, they do not provide forex or crypto trading whilst the funding options are quite limited. As the Dealing account is an execution only share dealing account you should be comfortable with making your own investment decisions, without financial advice. Not only do they have share dealing account, if you are based in the UK then you will find a host of investment products and services if you want to have everything under the one umbrella.

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AJ Bell Youinvest is a UK brokerage firm that offers an excellent range of investing and trading services, geared towards making the markets easily accessible to users of all experience levels.

The value of investments can change, and you could lose money as well as make it.

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