AJ Bell Youinvest Review

What can you trade?

There are hundreds of shares of companies listed for trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and other exchanges across Europe and America.

Investment Trusts: There are over 500 investment trusts to choose from. These are a collective investment brought in by different investors’ deposits.

Exchange-Traded Funds are a type of investment sometimes called passive or tracker funds. ETFs follow an index’s performance. They are not actively managed, so there is no risk of fund manager errors. They are also tax efficient and have low maintenance costs. About 1,500 ETFs are available for trading on the platforms provided.

What did our traders think after reviewing the key criteria?

Similar to a lot of other brokers in the UK, AJ Bell Youinvest offers a fee structure that is dependent on the number of trades placed the previous month. For 0 to 9 trades stocks, investment trusts, gilts, and bonds have £9.95 charge per trade. However, the fee falls to £4.95 per trade if ten or more trades were placed the previous month.

AJ Bell Youinvest charges a very low £1.50 per trade for funds and unit trusts. Asides from the trading fee accounts like the SIPP and ISA also have a 0.25% per year on the shareholdings. There is a maximum charge of £7.50 per quarter on the Dealing and ISA accounts, while the SIPP account has a maximum fee of £25.00.

Charges for holding funds are different depending on the amount being retained, and it can vary from 0.25% for £0 to £250,000 to 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, which is the industry standard.

AJ Bell Youinvest has four different account types that are designed to suit the client’s needs and goals. These account types are:

Dealing Account: This can only be opened and operated by a person above the age of 18. It has no limit on its annual savings. It provides the opportunity to invest in a full range of funds, shares, bonds, and trackers. This account is usually subject to capital gain tax. Funds can be accessed at any time.

Individual Savings Account (ISA): It can only be operated by someone above 18, has a maximum annual savings of £20,000.  The ISA has zero government or employer contribution. Clients can invest in a full range of funds, shares, bonds, and trackers. There is no tax on withdrawal, and funds can be accessed at any point in time.

Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP): This can be opened and operated by any age, has a maximum deposit of £40,000 per year. It has a 20% tax relief, which is equivalent to a 25% bonus, and higher rates of tax relief can be accessed and claimed separately.

Depending on individual employers, there can be employer top-up. Owners of these accounts can invest in a full range of funds, shares, bonds, and trackers. It is 25% tax-free. However, it is still subject to income tax. Funds cannot be accessed until the age of 55, which would be increased to 57 by the year 2028. Exceptions are, however, made in cases of ill health.

Junior ISA: Account can only be operated and opened by people within the ages of 18 and 39. The limit is £4000 yearly, but all ISAs have a general limit of £20,000. It enjoys a 25% bonus, which is a maximum of £1000, no employer top-up and can invest in a full range of funds, shares, bonds, and trackers. It attracts an early penalty of 25% if withdrawn for any other reasons apart from to buy your first house, retirement at 60 years old, or in cases of a terminal illness.

AJ Bell Youinvest platforms bear a lot of similarities to other UK online broker’s platforms in terms of functionality. Their platform is data-driven and has a tab for viewing charts, performance, key ratios, financials, broker sentiment, and news.

In terms of app development, AJ Bell Youinvest is one of the best ETF broker platforms. Mobile apps that can be used for trading are scarce in the ETF brokerage space.

Charting tools on AJ Bell Youinvest platforms are above average, and they offer ten different technical analysis indicators. AJ Bell Youinvest does not provide the ability to save an individual chart or a chart template.

AJ Bell Youinvest mobile application is absolutely amazing, with great functionality. It is easy to use, with well-designed functions for both iOS and android devices and also very appealing to the eyes. The major disappointment in the mobile app is the absence of a technical analysis option.

There is also the option of synchronizing Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to help provide a summary of information from your AJ Bell Youinvest account when they are linked.

The homepage of AJ Bell Youinvest has a very aesthetic first impression. The overall homepage is very colorful and full of beautiful high-quality pictures. The slider banner at the top of the page automatically slides through three beautiful banners with matching colors and beautiful pictures.

Generally, the webpage background is white with black texts, but the headings and buttons have different colors. The footer area has a black background with white texts. The overall design is good and looks nice.

The navigation menu utilized is impressive. With a mouse hover, previews of the pages are displayed. The visitor can then choose the page he wants before clicking. The footer menu is well arranged using a 3-column list. AJ Bell Youivest Review indicates that no visitor has problems with movement around the website.

Relevant information links like risk warnings, regulatory info, FAQs, Charges & Fees, etc., are arranged on this footer menu.

Testing the website on a mobile phone produced excellent results. All the columns rearranged to a single column to display perfectly, enhancing legibility. However, the beautiful pictures that accompanied the three-slider banner were gone leaving only the written messages.

AJ Bell Youinvest has different emails for various purposes, and if it pertains to customer services, the official email is [email protected].

For dealing with services, email is [email protected].

For transfer inquiries, email is [email protected]. There is also the option of a webchat available from 8 am to 5 pm daily during weekdays.

AJ Bell Youinvest uses a secure message via the online form for their registered users. This can only be accessed by logging into the account.,

There is also the option of putting a call through to get faster and immediate results for various issues. The customer service phone is +44 (0) 345 5432 600, and it is available from 8 am to 5:00 pm (Monday– Friday).

For dealing services, call +44 (0) 345 3733 479, available from 8 am to 7 pm (Monday – Friday).

The funding methods are a bit restricted, and they are limited to debit cards and personal cheques. Debit cards are usually instant, while the cheques can take up to five working days to clear. There is also the possibility of setting up regular payments using direct debit. It might be more convenient for quite a number of their users if they offered some online payment solutions such as PayPal, Skrill, or Neteller.

Card Types: AJ Bell Youinvest states that the fastest way of funding your account is through Credit/Debit cards because the transactions are instant and reflect in your account immediately. The transaction limits are not defined, but there are no charges. This method is only suitable for deposits.

Bank wire Transfer: This method can be used for both deposits and withdrawals. There are no charges for deposits and withdrawals. Generally, it takes three working days to complete. There are no limits to bank transactions, but a minimum of £25 deposit is required. The investor’s bank will also collect transaction fees.

Cheque Deposit: Cheque deposits are accepted as a means of funding an AJ Bell Youinvest account. The processing time for a cheque is five business days. The minimum amount is £25, while there is no maximum amount. AJ Bell Youinvest charges no fees for cheque deposits.

AJ Bell Youinvest does not provide a demo account for practice purposes; however, the mobile apps are free to download and use. There is also a very attractive incentive for frequent traders because if you make up to 10 trades in a month, for the following month, the trading fee would be drastically reduced from £9.95 to £4.95.

If your account balance is up to £4,000 or more, you will get access to shares magazine online for free. The magazine covers:

• Smart ideas on new investments to buy
• Expert analysis that could help you grow your wealth
• Practical advice on personal finance issues
• In-depth reporting on the events that move the markets
• Breaking financial news.

AJ Bell Securities Ltd. is the owner and operator of AJ Bell Youinvest. It is a member of the London Stock Exchange. The company is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) no. 155593. So, they comply with the standards and regulations stipulated by the FCA.

The website is encrypted with industry-standard security measures, which make sure that a client’s user data like passwords, credit card details, etc., are encoded during transmission. This is done so that hackers will not steal the data during internet transmission from the browser to the server.

AJ Bell Youinvest has also complied with the FCA regulation, which demands that clients fund be segregated from the broker’s funds. This is done in case of broker bankruptcy, which is very unlikely.

AJ Bell Youinvest won the award for the “Best Direct Platform 2018”. This award was given by “Platforum”, a renowned UK investment research firm full of professional and seasoned analysts.

AJ Bell Youinvest won The Sunday Times “Best 100 Companies to Work for in 2018”.

AJ Bell Youinvest received the “ADVFN international Financial Award” for 2018. ADVFN is a financial market website founded in the UK but has expanded to 10 countries. They provide online data services like news, analysis, charts, futures, etc., to investors.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.