Updated: 22nd January 2022
eVestor Review
A pretty simple service with lots to commend, especially the opportunity for financial advice if you think you need the extra support.
Overall Score 3
Overall Score
Our View
What accounts are available?
Sometimes keeping it simple is the best option – it means that all the basic needs are served without fancy add-ons you may or may not actually need. This is certainly the case with eVestor as they just offer the three main account types: the Individual Savings Account, the Self Invested Personal Pension and the General Investment Account. The one other advantage of the eVestor platform is the ISA is what’s known in the business as ‘flexible’. This means you can take money out of your ISA and put it back in again, during the same tax year, without it counting against your ISA limit twice.
Score 3
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What kind of investments can I make?
There’s no getting away from the fact this is a low score. This is because, in the name of simplicity, the range of portfolios is limited to three different risk profiles – low, medium and high. The website explains the difference, and you can see how the three have performed each year since the service was launched in 2017. On the plus side, there’s a very low mininum investment amount of just £1, and eVestor make it clear there are no exit fees if you want to leave. eVestor use ‘passive mutual funds’ rather than ‘exchange traded funds’ in their portfolios which is different from lots of the other players, but the end impact for their customers should be minimal.
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What account features are available?
As you might expect with this no frills service, the add-ons and features are pretty minimal, hence the low score. That being said, if you only need the basics this could be the service for you as there’s a cost benefit to having minimal additional features (see the Costs section). The main feature they do offer, which is useful for people who want to build up their investments slowly over time, is monthly investing. Without getting too complex, this means you can take advantage of something called ‘pound cost averaging’. Basically by buying investments every month, the price you pay is averaged out over time, and you decrease the risk of buying in one lump-sum when prices are high. It’s also ideal if you want a ‘set it up and leave’ it approach.
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How can I access my account and get support?
At last, full marks for a section for eVestor. The accounts and services available may well be on the trim side, but there’s a full array of channels to access them once you’ve opened your account. You can use the standard webiste or iOS/Android apps on your phone, meaning you can check-in on the move. The chat app is easily accessible on every page of the website, and if you feel the need, you can call them too to discuss your account or ask a general question.
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How much does it cost?
Full marks here, although it has to be said we found it quite hard to understand what you might actually pay as the number quoted is a ‘representative example’ and as far as we can tell might not include the underlying costs of the actuals funds you’re investing in.