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Investment and budgeting app Plum is offering This is Money readers the chance to win £200 when they sign up for stocks and Isa.
Starting this month, one winner will be chosen at random from everyone who downloads the Plum app and opens shares of Isa using Tthe exclusive link of his Is Money.*
Plum allows people to manage their money in one place, by linking bank accounts to the budgeting tool, and offers savings and investments.
Investing in smartphones: Apps like Plum can teach early-stage investors a healthy habit by simplifying the process
The £200 reward will be deposited into the winner’s Plum account within 10 working days of the monthly prize draw.
The draw will last for a minimum of one month and may be closed at Plum’s discretion.
A shares Isa allows investors to build returns without capital gains tax and dividend tax on income. People can deposit up to £20,000 in an Isa per tax year.
Plum’s Isa shares can be opened with as little as £1 and investors can choose from up to 3,000 individual company shares and up to 21 theme funds created by Plum, depending on the account they sign up to.
Funds range from Tech Giants, which invest in technology stocks such as Apple, to The Medic, which invests in healthcare, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies.
There is also a fund that focuses specifically on real estate, another that invests in gold and gold mining companies around the world, and a fund that focuses on generating dividends from UK equities.
What is Plum?
Plum is an app that helps its customers save and invest money, manage their budget and find better deals on household energy bills.
It just increased the rate on its easily accessible savings account to 3.26 percent for premium customers and 2.48 percent for basic customers (whose plan is free).
Once Plum clients choose their investments, they can automate their investment strategy with recurring orders at regular intervals, daily, weekly or monthly. The same goes for saving.
While it doesn’t provide financial advice, it can adapt to help its customers save and invest with its automated tools, in line with the choices they make.
> Learn more about Plum’s prize draw*
How much is it?
Plum has four account options for customers: Basic, which is free, Pro which costs £2.99 per month (although the first month is free), Ultra which costs £4.99 per month and Premium costs £9.99.
To open an Isa and access Plum’s funds, investors must subscribe to Pro, Ultra, or Premium.
While investors can access 1,200 shares with the basic account, this is only through a general investment account and not shares Isa.
The £2.99 per month Plum Pro tier and the £4.99 per month Ultra tier give access to 12 of Plum’s funds and 1,200 shares.
Those who pay for the £9.99 Premium service can choose from 21 funds and 3,000 shares.
Those who invest in funds pay an annual management and platform fee, with an average provider fee of 0.48 percent and fund management fees ranging from 0.06 percent to 0.9 percent.
When buying individual shares, Plum does not charge a commission on transactions, but other currency conversion fees and regulatory fees may still apply.
With so many platforms offering stocks and Isas stocks, it’s worth checking out which one offers the best value for money
How does Plum compare?
Plum is cost competitive alongside other online investment platforms. It has tiered monthly subscription fees, offers free stock trading, and charges no fees for buying and selling funds of its own, but these incur costs themselves.
We have a regularly updated comprehensive guide to the best and cheapest DIY investment platforms, which can help you compare the costs of those offering a full range of funds, stocks, mutual funds and ETFs.
You can choose between a stock Isa that allows you to choose your own investments, or a service that does the work for you – in the middle are the ready-made portfolios that some investment platforms offer.
Hargreaves Lansdown* is perhaps the most famous. Investors pay an annual fee of 0.45 percent on mutual fund holdings as well as fund fees, but fund trading is free.
For stocks, mutual funds and ETFs, this fee is capped at £45 per annum, but buying and selling costs £11.95 each time.
You can invest in any stocks, funds or trusts you want, or choose one of Hargreaves’ existing pre-built Isa portfolios, tailored to suit different investment needs.
Likewise, AJ call* offers access to a range of funds, stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, gilts and bonds, enabling investors to build their own portfolios.
The annual contribution is 0.25 percent for funds. It’s also 0.25 per cent for stocks, though capped at £3.50 per month.
Buying and selling stocks, mutual funds and ETFs costs £9.95 each time, while whist funds are charged just £1.50 each time.
Online asset management services such as Nutmeg, Money farm And enrich will invest on behalf of the consumer in accordance with their risk appetite.
Nutmeg clients are surveyed about goals and risk appetite and can then be directed to the portfolio that best fits their needs.
The Isa has four investment options, ranging from the standard fixed allocation portfolios, with an annual fee of 0.71 percent, to Smart Alpha (1.17 percent), fully managed (1.03 percent), and socially responsible (1.12 percent) .
piggy bank also offers a choice of three risk-rated portfolios: prudent, balanced and adventurous.
They provide exposure to cash, global equities, corporate bonds and global real estate stocks through three passive funds.
Alternatively, investors can choose to build their own portfolio by customizing their investment allocations and access to a range of tracker funds.
With Moneybox you can start investing with just £1. It charges £1 per month to cover transaction costs and also has a platform fee of 0.45 per cent.
In addition, investors also pay fees for the tracker funds, which are between 0.12 and 0.58 percent each year.
> Learn more about Plum’s exclusive offer for This is Money readers*
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