The 2025 winners of the BFIA Readers' Choice Awards

The goods and services that help you earn, save, and spend your money are honored by the 2025 BFIA Readers' Choice Awards

These are the winners for this year.

Who better to tell us which companies our readers recommend when it comes to choosing the best brokers or investment services?

Asking readers to cast their votes for the businesses and services they think are the best is exactly what we did.

In keeping with the success of our inaugural Readers Choice Awards last year, we are delighted to reveal the 2025 winners once more. BFIA readers responded in excess of 3,000 times this year, sharing their thoughts on broker fees, service scope, usability, and customer service.

Given that the investment sector does not typically undergo rapid change, it is not shocking that a number of the top-scoring companies remain consistent from year to year.

However, brokers would be wise to pay attention to some distinct patterns in your feedback and voting. Although investors are naturally concerned about costs, they also want to see brokers keep making investments in enhancing their technological platforms, including websites, apps, and backend systems, in order to provide effective trade and corporate action processing. As brokers of the younger generation demonstrate how to do things more effectively, there is a growing reluctance to tolerate cumbersome, antiquated interfaces.

We created more divisions within the broker category this year. A number of well-known brokers charge varying fees for various investment kinds, and occasionally their selection of options varies as well. We believe that doing this improves our understanding of which businesses stand out.

Most of the time, we treat individual savings accounts (ISAs) as the most common kind of account. Due to recent changes to capital gains and dividend taxes, this will be a better option than taxable accounts, even for investors with modest portfolio sizes. In order to represent the trade-off between costs and choice, we first divided pensions into "simple" and "full" categories, though these are more difficult to compare.

Winners of the 2025 BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

AJ Bell is the best broker for stocks and investment trusts.

The 2025 Best Broker for Shares BFIA Readers' Choice Award.

AJ Bell won.

We would expect the winner of shares and investment trusts to be a strong all-around player who provides a good service covering both UK-listed stocks and a variety of international markets. AJ Bell won this competition, meeting all of our requirements.

"Excellent platform and app, good value for money," one reader wrote. Reducing foreign-exchange (FX) margins for foreign shares was the most compelling recommendation for improvement. Even though AJ Bell's FX fees are less expensive than those of some of its competitors, more competition is still needed because these fees are typically too high for UK brokers.

Despite some criticism regarding its "basic" interface, iWeb performed well among less popular services. This is one of three brands that Lloyds uses for its sharedealing service; the other two are Halifax and Lloyds. For certain investors who are content with its limitations, iWeb's low-cost propositionno account fees and £5 per tradecan be a very good deal. The underlying service is the same in each case, but the fees vary significantly.

Trading 212 is the best low-cost brokerage.

Best low-cost broker, 2025 BFIA Readers' Choice Award.

Similar to the previous year, Trading 212 was the firm with the highest costs.

Trading 212 offers more services than many of the low-cost brokers, which typically offer a limited selection of investments. It has access to a wide range of foreign exchanges because it uses Interactive Brokers, a US brokerage giant, for some of its execution and custody.

Although Interactive Brokers is an option for users, Trading 212's main selling point is how easy it is to use both its website and app.

One reader comments, "Trading 212 has made the experience an understandable and enjoyable one as a new investor."

Not all of the markets offered by Interactive Brokers are available on Trading 212, but for those that are, it may be less expensive because there are currently no dealing or account fees. Rather, the company wants to profit from services like securities lending or difference trading contracts.

Interactive Investor is the top broker for open-ended funds.

2025 Best Broker for Open-Ended Funds by the BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

Several brokers charge different fees for investing in and holding unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (OEICs) than they do for trading shares.

This is frequently capped at a much higher level when holding open-ended funds, especially when brokers charge an account fee that is a percentage of the value of your investments. As a result, holding funds on the best-value platform might not be the same as holding shares or investment trusts. Furthermore, the range of funds available can differ more amongst providers because open-ended funds trade and settle differently than securities listed on the stock exchange (and some low-cost services have little or no options for trading these open-end funds).

AJ Bell, the winner from the previous year, was narrowly defeated by Interactive Investor, the company with the most votes this year.

One reader remarks, "Much better than AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown for Oeics as fees much lower for large fund portfolios," in reference to II's flat-fee account charges, which are incredibly affordable when contrasted with percentage-based fees for larger holdings. Because there were no account fees, iWeb received a high score here as well (albeit from a small sample size).

InvestEngine is the best broker for ETFs.

The 2025 BFIA Readers' Choice Award for Best ETF Broker.

This year, despite being listed on the stock exchange and trading similarly to shares and investment trusts, we separated exchange-traded funds (ETFs) into a different category.

This is due to the fact that some brokers specialize in ETFs or provide them with unique fees or services. For instance, InvestEngine was created to be a very affordable ETF investing platform.

Currently, it charges for its managed/robo-adviser service but does not charge trading or account fees for do-it-yourself investors.

According to one reader, "new baseline for ETF trading." Even though it only offers ETFs, this is still ideal for the majority of passive investors and is unbeatable because there are no fees. The only drawback is that trades are planned rather than immediate.

Trading 212, AJ Bell, and interactive investor received high ratings among brokers that provide ETFs and other investments.

Bond broker of the year: AJ Bell.

Winners of the 2025 Best Bond Broker Award from the BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

This year, this category was brand-new. Though demand is increasing and brokers have been enhancing their services, we are aware that direct bond investments are less common among our readers than purchasing bond funds and bond ETFs.

Bond trading is still frequently done over the phone at many brokers, but in recent years, online access has improved. For AJ Bell, this was another victory.

"Many bonds are available, and orders are executed well. Hargreaves Lansdown received some recognition for its bond service on all fronts except costs, while Interactive Investor also scored highly (see below).

Best trading platform: Instagram.

The best trading broker for 2025 is determined by the BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

The requirements for leveraged trading instruments, such as contracts for difference (CFDs), spread betting, and foreign exchange (forex) trading, differ greatly from those for investing. Users will need to think about leverage policies or spread tightness.

The most popular option among BFIA readers is still Instagram, which received high marks for both pricing and customer support.

"A wide variety of instruments and indicators that are easy to use." The ability to hold accounts on the same platform may be convenient for certain users, as Instagram also provides share-dealing services, in contrast to a number of other trading firms. One reader comments, "Good flexible Isa with live data."

InvestmentEngine is the best basic pension.

Best Simple Pension winner, 2025 BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

Personal pensions encompass a vast array of products, ranging from basic insurance company products with a very small range of funds to self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), which allow you to hold a wide variety of investments.

Vanguard, the winning pension for a limited range of investments last year, did not do as well this year, primarily because of a fee change that occurred a few months ago. Because of the minimum annual fee, it was less appealing to clients with smaller pensions.

On the other hand, InvestEngine received recognition for its affordability and user-friendliness, and it might be a good option for anyone who is content to use ETFs to build their pension.

"InvestEngine is a fantastic resource for beginning to invest; I heartily endorse it. The primary request for enhancements was to expand the options for transferring in previous pensions from other providers, in addition to further expanding the selection of investments available.

Bell is the best full pensioner.

Best Full Pension Award, 2025, BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

AJ Bell and Interactive Investor were at the top of the polling for pensions with a greater selection of investments.

This year, AJ Bell scored a little higher, but the most cost-effective investment will depend on how your portfolio is precisely divided up among various investment kinds.

"Overall, good experience; sturdy, dependable, and reasonably priced. Again, exorbitant currency charges are one of both companies' most annoying flaws.

One reader who otherwise gives AJ Bell high marks remarks, "FX and international share dealing is extremely poor value." "Too much FX charge on foreign equity holdings," another Interactive Investor says.

Though AJ Bell doesn't allow it, Interactive Investor at least allows users to hold foreign currency balances in their SIPP (outdated regulations forbid this in ISAs).

Hargreaves Lansdown is the top junior investment ISA.

The 2025 Best Junior Investment ISA is presented by the BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

One observation regarding Hargreaves Lansdown that sticks out in all categories is that readers think the company's fees are now excessively high in comparison to its competitors. Although it continues to be the biggest investment platform in the UK and receives good ratings for both its selection of investments and customer support, it is evident that many of you believe that in order for it to stay competitive, its fees need to be revised.

Junior investment ISAs, on the other hand, are a prime example of highly competitive products; they have no dealing or account fees and were the most popular choice this year.

The website is user-friendly and offers a large selection of options, including shares and funds. Dividends are invested automatically, and ISA payments are easy to modify.

Additionally, AJ Bell, Fidelity, and Interactive Investor all received comparatively high ratings. Although it did well in this category the previous year, Vanguard has somewhat retreated, though this has nothing to do with its unpopular minimum account feewhich does not apply to junior ISAs.

InvestEngine is the best robo-adviser.

2025 Best Robotic Advisor BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

According to your investing objectives and risk tolerance, robo-advisers assign you to a managed or pre-made portfolio.

In this category, InvestEngine once again outperformed competitors like Wealthify and Nutmeg. Although some of you will only use it as a free ETF investment platform, it's evident from your comments that having both DIY and robo-adviser options on the same platform is a further lure for people who want to give robo-investing a try.

"It was a great experience overall. With a wide range of options, including ETFs and portfolios, they are inexpensive, simple to set up, manage, and engage with.

Stockopedia is the best source of investment data or software.

The 2025 Best Data Provider Award from the BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

For the second consecutive year, Stockopedia emerged victorious in this category, receiving accolades for both the breadth of its data and the potential of its screening tools to produce investment ideas.

One particularly enthusiastic comment read, "Using stocks I would never have heard of without the screening Stockopedia performance rankings, totally changed my performance from poor to way above average."

The platforms' user-friendliness, customer support, webinars, and community in its discussion forms received a lot of positive feedback.

Although it is evident that its primary competitor, Sharescope/SharePad, also has ardent supporters who commend its flexibility, no other providers received the same number of votes. According to one reader, "Sharescope is the core and center of my investing process."

Moneybox is the greatest app for savings and investments.

The best financial app of the 2025 BFIA Readers' Choice Awards.

Investment services that cater to a new generation of consumers who prefer to transact through apps are entering the market and upending the status quo.

Apps like Trading 212 and InvestEngine are praised by a number of companies that have won awards in our other categories.

A lot of the older platforms are making constant improvements to their tools. Particularly for users with less financial experience, apps like Chip, Moneybox, Plum, and Raisin seek to offer a straightforward method of managing investments and savings in one location.

Though there are less expensive investment services available for those with more experience, Moneybox is a good place to start for novices. It is impossible to compare all the products directly.

"Excellent, very user-friendly for someone who isn't entirely familiar with the nuances of investing.