1. Compare brokers
Here are the main brokers available in the UK, compared across 6 key criteria to help you make an informed choice.
| Broker | Popularity | Ease of use | Product range | Fees | ISA available | Regular investing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading 212Top pick | ||||||
| InvestEngine | ||||||
| AJ Bell |
* Click the broker's name to visit the official site. Ratings are indicative — always check current terms before opening an account.
2. Open your investment account
Pick a broker to see the available video guides — how to open the account and place your first order. Inside the app you'll find a curated collection of video guides by broker, selected and kept up to date by the SimpleInvest team, with the concrete steps for account opening and your first order.
3. Investment accounts and wrappers
Comparison of the main account types available in the UK for holding ETFs and other investments.
| Account | Capital gains | Dividends | Tax advantage | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 📈 General Investment Account (GIA) | CGT 18%/24%* | Dividend tax** | — | None | Standard · full worldwide range of ETFs |
| 🌍 Stocks & Shares ISA | Tax-free | Tax-free | Full income & CGT exemption | £20,000/year† | No geographic restriction — standard MSCI World ETFs are eligible |
| 🏦 SIPP / Workplace Pension | Tax-free until withdrawal | Tax-free until withdrawal | Tax relief on contributions | Annual allowance rules apply | Capital locked until at least age 55 (rising to 57 from 2028) |
* CGT rates on shares/ETFs for the 2026/27 tax year: 18% within your basic-rate band, 24% above it, after the £3,000 annual exempt amount.
** Outside an ISA, dividends above the £500 Dividend Allowance are taxed at 10.75% (basic rate) or 35.75% (higher rate) from April 2026.
† The £20,000 ISA allowance is shared across all your ISAs (Cash, Stocks & Shares, Lifetime, Innovative Finance) for the tax year.
Table for illustration only. Consult a tax adviser for your specific situation.
4. Investment taxation
Key tax principles for ETFs in the UK. Always check official sources for the latest figures.
allowance
exempt amount
(basic / higher)
Allowance
General Investment Account (GIA): capital gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount (2026/27) are taxed at 18% within your basic-rate band and 24% above it. Dividends above the £500 Dividend Allowance are taxed at 10.75% (basic rate), 35.75% (higher rate), or 39.35% (additional rate) from April 2026.
Stocks & Shares ISA: no tax at all on capital gains or dividends earned inside the wrapper, with nothing to report to HMRC. The £20,000 annual allowance is shared across all your ISAs. Unlike some European tax wrappers, there's no minimum holding period and no geographic restriction on eligible holdings.
ISA eligibility: standard physically-replicated MSCI World UCITS ETFs are fully eligible — there is no requirement (unlike France's PEA) for the underlying holdings to be European. See the ETFs page for full details.
SIPP / pension: contributions get tax relief at your marginal rate (subject to annual allowance limits), and workplace pensions often add employer contributions on top. In exchange, the capital is locked away until at least age 55 (57 from 2028).
Optimising: prioritise the ISA for your global equity holdings up to the £20,000 annual limit; use a SIPP for extra tax relief toward retirement; fall back on a GIA only once other allowances are used up, ideally holding lower-turnover, lower-dividend assets there.
5. Investor psychology — the invisible enemy of returns
The best strategy is the one you can actually stick to when things get difficult.
Investing isn't trading
Long-term investing and speculative trading are fundamentally different activities. Someone following a Global Equities + Cash strategy isn't a trader: they're buying stakes in thousands of companies worldwide and holding them for years, letting time and compounding do the work. Frequent trading, by contrast, generates transaction costs, emotional mistakes and results that are statistically worse than simply holding the position. The less you act, the better off you are.
Don't check your portfolio every day
Markets fluctuate by definition: that's their nature, not a problem to solve. Checking your balance every day exposes you to a stream of irrelevant information that breeds anxiety, doubt and the risk of acting on impulse. Set yourself a reasonable check-in frequency — monthly or quarterly — to confirm the portfolio's composition still matches your goal. The rest of the time: ignore the noise. Your time horizon is measured in decades, not days.
Don't chase the "best" instrument
The ETF that returned +40% last year isn't necessarily the right choice for the future. Markets tend to revert to the mean: yesterday's winners often disappoint tomorrow. Constantly switching instruments — chasing the latest record — generates transaction costs, possible tax on realised gains, and above all the risk of always buying at the top. A low-cost, globally diversified MSCI World ETF statistically beats most attempts at active selection. Simplicity is a strategy, not a compromise.
Don't chase the theme of the moment
Every year, some investment theme emerges that feels irresistible: artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, green energy, emerging markets, commodities. These themes get amplified by the media at peak euphoria — which is often exactly when prices are already at their highest. A portfolio concentrated in a single sector or theme carries high concentration risk and far more volatility than a global index. MSCI World's diversification already includes the growing sectors, without you having to guess which one comes next. Chasing trends has a cost: buying high and selling at a loss.
Don't sell during a crash — use Cash as your ally
The most critical point: selling during a market crash is the single costliest mistake an investor can make. It locks in losses, gets you out of the market exactly when prices are low, and almost always misses the recovery that follows. The Cash portion of your portfolio isn't an inefficiency: it's your strategic reserve. During significant downturns, that liquidity lets you buy ETF units at a discount, lowering your average cost and speeding up the recovery in overall returns. Crashes aren't a threat to someone holding cash: they're an opportunity. Tolerance for downturns isn't built by ignoring them, but by having a plan: knowing you have Cash available turns the anxiety of a crash into a plan of action.
If finance genuinely fascinates you — embrace it, but set a limit
Studying markets, discovering new instruments, following sector trends: financial curiosity is a positive sign, not a problem. The real risk comes when curiosity turns into compulsive action — constantly changing your allocation, buying thematic ETFs, chasing the latest opportunity. If this sounds like you, don't fight it: channel it in a structured way. Set aside a satellite slice of your portfolio — no more than 5% of total capital — to experiment with specific, sector or trend-driven instruments. The rest stays in the core strategy. That way you satisfy your curiosity without putting the main plan at risk. The 95% works for you long-term. The 5% learns.
Separate portfolios by goal — don't mix everything together
Keeping all your investments in a single account, with different horizons and goals blended together, can quietly become a source of anxiety and poor decisions. Watching a 15% fall on capital earmarked for retirement 25 years away feels very different from watching the same fall on money you need in 3 years for a house deposit. Separating portfolios mentally — and, where possible, physically too — by goal clarifies the picture. A long-term growth portfolio can tolerate volatility that a medium-term one can't afford. Label each investment by its purpose: retirement, house deposit, children's education fund, income. When a crash hits, knowing exactly which goal each portfolio belongs to reduces panic and supports rational decisions. Clarity of purpose is the best antidote to fear.
6. Go further on your journey
Curated resources to deepen your path toward financial independence. Inside the app you'll find an organised collection of books, communities, podcasts/videos and apps, filterable by category and updated regularly by the SimpleInvest team.
Save your first portfolio
Open a free SimpleInvest account to track your real investments over time, with the same Evaluation Card used in the simulator.
Go to the interactive app →