Antonia Medlicott, the Founder of Investing Insiders, has analysed takethenextstepinvest.co.uk, compared the platforms suggested by the site with others available, and spoken to companies not included on the list of suggested platforms.
The research found that beginners who use Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the main recommended platforms, which is generally viewed as more appropriate for experienced investors, could be charged a headline fee of 0.35 per cent. Using alternative platforms designed specifically for the needs of beginners, such as InvestEngine or Freetrade, would have enabled investors to build their investments without incurring platform fees and dealing fees. However, neither of these platforms are mentioned on the government-backed site
According to independent analysis, new users who maximise their ISA portfolio allowance every year could receive £9,694 less from having their investments with Hargreaves Lansdown over 20 years than with InvestEngine, assuming returns of 7 per cent growth per annum.
Other platform suggestions for new investors, made on the ‘Take the Next Steps: Invest’ website, include Barclays, Natwest, and St James’s Place, which operates a restricted advice model in which its advisers can recommend only SJP’s own products, and its average client has approximately £212,000 invested. Robinhood, another suggested provider, does not yet offer UK-listed equities or ETFs.
Antonia’s research found that platforms were being charged at least £250,000 a year to be a part of the campaign, but others were quoted as much as £1million to be included.
One platform that chose not to be involved was Freetrade. Alex Campbell, director of external affairs at Freetrade, explained why.
He said: “While we fully support the government’s ambition to get the UK investing, this campaign feels a bit too quiet to truly move the needle. There’s an overwhelming sense of caution in the direction of the initial materials, but now is not the time for subtlety.
“As an industry, we shouldn’t be tentative about wealth creation. Firms that live and breathe the markets need to be unabashedly championing the strategies that drive better financial outcomes for everyone. To truly invigorate a new generation of retail investors, we need a bold, clear message.
“Instead of committing to a multi-year campaign, we decided it was better to invest that money in our product, and removed the fees on our accounts.”
Antonia’s review also found that educational content was limited to just four pages, covering barely any of the knowledge that new investors usually need to start investing with confidence. She also found an absence of tools, which new investors typically benefit from and can help with the important decision-making process.
This comes despite the FCA’s 2025 Financial Lives survey revealing that the two biggest barriers to investing are fear of loss and lack of knowledge.
Antonia commented: “It’s worrying to see that the execution of this campaign has let people down and completely fails to inspire people to start investing. The government knows that we need to get people investing, but we need to do it in the most genuinely helpful way possible. Why are all the lowest-cost, most beginner-friendly options missing from the list? Users of this website may reasonably assume that the list of suggested platforms where they’re being directed to take their first steps in investing have been compiled independently, on the basis of how suitable they are for beginners – but it is clearly not. I’ve had conversations off the record that state the minimum charge to be included was £250,000 per year, with some larger firms being charged up to £1million.
“Our data shows that beginners who follow the suggested path being encouraged here, could potentially miss out on thousands of pounds in returns due to fees they don’t necessarily need to pay. This doesn’t help either the nation’s confidence or the nation’s wallet.
“A compound growth calculator, an ISA comparison tool, an honest side-by-side fee table, these are the things that actually build confidence. I’ve built versions of all of these independently. The fact that a campaign backed by nineteen financial institutions and the Treasury launched without a single interactive tool is not a resource problem. It is a question of whose interests the campaign was really designed to serve.”
Michael Healy, Managing Director, UK & Ireland at IG Group, commented: “This campaign is an important step towards building a stronger culture of investing in the UK and bringing participation closer to levels seen in the US. But I would like to see more when it comes to educating the public on cost, which can be a real maze for new investors.
“While investing no longer needs to be expensive, many retail investors are still being ripped off by high platform fees that eat into their returns over time. We must avoid a situation where new investors are being steered towards fat cat brokers charging hundreds of pounds a year for services investors could access for virtually nothing elsewhere.
“Encouraging people to move from cash into investments is only part of the solution. Making sure they aren’t overpaying once they get there matters just as much. That’s why clearer information on fees is so important, alongside encouraging investors to check what they’re paying so they can keep more of their long-term returns.”
