Competition gets fiercer in growing DIY investing market

Against a backdrop of all-time highs when it comes to DIY investor numbers, Boring Money has announced its Best Buys for DIY ISA and Pension investors in 2022. 

The research and personal investing website tracks DIY investor customer growth across the leading providers on a quarterly basis. Those figures show more than nine million users now invest with DIY providers in the UK, up from 8.6 million at the end of Q3 2021. 

Boring Money writes that with over one million users of the Boring Money site in the last 12 months, customer reviews form a major part of Boring Money’s Best Buy Awards, along with secure site testing, app testing, cost analysis and customer service response time monitoring. Customer review scores indicate new entrants are laying down a significant challenge to incumbent providers, with seven of the top 10 best reviewed providers being new entrants. 

The overall Best Buys ISA providers for 2022 are:

AJ Bell
Fidelity
HL 
Moneybox
Nutmeg
Vanguard
Wealthify

Best Buys Pension providers for 2022 are:

AJ Bell
Aviva
Fidelity
HL
Interactive Investor (ii)
Nutmeg
Pension Bee
Vanguard

The Best Buys ISA and Pension categories represent the DIY investing providers offering all round excellence. There are also Best Buys recognitions for the leading Lifetime ISA (LISA) and Junior ISA (JISA) categories.

To meet growing demand, there are many disruptors emerging to challenge more traditional providers, Boring Money writes. Consumers have more choices than ever and although disruptors face challenges of brand and customer acquisition, the smaller number of customers they do serve today will typically report better user experience and are more likely to recommend their provider to friends or family.

Data collected from investors for the 2022 Best Buys Awards confirms that new entrants are laying down a significant challenge to incumbent providers. Customer review scores submitted to boringmoney.co.uk provide a critical component of Boring Money’s Best Buys ratings. Analysis shows that seven of the top 10 providers based on customer review scores are disruptors, including robo advisers and mobile apps, while just three are incumbent platform providers. 

Boring Money CEO Holly Mackay comments:  “When we consider the overall service to customers, including breadth of offering, functionality, cost, service and trust, the more traditional incumbents still have the edge. However, this year we have seen some younger brands really challenge the Old Guard, particularly when it comes to customer feedback. 

“If some of these younger brands can retain their loyal followings as they scale and grow, they will start to present a more serious threat to the incumbents. The DIY investment market is growing fast – from both a customer and provider perspective – and firms are going to have to run harder just to stay still.”