How To Invest

Sign up for an investment account

Before you can start trading, you'll need to open an investment account. When you're ready, simply apply for our low-cost, flexible trading account and you could be up and running and ready to trade within minutes.

Decide what type of trader you are

Before trading, you need to establish your financial goals and determine what type of trader or investor you are. For example, what level of risk are you comfortable with? Do you want to invest in UK or international markets? Which sectors are you most interested in?

If you want help, our Stock Filter tool will ask you questions about your financial preferences and create a shortlist of shares for you to research further.

Choose what type of Trades to make

There are many different types of trades and investments to choose from, from shares to ETFs to Investment Trusts, and other options. To find out more about where you can invest you can:

Trading IDEAS

For more ideas about where to invest, you can visit our Trading Ideas section.

Real time  or regular Trading?

Your next decision will be whether you want to make a one-off real time trade, or set up a regular trading and investing pattern. Real-time trading gives you control over your exact timing and the price you pay for a trade, whereas investing regularly can be cheaper, and surprisingly flexible.

Real time trading gives you more control on timing and price. You select your stock, input the amount you want to invest or how many shares you want to buy and then you’ll be given a 15 second countdown in which you can choose whether to place your trade or not. Trading UK stocks both online or by phone costs just £10.

Our regular investment product Portfolio Builder gives you the flexibility to decide when, where, and how often you invest in UK shares - for the very low commission of just £1.50

Managing your trades

It’s important to understand how to manage your trades so you can get the most value out of them. As well as monitoring them regularly, it helps to understand different order types. This means when you place a trade you can put limits on your risk or manage the boundaries of when you buy and sell. Our order types section will tell you more.

Investing tax efficiently

If you want to make the most of your trades and investments, be sure to consider all your tax efficient options.