The short version
- You need an account with a regulated firm that buys the ETF for you. For most people that's an investment platform rather than a traditional stockbroker.
- The main options are DIY platforms, stockbrokers, robo-advisers and some banks. DIY services are usually execution-only: they do what you ask without judging whether it suits you.
- How a firm charges matters as much as how much. Percentage fees grow with your pot, flat fees weigh most on small pots, and per-trade fees add up if you buy often.
- Check any firm on the FCA register before you hand over money, and ask whether your investments are FSCS protected.
Part of Getting started. For the whole process in order, see how to buy your first ETF, step by step.
- 11different names the FCA found for what is essentially a platform fee
- 0.2–2.4%yearly charges on £5,000 in a stocks and shares ISA, across platforms the FCA studied
- £85,000FSCS cover per person, per firm, if a failed firm's investments are missing
Your options
An ETF trades on a stock exchange, so you need a firm to deal for you and hold the ETF on your behalf. Four kinds of firm do this.
- Investment platforms. Online services where you choose and buy investments yourself, held in an ISA, SIPP or general account. The FCA splits them into direct-to-consumer platforms, which people use without an adviser, and adviser platforms, which advisers choose for clients who then pay for them.
- Stockbrokers. Firms whose traditional job is buying and selling shares for clients. Many now offer online accounts that work much like a platform. For an ETF buyer, the difference is mostly the name.
- Robo-advisers. Online services that ask about your goals and attitude to risk, then build and run a portfolio for you. Research for the FCA’s Consumer Panel found many such services didn’t make clear whether they gave regulated advice or just guidance. It’s worth asking.
- Banks. Some banks offer investment accounts alongside current accounts. Check which firm actually runs the service, and run the same checks as for anyone else.
If you want a personal recommendation, you’re looking for a regulated financial adviser, not a broker. The same register check applies.
What execution-only means
Most DIY platforms and online brokers work on an execution-only basis. In the FCA’s definition, that’s a trade a firm carries out on your specific instructions, without advising you on its merits. The rules requiring a firm to check whether a product is appropriate for you don’t apply.
In practice, the platform does what you tell it. It isn’t judging whether the ETF suits you. The choice, and the responsibility, are yours.
Complex products are treated differently. In a January 2026 review, the FCA found every platform it sampled offered complex exchange-traded products, such as leveraged and inverse ETPs, on an execution-only basis. It said firms should use robust, product-specific appropriateness tests for them. If a platform quizzes you before letting you buy one, that’s why.
How firms charge
Platforms charge according to how much you hold and how often you deal, and quote fees in pounds or as a percentage. There are three basic structures:
- Percentage of your pot: say 0.25% a year. The fee grows with your money.
- Flat fee: a fixed sum each month or year, whatever you hold.
- Per-trade (dealing) charge: a fixed sum each time you buy or sell.
Many firms mix them. Two real examples, from the firms’ own pages on 13 October 2026, to show the structures rather than to recommend either. Vanguard Investor charges £4 a month on self-managed accounts under £32,000, and 0.15% a year, capped at £375, above that. AJ Bell charges 0.25% a year on shares and ETFs in an ISA, capped at £3.50 a month, plus £5 per online deal.
“Free” platforms still need to make money. The FCA found that direct-to-consumer platforms typically keep some or all of the interest on cash you hold with them. Some charge for currency conversion: Trading 212’s help centre, for example, lists a 0.15% foreign exchange fee where it applies. And the fund’s own charge and the spread apply wherever you buy.
Worked examples
Illustration only. Three made-up platforms with round-number fees, ignoring fund charges and spreads. Platform A charges 0.25% of your pot a year. Platform B charges a flat £60 a year. Platform C has no account fee but charges £10 a trade, and you buy every month.
| Pot size | A: 0.25% a year | B: £60 a year flat | C: £10 a trade, 12 trades |
|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 | £5 | £60 | £120 |
| £20,000 | £50 | £60 | £120 |
| £200,000 | £500 | £60 | £120 |
On £2,000, the percentage fee is cheapest by far. B takes 3% of the pot each year and C takes 6%.
At £24,000, A and B both cost £60. Above that, the flat fee wins: on £200,000, B costs less than an eighth of A.
C depends on how you trade. Buy once a year instead of monthly, and it costs £10, the cheapest of the three at every size.
So no structure is cheapest for everyone. It depends on your pot and how often you deal. The fee calculator shows what a gap in yearly fees does over time.
Check the FCA register
Before you open an account, look the firm up on the Financial Services Register, the public record of firms authorised by the FCA and the PRA. The FCA’s guidance comes down to four checks:
- Search for the firm by name on the register or the FCA Firm Checker.
- Check it’s authorised, with permission for the service you want.
- Check the contact details you’ve been given match those on the register. Clone firms pretend to be genuine, authorised ones.
- If it’s an appointed representative of another firm, check with that firm what it’s allowed to do.
If a firm isn’t authorised, you can’t take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, and the FSCS won’t protect you if it goes out of business.
Check FSCS protection
If an authorised investment firm fails and your money or investments are missing, the FSCS can pay up to £85,000 per person, per firm, for failures after 1 April 2019. It doesn’t cover investments falling in value.
The FSCS suggests three checks: the firm is authorised by the FCA or PRA, the activity it carries out for you is regulated, and the firm confirms that activity is FSCS protected. Ask the last one directly. Are ETFs safe? explains what happens to your ETFs if a platform fails.
Questions to ask before you choose
- Does it offer the account you want: a stocks and shares ISA, a SIPP or a general account?
- Can you buy the ETFs you’re interested in?
- What would you pay a year on your pot, investing the way you plan to?
- Does it offer cheaper or free regular investing?
- Is there a charge to transfer out if you change your mind?
- Is it on the FCA register, and are your investments FSCS protected?
For help thinking it through, MoneyHelper offers free, impartial guidance, and a regulated financial adviser can give a personal recommendation.
Common questions
- Is a platform the same as a broker?
- For buying an ETF, they do the same job: take your order, deal on the exchange and hold the ETF for you. “Platform” usually means an online service offering many funds and account types.
- Are free trading apps really free?
- Not entirely. You still pay the fund’s charge and the spread, and the firm may earn money from interest on your cash or currency fees.
- Can I use more than one platform?
- Yes. Since April 2024 you can even pay into more than one stocks and shares ISA in the same tax year, within the £20,000 total.
- Do I need a financial adviser to buy an ETF?
- No. Execution-only platforms let you buy without advice. An adviser is for when you want a personal recommendation.
- Does being on the register mean a firm is safe to use?
- Not by itself. The register also lists firms that used to be authorised, and warnings about some unauthorised firms and clones. Check the firm is authorised now, for the service you want.
This page explains how buying through a platform or broker works. It isn't a recommendation of any firm or advice about what you should do. Investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you put in. Read the full disclaimer.
Sources
- Investment Platforms Market Study: Final Report (MS17/1.3), FCA, March 2019
- 'Robo'-advice fails investors says Financial Services Consumer Panel, FCA, December 2016
- Glossary: execution-only transaction, FCA Handbook
- Complex exchange traded products, FCA, January 2026
- The Financial Services Register, FCA
- How to check a firm or individual is authorised, FCA
- Investments, Financial Services Compensation Scheme
- The Individual Savings Account (Amendment) Regulations 2024, legislation.gov.uk
- Our fees and charges, Vanguard Investor (example only)
- Stocks and shares ISA charges, AJ Bell (example only)
- Can I trade with fractional shares?, Trading 212 help centre (example only)
Facts checked 13 October 2026.