This is our guide to the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA providers.
We’ll look at the best Junior ISAs for stocks and shares by assessing providers against a range of metrics. This includes costs, investment options, ease of use and safety.
We also explain what Junior ISAs are and how the two main types – cash and stocks and shares – differ from each other.
A Junior ISA can be a great method of tax-free saving towards your child’s future, and with a Junior stocks and shares ISA this can mean investing in stocks and bonds, too.
What You Need To Know
- A Junior ISA is a tax-efficient product for investing for your children’s future, allowing you to contribute up to £9,000 a year per child
- Any gains, income and dividends are all tax-free in a Junior ISA
- Hargreaves Lansdown is our top pick for the best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA if you’re happy to pick your own investments because it charges no account or dealing fees at all and has the widest range of investment options, as well as great customer service
- If you don’t want to pick your own investments, &me is a good robo-advisor alternative for passive investing
- For ready-made portfolios, Bestinvest has 19 to choose from and its ‘Smart’ portfolios are cheaper than most robo-advisors
Our Top Pick: Hargreaves Lansdown
What You Need To Know
- A Junior ISA is a tax-efficient product for investing for your children’s future, allowing you to contribute up to £9,000 a year per child
- Any gains, income and dividends are all tax-free in a Junior ISA
- Hargreaves Lansdown is our top pick for the best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA if you’re happy to pick your own investments because it charges no account or dealing fees at all and has the widest range of investment options, as well as great customer service
- If you don’t want to pick your own investments, &me is a good robo-advisor alternative for passive investing
- For ready-made portfolios, Bestinvest has 19 to choose from and its ‘Smart’ portfolios are cheaper than most robo-advisors
Our Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
Read on for our full rundown of the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs, or use the links below to skip ahead:
- Junior Stocks and Shares ISA Comparison
- What Is A Junior ISA?
- How Does A Junior ISA Work?
- Is A Junior Stocks and Shares ISA or Junior Cash ISA Suitable For You?
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA Overall
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Customer Service
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Lowest Cost
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Ethical Investing
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Passive Investing
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Ready-Made Portfolios
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Tools And Research
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Low Minimum Investment
- Alternatives To The Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs
- List of Junior Stocks and Shares ISA Providers
- Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA – Final Verdict
Junior Stocks and Shares ISA Comparison
Below is a summary of the best junior stocks and shares ISA providers according to our detailed research and having tried out each platform.
| JISA Provider | Platform Charges | Dealing Fees | Minimum Investment |
| &me | From 0.35%-0.75% | N/A | £500 |
| AJ Bell | 0.25% (max. £2.50 per month) | Online dealing: £1.50 for funds £4.95-£9.95 for shares | £500 lump sum or £25 per month |
| Beanstalk | 0.5% | N/A | No minimum |
| Bestinvest | From 0.10%-0.40%, 0% above £1m | £4.95 | £50 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown (TOP PICK) | No charge for JISA | No dealing fees | £100 or £25 per month |
| Interactive Investor | Free if existing customer, monthly plans £9.99-£19.99 per month | £3.99-£5.99 depending on plan | No min. lump sum, £25 per month for regular investing |
| Moneyfarm | From 0.35%-0.75% | N/A | £500 and £10 per month |
| Vanguard | 0.15% (max. £375 per year) | No dealing fees | £500 or £100 per month |
| Wealthify | 0.60% | N/A | £1 |
What Is A Junior ISA?
Junior ISAs were set up to replace Child Trust Funds (CTFs) as a tax-efficient way of investing or saving for a child. The child can be any age as long as they’re under 18. Money contributed to a Junior ISA is locked away until the child turns 18.
Like other types of Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), you can make annual contributions into a Junior ISA, up to certain limits, and any investment gains or interest earned is tax-free.
As a Chartered Accountant I know the importance of long-term tax planning, and ISAs in general are a great tax-efficient way of building wealth over time.
There are two types of Junior ISAs – a Stocks and Shares Junior ISA and a Cash Junior ISA.
Cash Junior ISA
- These work as tax-free savings accounts. Any contributions made will be held in cash and earn interest.
Stocks And Shares Junior ISA
- A Junior stocks and shares ISA works by investing money into assets such as equities, bonds and funds. Over time, returns from investing in equities may outperform the return earned through interest on savings accounts. However, when investing in the stock market, the value of your investments may go down as well as up.
How Does a Junior ISA Work?
A Junior ISA can only be opened by the parent or guardian of a child, and the child must be resident in the UK. The only exceptions to the child being resident in the UK are if you work as a Crown servant (e.g. in the Armed Forces) or the child depends on you for care.
Once opened, any investments or savings in the Junior ISA will be free from the following taxes:
- Income tax on any interest earned
- Dividend tax on any dividend income received
- Capital gains tax on any increase in the value of investments held in the Junior ISA
What Is The Annual Junior ISA Allowance?
For tax year 2023-24, contributions up to a maximum of £9,000 per child can be made. The annual £9,000 allowance cannot be carried forward to the next tax-year, so each tax-year has a new allowance.
If you were to contribute the maximum amount each year from when your child is born to when they turn 18, you would have contributed £162,000 based on an annual allowance of £9,000 per year.
However, although it hasn’t changed for some time now, the annual allowance is not fixed and can be changed by the government in accordance with their tax policy.
Another important point to remember is that money cannot be withdrawn from a Junior ISA once it has been contributed.
Who Can Contribute To A Junior ISA?
Although it must be set up by a parent or guardian of the child, a Junior ISA can then take contributions from anyone. Many providers allow you to set up regular contributions into a Junior ISA, for example if a grandparent wanted to pay in a regular amount.
What Happens With A Junior ISA When a Child Reaches 18?
At the point the child turns 18, control of the account passes to them. This means that they can either take the proceeds from the account as cash (after selling any investments) or transfer the account into an adult ISA.
For example, a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA can be transferred to a regular Stocks and Shares ISA when the child turns 18. They will continue to enjoy the tax benefits of holding their investments or savings in an ISA.
The regular ISA allowance is currently £20,000 for tax-year 2023-24, so once they’ve turned 18 the child can continue to contribute as an adult if they wish to.
Junior ISA vs Child Trust Fund – What’s The Difference?
Child Trust Funds (CTFs) were developed as a tax-efficient method of saving for your child’s future, and are a precursor to Junior ISAs.
They are now closed, and were only open to children born between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011. In 2011 they were replaced by Junior ISAs.
Since 2015, existing CTFs can be transferred into Junior ISAs. When opening a Junior ISA, the provider will usually ask if you have a Child Trust Fund that you would like to transfer in as part of the application. You will need to provide the details of the CTF to them and they will get it transferred.
If you still have a Child Trust Fund, it could be well worth transferring it into a Junior ISA as the savings and investment options are far wider now that Child Trust Funds can no longer be opened.
Is A Junior Stocks and Shares ISA or Junior Cash ISA Suitable For You?
If you want to build up a pot of money for your child for when they reach adulthood then a Junior ISA is a great option to consider. They’re tax-efficient as the money invested into a Junior ISA is free from income tax, capital gains tax and dividend tax.
One of the great benefits of a Junior ISA is that other family members can contribute once it’s set up. For example, grandparents are able to set up regular monthly contributions in addition to any other contributors, so long as the total annual contribution does not exceed £9,000.
Inheritance Tax
In addition to the income and capital gains tax benefits attached with Junior ISAs, there are also potential inheritance tax advantages. Inheritance tax is paid on the value of an estate above £325,000.
Inheritance tax is a complicated area, but when someone dies not only is their estate value at the time of death looked at but so are any gifts made in the 7 years prior to their death. This is to mitigate any inheritance tax avoidance that may be undertaken in the years prior to death.
However, there are exceptions that allow you to avoid paying inheritance tax. One of these is “normal expenditure out of income” which applies to regular payments made rather than lump sums. For example, if an individual regularly contributed £100 per month of their pension income to a child’s Junior ISA, this should fall outside of the scope of inheritance tax.
You can also give away up to £3,000 per year in lump sums that will be outside the scope of inheritance tax. For example, if a grandparent contributed 3 separate sums of £1,000 into a grandchild’s Junior ISA during the year, these payments should be exempt from inheritance tax.
Written by a finance professional.
This article is written by Alex who is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and the founder of Generation Money. You can find him on the ICAEW register. Although this article is written by a qualified professional you should seek individual advice if you’re unsure of your tax or financial position.
It’s important that you get individualised tax advice for estate planning as it’s a very complex area and different reliefs and allowances may not always apply to each individual.
Other Factors To Consider
- Money is locked in – once you’ve contributed to a Junior ISA, you cannot get the money back. On the other hand, if you used your own ISA to save for your child’s future then you can still withdraw funds whenever you would like to. In addition, some providers such as AJ Bell allow you to set up a Junior Dealing Account instead. This doesn’t come with tax advantages but it does mean you can still withdraw funds from the account.
- Control passes to the child at 18 – once your child turns 18, control of the Junior ISA switches to them. You may want to consider how responsible they’ll be with the proceeds at that age. Alternatively you could consider gifting money to them, although this may have inheritance tax implications.
- Easy to get started – many of the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs and Junior Cash ISAs allow you to start saving or investing with just £1, so don’t worry if you don’t have a sizeable lump sum to get started
Junior Stocks And Shares ISA vs Junior Cash ISA
Choosing between stocks and shares and cash for your Junior ISA will come down to a number of factors for you to consider. One of the most important is the return you can get on your money vs. the risk.
Putting money into savings accounts in a Cash Junior JISA means that you will not lose any money, but the returns on savings accounts have been poor in the last 10 years.
On the other hand, investing in equities can produce much higher returns but also involves higher risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up. However, over the long term equities have tended to outperform most other types of investment.
Investing in equities does not mean picking individual stocks and shares to invest in if you don’t want to. You can invest in mutual funds for example, which are pools of money managed by professionals. Or you can invest in passive tracker funds, which are low-cost investment funds that aim to track the performance of well-known stock market indexes.
Our analysis at Generation Money below shows that investing in index tracker funds significantly outperformed the average saving rate over the last 10 years:
Savings represents the average annual savings rate available in the UK between 2013 and 2022. Since late 2022, savings rates have risen substantially from the lows seen in the prior decade.
As you can see from the above, only investing in gold would’ve given a lower return than keeping money in savings accounts since 2013. In fact, over the period, savings and gold both returned less than the rate of inflation which means that, in real terms, the value of your money would’ve been reduced.
By contrast, investing in one of the above passive tracker funds would have generated a return of between 82.3% and 215.1% over the same period. Having said that, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
If you are interested in investing in a low-cost tracker fund, the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA to do so is with Hargreaves Lansdown as it charges no fees – see more below.
The above analysis looks back at the last 10 calendar years. However, from the end of 2022 to June 2023, the interest on savings rates in the UK has picked up as the Bank of England has increased the base rate.
This makes savings rates a more viable alternative to get a decent return on your money than they have been in the past 10 years. At the same time, the S&P 500 index has returned only 2.39% between the 1st June 2022 and 31st May 2023.
It’s worth reiterating that investing in equities should be for the long term and over longer time frames in the past they have performed well relative to other investments. Investing in equities through a Junior stocks and shares ISA means that investments will usually be held for the long term.
All-Round Best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA
TOP PICK – Hargreaves Lansdown
For its combination of investment choice and low fees, Hargreaves Lansdown is our overall pick for best Junior stocks and shares ISA.
Hargreaves Lansdown is the largest retail investment platform in the UK with over £120bn in total client assets.
Its junior stocks and shares ISA comes with zero platform fees and no dealing fees, making it the lowest cost option in our guide to the best Junior stocks and shares ISA.
On top of that, it has one of the widest ranges of investment options on the market, with thousands of shares, funds and bonds to invest in. Hargreaves Lansdown also offers 4 ready-made portfolios to invest in, if you don’t want to pick investments yourself.
Outside of its Junior ISA, Hargreaves Lansdown also offers the full range of tax-efficient products including a Stocks & Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) and Junior SIPP.
You can also get personal financial advice from a regulated professional.
Hargreaves Lansdown Junior ISA – Key Information:
- Investment Options: Thousands of options to invest in across mutual funds, investment trusts, ETFs, shares, corporate bonds and gilts
- Ready-made Portfolios: 4 (each with a different level of risk)
- Fees:
- Platform charges: Free
- Online share dealing: Free
- Minimum Investment: £100 lump sum or £25 per month
- Other Products: Stocks & Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, SIPP, Junior SIPP, GIA, personal financial advice, Cash ISA, Active Savings
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.2
For more on how Hargreaves Lansdown compares to Interactive Investor, read my detailed Interactive Investor vs Hargreaves Lansdown comparison review.
Best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA For Customer Service
Saving for your children’s future is an important consideration, which means choosing a trustworthy and reputable provider is key.
AJ Bell
For customer service and feedback, AJ Bell is our top pick for opening a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA.
It has a Trustpilot rating of 4.7 – the highest of the major platforms on our list – and consistently gets positive feedback for its clear communication with customers and ongoing support.
AJ Bell is also one of the largest retail investment platforms in the UK, with over 400,000 customers. It offers a huge range of investment options, including ready-made portfolios, and a low minimum regular investment to get started, making it one of the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs. However, it’s not the lowest cost platform in this guide.
AJ Bell Junior ISA – Key Information:
- Investment Options: Thousands of shares, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs to choose from
- Ready-made Portfolios: 4 (3 growth portfolios and 1 income portfolio)
- Platform Fees:
- Holding shares: 0.25%, maximum £2.50 per month
- Holding funds: 0.25%
- Online dealing fees:
- Shares: £9.95 or £4.95 if more than 10 deals in the prior month
- Funds: £1.50
- Minimum Investment: £25 lump sum or £25 per month
- Other Products: Stocks & Shares ISA, LISA, GIA, SIPP, Junior SIPP
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.7
Best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA For Lowest Cost
Hargreaves Lansdown
One of the reasons that Hargreaves Lansdown is our top pick overall for the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA is that it charges no platform or dealing fees at all.
This makes it the lowest cost way to invest in a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA. You will only pay the underlying fund charges of whichever investments you choose to put your money into.
Cost is a major consideration when deciding which investment platform to choose for a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA. Excessive costs can eat into your returns over time. In fact, over a longer time period and with regular contributions, overpaying in costs can mean tens of thousands of pounds in lower net gains.
Hargreaves Lansdown – Switch Your Money On
ISAs, Pensions, Funds and Shares.
Thousands of stocks, bonds & funds to choose from with the UK’s largest platform for private investors.
ISAs, Pensions, Funds and Shares.
Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Ethical Investing
Moneyfarm
Launched in the UK in 2016, Moneyfarm is a robo-advisor whereby it will ask you a series of questions to work out your risk appetite. Based on this, it then suggests a suitable ready-made portfolio for you to invest in. You do not need to pick investments yourself – it’s all done for you.
Alongside its core range of actively managed portfolios, Moneyfarm gives you the option of choosing ‘Socially Responsible Investing’.
Moneyfarm’s socially responsible investment policy is centred on environmental impact. This includes lower carbon emissions, transitioning away from fossil fuels, pollution impact, and other metrics.
According to Moneyfarm, “simulated performance shows that from 2013 to 2021 investing in our most adventurous portfolio would have earned you up to 5% more than a regular non-ESG portfolio”.
If you would like to invest for your children’s future and try to have a socially responsible impact in doing so, then Moneyfarm’s ready-made portfolios are a good option.
To construct their socially responsible portfolios, Moneyfarm uses data and tools provided by MSCI, an investment research company. Investing in these socially responsible portfolios works the same way as their regular portfolios – you sign up, complete a questionnaire and are then recommended a portfolio suitable for you.
Moneyfarm Junior ISA – Key Information:
- Portfolios: 7 Actively Managed, 7 ethical / socially responsible, 5 Fixed Allocation
- Fees:
- Up to £10,000: 0.75%
- £10,000 – £19,999: 0.70%
- £20,000 – £49,999: 0.65%
- £50,000 – £99,999: 0.60%
- £100,000 – £249,999: 0.45%
- £250,000 – £499,999: 0.40%
- Over £500,000: 0.35%
- Minimum Investment: £500 and £10 per month
- Other Products: Stocks & Shares ISA, SIPP, GIA
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 3.7
Note that Moneyfarm’s fees work by applying the percentage charge to your entire portfolio. E.g. when investing £80,000, the entire amount will be charged at 0.60%.
Read more details on Moneyfarm in my independent Moneyfarm review.
Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Passive Investing
&me
Owned by M&G Wealth, which is part of one of the largest asset managers in the country, &me is a recent entrant to the robo-advisor market in the UK.
It works in a very similar way to most robo-advisors. You sign up, complete a questionnaire on your personal finances and attitude towards risk and then you will be offered a suitable portfolio to invest in.
Unlike other robo-advisors, though, &me doesn’t lack a human touch. You’re able to book a call or video chat with an &me consultant, either online or directly through the app. This human touch helps set it apart, and will benefit you if you would like further guidance before committing your money to a Junior ISA.
Note that these are not investment advisors, and they will not provide specific investment advice.
Generation Money SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up to &me and deposit £500 to get 3 months of no fees on your investments. You must use this link otherwise the offer will not be valid. Terms apply.
&me Junior ISA – Key Information
- Portfolios: 6 main portfolios, 6 ‘Targeted Range’ (ethical) portfolios
- Fees:
- Up to £10,000: 0.75%
- £10,000 – £19,999: 0.70%
- £20,000 – £49,999: 0.65%
- £50,000 – £99,999: 0.60%
- £100,000 – £249,999: 0.45%
- £250,000 – £499,999: 0.40%
- Over £500,000: 0.35%
- Minimum Investment: £500
- Other Products: Stocks & Shares ISA, SIPP, GIA
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 3.8
Note that &me’s fees work in a similar way to Moneyfarm’s by applying the percentage charge to your entire portfolio. E.g. when investing £80,000, the entire amount will be charged at 0.60%.
&me Exclusive Offer – 3 Months No Fees
Ready-made portfolios powered by M&G.
Click below to get 3 months of investing with zero fees with &me. Must use the link below for offer to be valid. Terms apply.
Ready-made portfolios powered by M&G.
Click below to get 3 months of investing with zero fees with &me. Must use the link below for offer to be valid. Terms apply.
Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Ready-Made Portfolios
Bestinvest
Another of the big, comprehensive retail investment platforms in the UK, Bestinvest’s Junior ISA offers ready-made portfolios, thousands of funds and stocks to invest in, and personal financial advice.
It has very competitive pricing, but it also offers one of the best ranges of ready-made portfolios for you to invest in. There are 19 in total, including:
- 5 Smart Portfolios
- 10 Expert Portfolios
- 4 Direct Portfolios
Their ready-made portfolios are organised by risk level, so you can pick the one that best matches your risk appetite. With a Bestinvest Junior Stocks and Shares ISA you’re able to invest in any of its ready-made portfolios.
Its ‘Smart’ portfolios in particular offer excellent value for money and have shown strong historical performance compared to robo-advisors. They also have lower ongoing fund costs than most robo-advisors, ranging from 0.32-0.35%. Platform fees apply on top and are outlined below.
An additional perk with Bestinvest is that it offers free and unlimited sessions with its financial coaches. If you want guidance with your investment options then Bestinvest is a good option for you.
Bestinvest Junior ISA – Key Information
- Investment Options: Over 3,000 shares, mutual funds, investment trusts and ETFs
- Platform Fees:
- Up to £250,000: 0.40%
- £250,001-£500,000: 0.20%
- £500,001-£1,000,000: 0.10%
- £1m+: 0%
- Dealing Fees:
- Online dealing in funds (mutual funds/unit trusts): Free
- Online dealing in UK shares (including ETFs and investment trusts): £4.95
- Online dealing in US shares (including ETFs and investment trusts): 0.95% FX fee
- Dividend reinvestment: Free
- Deals over £100k: £4.95
- Phone dealing: £30
- Minimum Investment: £50
- Other Products: Stocks & Shares ISA, SIPP, GIA, Trust accounts
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.4
For more on Bestinvest read my detailed, independent Bestinvest review.
Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Tools And Research
Interactive Investor
Interactive Investor is one of the largest retail investment platforms in the UK and offers a huge range of assets to invest in.
In addition, it has a wide range of investment research and tools to use on its website and through its app. This is especially useful if you want to pick investments yourself in a Junior stocks and shares ISA.
Interactive Investor also regularly produces articles and other content on investment themes and ideas, helping to make it our pick for the best Junior stocks and shares ISA for tools and research.
You must have either a Stocks and Shares ISA or a Trading Account with Interactive Investor first before you can open a Junior ISA with them. Opening a Junior ISA then comes at no extra cost. If you want to open a Stocks and Shares ISA for yourself, then Interactive Investor are currently offering £50 free trading credit to new customers.
Sign up today and get £50 free trading credit. New customers who open an ISA or Trading Account by 31 July will receive £50 free trading credit. No minimum deposit required. Terms and fees apply.
Interactive Investor Junior ISA – Key Information
- Investment Options: Thousands of shares, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs to choose from
- Platform Fees:
- Investor Essentials: £4.99 per month (max. investment of £50k), cannot open a Junior ISA with this plan
- Investor: £11.99 per month, Junior ISA is free to open for as many children as you have
- Super Investor: £19.99 per month, Junior ISA is free to open for as many children as you have
- Pension Builder: £12.99 per month, cannot open a Junior ISA with this plan
- Dealing Fees:
- UK shares & funds and US shares: £3.99 per transaction on all Plans
- 1 free monthly trade with Investor plan, 2 with Super Investor
- Non-US international shares charged at £9.99 per transaction for all accounts except Super Investor which is £5.99
- Dividend reinvestment £0.99 for all plans
- Minimum Investment: No minimum investment to open an account. £25 per month minimum for regular investing
- Products: Stocks & Shares ISA, SIPP, GIA, Company Trading Account
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.7
Get £100 Cashback
New customers who open an Interactive Investor ISA or Trading Account by 30th November and deposit or transfer £5k will receive £100 cashback.
Terms and fees apply. Capital at risk if you invest.
£100 Cashback Offer
New customers who open an Interactive Investor ISA or Trading Account by 30th November and deposit or transfer £5k will receive £100 cashback.
Terms and fees apply. Capital at risk if you invest.
Interactive Investor can be pricey if you have under around £50k to invest due to the way it charges a fixed monthly fee. The more you invest, the lower the proportion of your investment the fee makes up. Read my comparison of Interactive Investor vs Hargreaves Lansdown here.
Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Low Minimum Investment
Beanstalk
Beanstalk is an app-only provider that offers a simple Junior Stocks and Shares ISA option. It comes with no minimum investment and it takes just a few minutes to open an account.
This makes Beanstalk the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA for a simple, easy to get started investing option.
After opening an account, you can choose an allocation between cash and shares in the Junior ISA, making it a very simple investment option. Beanstalk invests your money in shares using Fidlity’s World Index Fund which tracks global stock market growth.
Beanstalk Junior ISA – Key Information:
- Investment Options: Simple passive investing where you decide how much to allocate to shares vs cash
- Platform Fees: 0.5%
- Minimum Investment: £25 lump sum or £25 per month
- Other Products: Stocks & Shares ISA
- FSCS Protection: Yes
- FCA Regulated: Yes
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.8
Beanstalk has very good customer feedback, and it won ‘Best Junior ISA’ at the 2022 Good Money Guide Awards. However, it only invests in Fidelity’s World Index Fund which is also available through Hargreaves Lansdown with no fees or platform charges, compared to a 0.5% charge with Beanstalk.
But Beanstalk’s main advantage is in its simplicity and ease of use.
Best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA: Alternatives
As mentioned above, once money is paid into a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA it cannot be withdrawn by the contributor, even if the withdrawal is for the benefit of the child.
An alternative to Junior ISAs is a Junior Dealing account. This can be set up in the form of a ‘bare trust’ which comes with its own rules. You do not get the tax advantages in setting up a bare trust in the same way as with a Junior ISA, but you can use the child’s annual tax allowances against any income or gains made in the bare trust.
One of the main benefits is being able to withdraw funds from a bare trust to pay for school fees for your child, which you cannot do with a Junior ISA. Trusts can be highly complex and you should seek out professional advice if you’re unsure of whether they’re suitable for your situation.
Another alternative is to simply save and invest the money yourself and gift it to your child in the future. However, you will not get the tax advantages associated with a Junior ISA if you choose to do this, and you may be liable for inheritance tax on any lump sums gifted to your children if you pass away within 7 years of making the gifts.
List of Junior Stocks and Shares ISA Providers
Hargreaves Lansdown – Overall Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA
AJ Bell – Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Customer Service
Hargreaves Lansdown – Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Lowest Cost
Moneyfarm – Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Ethical Investing
&me – Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Passive investing
Interactive Investor – Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Tools and Research
Beanstalk – Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA For Low Minimum Investment
Other Junior Stocks and Shares ISA Providers To Consider:
Best Junior Stocks And Shares ISA – Final Verdict
A Junior Stocks and Shares ISA is a tax-efficient way of saving for your children’s future. You can contribute up to £9,000 per year per child, but remember that this money is locked away until the child turns 18.
Our top pick for the best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA is Hargreaves Lansdown due to its low costs – it doesn’t charge any fees at all – and its wide range of investment options.
AJ Bell is our top pick for best Junior Stocks and Shares ISA for customer service, as it has a consistently strong record of positive feedback.
All of the providers in this guide allow you to transfer in a Child Trust Fund, too. To decide which stocks and shares Junior ISA is right for you will also be determined by what you want to invest in and whether you want to actively or passively invest. For passive investing, &me is our top pick.
With rising interest rates, you may want to consider a Cash Junior ISA instead. However, over the long term, equity investing has tended to outperform cash savings.
Fact-checked.
This article has been fact-checked by Talal, who is a CFA qualified finance professional. Talal previously advised clients with at least £1 billion to invest, so you’re in safe hands.
