This is my comparison of Nutmeg vs Wealthify, two major investment platforms in the UK. Robo-advisor platforms like these offer people a hands-off approach to investing. They have made investing more accessible and easier for people who might not have thought seriously about investing otherwise.
From my experience, Nutmeg and Wealthify are both great investment apps with strong features, easy-to-use interfaces and offer good ready-made portfolios.
There are pros and cons to each and I’ll delve into these deeper in this review. I’ll be comparing Nutmeg vs Wealthify in a number of metrics to see which comes out on top. I’ll look at their portfolio performance, ethical offerings, products, and all-important fees. I’ve been investing for over 10 years and, as a Chartered Accountant, I know how important it is to balance costs against returns.
Both platforms are suitable for newbie investors, but Wealthify is geared slightly more towards investors with less experience. It offers a flat fee for any investment amount, and its fees for low-value investments are cheaper than Nutmeg’s. On the other hand, Nutmeg is cheaper for high-value investments worth over £100,000. It also offers more features, which are ideal for those looking for more functionality from their wealth management platform.
Read on for my full Nutmeg vs Wealthify comparison, or use the links below to jump straight to the section you’re looking for:
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Quick Overview
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: What Is Nutmeg?
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: What Is Wealthify?
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Fees
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Products
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Portfolios
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Ethical Portfolios
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Performance
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Advice and Resources
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Which App Is Better?
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Is My Money Safe?
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Pros & Cons
- Nutmeg vs Wealthify: Final Verdict
You can also read my in-depth reviews of each platform here:
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Quick Overview
Short on time? Here’s my quick overview of Wealthify vs Nutmeg. The table below looks at the key features compared against each other:
| Nutmeg (Fully-managed) | Wealthify | |
| Management fees | Up to £100,000 – 0.75% Over £100,000 – 0.35% | 0.6% flat fee |
| Fund fees | 0.28% (0.34% for ethical portfolios) | 0.16% (0.7% for ethical portfolios) |
| Minimum investment | £500 for Stocks & Shares ISA, GIA & Pension £100 for JISA and LISA | £1 |
| Products | ISA, JISA, LISA, GIA, SIPP (Penson) & regulated financial advice | ISA, JISA, GIA, SIPP (Penson) |
| Number of portfolios | 10 | 5 |
| Ethical portfolios | 10 | 5 |
Looking at Wealthify vs Nutmeg, Wealthify is the better option if you’re a newbie investor not looking to invest too much since you can start with as little as £1. Wealthify is cheaper than Nutmeg for investment amounts up to £100,000. In my opinion, Wealthify also has a simpler user interface and better overall app experience than Nutmeg.
Nutmeg has a more cater-to-all approach. It’s still good for newbies but offers more options and features that more experienced investors may prefer. Its minimum investment is higher at £500 unless you choose the ISA option, where you only need to invest an initial £100.
It’s also more expensive than Wealthify unless you’re investing more than £100,000, in which case it becomes significantly cheaper than Nutmeg. Another feature of Nutmeg that Wealthify doesn’t offer is the option to talk to a financial advisor to receive regulated financial advice and wealth planning. This costs £575 and anyone interested in a more personalised investment approach will benefit from this feature.
What Is Nutmeg?
Nutmeg started in 2011, and it has a simple process for its users. No matter which investment management product you pick, Nutmeg’s robo-investment platform uses ready-made investment portfolios backed by algorithms that observe the market and seek to optimise performance over time. JP Morgan Chase acquired Nutmeg in 2021, so you’re backed by that additional expertise.
Nutmeg claims to be the largest digital wealth manager in the UK and it has over 150,000 clients. It markets itself as a transparent and jargon-free way of investing.
Nutmeg is suitable for different types of investors, from newbies to more experienced users who don’t have the time to manage their own portfolios. Like many robo-advisors, it invests primarily in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which keeps its costs relatively low, and allows you to invest based on the level of risk you prefer.
Check out my in-depth Nutmeg review for more.
What Is Wealthify?
Wealthify is slightly newer to the robo-advisor world and started in 2016. It operates similarly to Nutmeg, using computer algorithms to make investments for its users. Like Nutmeg, it primarily invests in ETFs based on the level of risk involved for its users.
Wealthify was acquired by Aviva in 2017 and now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aviva. So, like Nutmeg, it is owned by a much larger investment company which may give you extra comfort in them.
Wealthify is geared more toward the younger generation and inexperienced investors, as it offers more low-cost options and a simple interface.
Being newer to the wealth management scene, Wealthify doesn’t have as large a client base as Nutmeg — in 2021, it had around 50,000 clients.
Check out my full Wealthify review for more.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Fees
Wealthify’s fees are a little less than Nutmeg’s for investors putting in less than £100,000, with fees of 0.6%, compared to Nutmeg’s 0.75% fees under that amount. If you’re focused on cost, then Wealthify is the cheaper option for you if you have under £100,000 to invest.
However, Nutmeg is a more appealing choice if you’re making larger investments since investments over £100,000 will only incur 0.35% fees on its fully managed portfolios (which I’ve focused on in this comparison). On the other side, Wealthify will charge its flat fee of 0.6% over £100,000.
Nutmeg does also offer a fixed allocation portfolio with lower fees than its fully managed portfolio. The fees for this are 0.45% for under £100,000 and 0.25% for over £100,000. Nutmeg’s fixed allocation portfolio is not actively managed, which is why it has lower fees. Each of the 5 portfolios in it are reviewed once annually, rather than being actively managed and rebalanced more frequently as with its other investment options. In theory, it is not as optimised as the fully managed portfolios and therefore may perform less well. But if your focus is on lowest cost, then Nutmeg’s fixed allocation portfolio may be a good option for you.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Products
Nutmeg and Wealthify offer similar products. Although Nutmeg offers slightly more for users looking for a little more functionality from their investment platform.
They both offer stocks and shares ISAs, General Investment Accounts (GIAs), Junior ISAs (JISAs) and Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs). Nutmeg also offers Lifetime ISAs, which Wealthify doesn’t offer at the moment. You also have access to regulated advice with Nutmeg from a professional, which is great if you’re looking for tailored financial advice.
If having access to more product options is important to you, then Nutmeg is the clear winner.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Portfolios
Nutmeg has a larger range of portfolios to choose from in its fully managed offering. It offers 10 ready-made portfolios, with varying degrees of risk, compared to only 5 from Wealthify. Nutmeg orders its 10 portfolio options in terms of financial risk, with 10 being the highest risk. Wealthify groups its portfolios into 5 categories: cautious, tentative, confident, ambitious and adventurous.
But if you’re a beginner and don’t want to be confused by all the options available, Wealthify offers a good range to choose from and a simpler offering. If you like simplicity then Wealthify is the better option for you.
However, Nutmeg offers two additional options: Fixed Allocation portfolios that offer lower-cost investing as outlined above, and JP Morgan Asset Management’s creation with Nutmeg — Smart Alpha portfolio. These benefit from the expert research from JP Morgan’s Asset Management team and their historical performance has shown to be above that of the other Nutmeg portfolios. If you want to have lots of options to choose from, then Nutmeg is the one to go with.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Ethical Portfolios
Both Nutmeg and Wealthify offer ethical versions of their portfolios based on the same varying degrees of risk.
You pay slightly higher fees for the ethical portfolios, with Nutmeg charging underlying fees for its ethical portfolios at around 0.34%, whereas its fully-managed portfolios are around 0.28%.
For Wealthify, its ethical portfolio fees are around 0.7% compared to 0.16% for its standard portfolios. So I’d recommend Nutmeg if you’re keen to invest your money ethically and want to keep costs down.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Performance
Since Nutmeg is a slightly more established investment app and offers a larger range of portfolios than Wealthify, it’s difficult to compare the two. But here’s a quick glance at how some of their similar portfolios performed in 2021:
| 2021 Performance | Nutmeg | Wealthify |
| Nutmeg Portfolio 2 vs Wealthify Cautious | +1.7% | +0.48% |
| Nutmeg Portfolio 5 vs Wealthify Confident | +7.5% | +6.7% |
| Nutmeg Portfolio 7 vs Wealthify Adventurous | +12.6% | +12.82% |
When comparing Nutmeg vs Wealthify, this shows that while Wealthify falls behind a little in the lower-risk portfolios, it has similar returns at the higher risk options.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Advice & Resources
In terms of additional resources, both Wealthify and Nutmeg offer pension calculators on their websites. However, Nutmeg also has self-employment, ISA and compound return calculators.
While you can find these tools elsewhere online, you’re backed by the firm’s expertise. You can also access a good range of educational guides and blog posts on Wealthify and Nutmeg’s websites or apps. So it’s easy to keep up-to-date and find answers to questions you might have.
On top of this, Nutmeg also offers personalised regulated financial advice for £575. Wealthify doesn’t offer anything like this. This is where Nutmeg has a good balance between robo-investing and traditional wealth management firms, as you have access to personalised and tailored advice from a professional.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Which App Is Better?
I found that the user experience on both of these platforms was excellent. I never experienced any issues using either of the mobile apps.
Personally, I find Wealthify’s app easier to navigate and simpler to use. But this may also be because it has a much simpler product offering.
Nutmeg’s app is also fine to navigate but there are lots of options to navigate through. Again, this is partly a function of having more products to choose from.
Overall, there’s not a huge amount to choose between Nutmeg vs Wealthify when it comes to their apps, but my personal preference is Wealthify’s.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Is My Money Safe?
Both platforms are regulated by the financial conduct authority (FCA) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection.
This gives you the protection that if either company were to go bust, your money would be protected up to the value of £85,000 by the regulator. Anything over that amount may not be recoverable, though.
Additionally, Nutmeg and Wealthify keep customers’ money separate from their own by using trustee bank accounts. The FSCS also covers these separate bank accounts.
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Pros & Cons
Let’s take a look at a summary of the pros and cons of each platform.
Nutmeg Pros & Cons
| Nutmeg’s Pros | Nutmeg’s Cons |
| Easy to get started and use. Nutmeg offers new or experienced investors an easy way to access the financial markets from their smartphones. | Ready-made portfolios offer limited opportunities. More experienced users may be frustrated by the lack of customisable portfolios. |
| Regulated financial advice. Nutmeg offers personalised planning and qualified financial advice, starting at £575. No other robo-advisor currently offers this. | Overly simple design. Nutmeg’s straightforward design may not suit the needs of investors seeking more advanced functionalities from their investing platforms. |
| Ethical investment options. Nutmeg offers a number of socially responsible investment portfolios to choose from, which is great if you want to invest your money in causes that are important to you. | Higher costs of investments worth under £100,000. Nutmeg’s cost of fees for investments worth under £100,000 is more than many other robo-advisor platforms. |
| Lower cost if you’re investing more than £100,000. Nutmeg’s portfolio fees on investments worth over £100k are some of the lowest in the robo-advisor space. |
Wealthify Pros & Cons
| Wealthify’s Pros | Wealthify’s Cons |
| Low costs for investments under £10,000. Wealthify offers one of the lowest portfolio fees when investing under £10,000, which is good for newbie investors who don’t want to invest too much. | Expensive if investing more than £100k. Wealthify’s pricing structure is simple, as they apply a 0.6% portfolio fee to any investment account size. However, for balances over £100,000, Nutmeg is cheaper. |
| Simple offering of various levels of risk-appropriate investment strategies. Wealthify offers a smaller range of portfolios across a range of different risk appetites, so you don’t have to spend too much time choosing the right one for you. | Fewer ethical plans. There are 5 ethical investment plans to choose from, which is lower than Nutmeg’s offering of 10. |
| Low minimum investment requirements. You can begin investing with as little as £1, which is good for new investors who don’t want to risk too much. | Ready-made portfolios offer limited opportunities. Clients can only choose one of the ready-made portfolios. This isn’t ideal for experienced investors looking for customisable portfolios. |
| Smooth account opening and easy-to-use app. Wealthify’s service makes investing effortless with its simple and fast account opening process and intuitive app design. | Lack of advanced tools. Wealthify’s simple design may not suit the needs of investors looking for more advanced functionalities within their investing platforms. Compared to Nutmeg, there are fewer financial planning tools. |
| Ethical Investing. Wealthify is a big supporter of ethical investing and offers a number of socially responsible investment portfolios if you want to invest your money in causes that are important to you. |
Nutmeg vs Wealthify – Final Verdict
Both platforms are great choices for people who want to invest but don’t have the time or expertise to manage their own portfolios. Both Nutmeg and Wealthify offer low-cost options, a great range of portfolios for people on different budgets and looking for varying degrees of risk.
Looking at Wealthify vs Nutmeg, Nutmeg is the winner for me since it offers a wider range of products. It offers a LISA and has the option to get regulated financial advice so it has you covered for most investing needs. It also has a greater range of portfolios to choose from, including its Smart Alpha options which have shown higher returns in the past.
Wealthify is better for newer or younger investors just looking to dip their toes in the water and begin their investing journey.
