Cost & Platform Analytics
Fees are the quiet, compounding cost that erodes long-term returns. This section builds the numeracy to compare platforms and funds properly.
Platform Fee Comparisons
How UK investment platforms charge, and how to work out which structure actually saves you money.
Fixed Fee vs Percentage Fee Brokerages: Which Saves You More?
How to compare flat-fee and percentage-fee investment platforms depending on the size of your portfolio.
Read guide →Best SIPP Platforms in the UK: Comparing Costs for Larger Pension Pots
How SIPP platform charges scale with pot size, and what larger pension savers should look for.
Read guide →Hidden Platform Costs: Exit Fees, Transfer-Out Charges, and Dealing Fees Explained
The less obvious platform charges that can catch investors out, from exit fees to dealing costs.
Read guide →Robo-Advisors vs DIY Investing Platforms: Paying for Convenience vs Control
Comparing the cost and convenience trade-offs between robo-advisors and self-directed platforms.
Read guide →How Platform Fee Caps Work: Why Fund Investors Often Pay Less Than Share Investors
How percentage fee caps on fund holdings can make platforms cheaper for fund investors than share traders.
Read guide →Switching Investment Platforms: A Step-by-Step Guide to Transferring Without Losses
A step-by-step guide to transferring investments between platforms without unnecessary cost or time out of the market.
Read guide →Fund Fees (OCF/TER)
Understanding what a fund actually costs to hold, beyond the headline percentage.
The Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF): How a 1% Fee Can Cost You Thousands in Retirement
How a fund's Ongoing Charges Figure compounds over decades and what it means for retirement savings.
Read guide →Tracking Error: Why Your Index Fund Isn't Perfectly Matching the Market
What tracking error is, why index funds don't perfectly replicate their benchmark, and how much it should matter.
Read guide →OCF vs TER vs AMC: Decoding the Alphabet Soup of Fund Charges
Clearing up the difference between OCF, TER, and AMC, the three most common UK fund charge figures.
Read guide →Platform Fee Plus Fund Fee: Calculating Your True All-In Investment Cost
How to add up platform charges and fund charges to find the real total cost of investing.
Read guide →Why Cheaper Isn't Always Better: When a Higher-Fee Active Fund Might Be Worth It
The circumstances where a higher-cost active fund could still be a reasonable choice over a cheap tracker.
Read guide →Transaction Costs and Stamp Duty: The Charges That Don't Appear in the OCF
The dealing costs, stamp duty, and transaction charges that sit outside a fund's headline OCF.
Read guide →Fee Drag Over 30 Years: Modelling the Real Cost of Fees on a £100,000 Portfolio
A worked example modelling how different fee levels affect a £100,000 portfolio compounded over 30 years.
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