The Financial Interest Awards 2026

The Financial Interest Awards are back bigger and better for 2026.

The usual rules apply: the winners from each category have been awarded strictly on merit – there's no pay-to-play spots, sponsored opinions, or "who bought the most tables at the awards ceremony?" around here.

But what do we actually mean by "merit"?

Put simply: our own honest opinions and conclusions based on hours (and hours) of hands-on testing, research, analysis, and comparison.

Now, take your seat – the show's about to start.

Best Investing Platform: AJ Bell

Kicking off proceedings and scooping the title of Best Investing Platform for the second year in a row, it's AJ Bell. 

A national favourite and one of the UK's most established brokers, AJ Bell's appeal is pretty simple: they do everything, and they do it well. Whether you're after a stocks & shares ISA, a SIPP, a lifetime ISA, or just a general investment account, it's all here under one roof – and this award is given to the platform offering a great all-round offering.

The investment range is equally broad, costs are kept competitive throughout, and if you ever need a hand, a real person is only a phone call or email away.

Best Low-Cost Broker: Lightyear

In a fiercely contested category, we're pleased to hand the award for Best Low-Cost Broker to Lightyear.

With no account or trading fees, users can invest in more than 6,000 global shares, around 350 funds, and a small selection of bonds, paying nothing beyond the underlying fund fee. But what's really clinched it this year is their decision to slash FX fees from 0.35% down to just 0.1% in their stocks and shares ISA, putting them among the lowest on the market for investors buying overseas assets.

Add in the recently-increased availability of fractional shares and Lightyear have put together one of the most compelling all-round packages on the market.

Best Fund Platform: Freetrade

Collecting their first ever FI award, it's Freetrade, who've earned the title of Best Fund Platform. 

Traditionally, if investors wanted to trade mutual funds, they'd have needed to go with a broker that would likely charge them hefty account and trading fees for the privilege. But thanks to changes made to their pricing structure back in January, Freetrade is now one of the only trading platforms to give investors access to mutual funds with no account fees or trading commissions.

That means you can hold popular options like Vanguard's LifeStrategy and Target Retirement Funds, and only pay the cost of the underlying fund management fee.

With over 500 mutual funds on offer, you've got a platform that combines low costs with plenty of choice.

Best ETF Platform: Trading 212

Fending off plenty of stiff competition, Trading 212 edges the win to take the crown for best ETF platform.

That's because they offer everything an investor could ask for: no account fees or trading commissions, a huge range of over 4,600 ETFs to choose from, low FX fees, fractional investing, live pricing, and fast execution, plus a whole load of other features that make investing easy.

Best Managed Service (for Smaller Portfolios): AJ Bell Dodl

Picking up the first of two FI awards this year, it's Dodl – AJ Bell's beginner-friendly, low-cost investment app.

We're big fans of how Dodl makes investing... well, a doddle. Everything is stripped back and clearly explained, so if you're just getting started, you won't find yourself drowning in jargon or overwhelmed by choice. You can simply pick a fund – ranging from cautious to adventurous – and let it do the work.

A flat 0.15% fee at a minimum of £1 per month means that for pots up to around £100,000, Dodl is genuinely hard to beat on price for a managed service – all backed by the reassurance of investing with one of the UK's best-known brokers.

Best Managed Service (for Larger Portfolios): Interactive Investor

Interactive Investor bags the top spot for Best Managed Service for Larger Portfolios.

Since rolling out a simplified flat-fee pricing structure in February, investors can now pay a monthly fee of £5.99 for portfolios under £100,000, and £14.99 for portfolios over £100,000. This makes them a cheaper option than most if you've got a fair pot stashed away, and the most many people will pay is £179.88 (plus fund management fees) – though trading fees can also apply if you're a more active investor. 

ii (as it's more affectionately known) boasts a good range of managed funds, too – all users need to do is answer a few quick questions to be matched with one of 10 funds, ranging from cautious to very adventurous.

Best Low-Cost SIPP: Prosper

They say nothing in life is free, but our Best Low-cost SIPP winner, Prosper, must not have got the memo.

Not only will you pay zero account fees or trading commissions when investing with them, they also offer fund fee rebates on 30+ ETFs, meaning you can genuinely pay nothing to invest.

But costs alone don't win this award.

Where Prosper also shines is by offering features within their SIPP you'd typically only expect from larger providers: employer and director contributions are supported, and they're also one of the only commission-free platforms to offer mutual funds.

Best SIPP: AJ Bell

Claiming the Best SIPP crown for the second year in a row, and their second award this year, it's AJ Bell. 

They tick every box you'd want in a SIPP: employers and company directors are able to contribute, and drawdown is also supported, giving you flexibility over how you take your money when the time comes.

While they're not the cheapest option out there, they keep fees reasonable – regular investing is low-cost, and account fees for ETFs are capped at £10 per month.

Best Stocks & Shares ISA: Trading 212

Trading 212 bags the award for Best Stocks & Shares ISA – another winner to claim the same trophy two years on the trot.

This platform stands out for doing everything consistently well. There's a wealth of research and education features, their "pie" tool makes customising and automating your investments easy, one of the highest rates of interest on uninvested cash on the market, and a low FX fee of just 0.15%.

We've also been impressed by how they handle customer feedback. When a December 2025 redesign of their portfolio layout drew widespread complaints ("where have my pies gone?!"), they reversed the decision within weeks.

Best Cash ISA: Tembo

With rates changing all the time and terms and conditions as long as Slenderman's arm, the Best Cash ISA is one of our trickier calls – but this year Tembo takes the crown.

Although lots of providers offer high, limited-time boosted rates, in our humble opinions, this doesn't necessarily make them the "best" when transfers often aren't accepted and you have to scramble to find another good rate after 12 months.

Tembo does a good job of balancing these competing priorities. Their new customer rate of 4.30% is still among the highest, along with their transfer rate of 4.06%. Plus, there's the option to open a "straight rate" cash ISA with a 4.06% rate, so you don’t have to worry about that guaranteed rate drop.

Please note these rates will likely be outdated within days as the cash ISA space is like the wild west at the moment.

Beyond rates, the whole package is hard to fault: withdraw as many times as you like without affecting your interest, and get started with as little as £10.

Best Junior ISA: Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown retains their title for Best Junior ISA, and the reason is pretty simple: they're the only junior ISA provider to charge zero account or trading fees, making their account one of the lowest-cost ways to save for kids.

Editor's update: prior to our announcement, Freetrade also unveiled a new free junior stocks & shares ISA within their free plan. As a brand new product, this wasn't able to be tested in time for this year's awards.

And you'll still enjoy all the other perks you'd expect from a broker like HL: top-notch phone and email support, a huge range of funds, and the full range of investing options, from ETFs and shares to gilts and investment trusts.

Best Junior SIPP: Fidelity

When it comes to the best junior SIPP in 2026, no one compares to Fidelity – and we should know, because we compare all the leading options.

Charging no account fees, no dealing fees on mutual funds and just £1.50 per month for shares and ETFs when using a regular savings plan, Fidelity's JSIPP remains the cheapest option by quite some distance.

Best Lifetime Stocks & Shares ISA: AJ Bell Dodl

Claiming the top spot for the Best Lifetime Stocks & Shares ISA, it's another award for AJ Bell's user-friendly, low-cost cousin, Dodl.

It might not be the most crowded category, but Dodl still stands out for doing the simple things well: users pay no account fees at all for the first 12 months, and after that, a flat 0.15% charge keeps costs competitive for smaller pots.

The app itself is great for beginners, and though the fund and share selection is more limited than some, Dodl also pays interest on uninvested cash, meaning even money sitting on the sidelines can earn its keep.

Best Lifetime Cash ISA: Tembo

Tembo bags another top spot for the Best Lifetime Cash ISA of 2026.

Their first-year boosted interest rate puts them among the highest-paying options on the market, and their rate stays decent once the promotional period ends.

Tembo savers also get fee-free mortgage advice, alongside a home-buying timeline and personalised plan within the app, keeping you on track towards the moment you can actually use your LISA pot.

Best Investing App: Lightyear

Nabbing the coveted award for best investing app, it's Lightyear. This platform impressed us from the moment we first tested it. 

The app is clean, intuitive, and fun to use. Thoughtful touches set it apart, too: an asset comparison tool makes evaluating similar investments easy, you can add personal notes to your holdings, and even access information normally reserved for professional investors like earnings calls and slide decks.

Best Investing Website: Lightyear

Lightyear bags a double win for their desktop platform experience.

Everything you'll find on mobile is here, but the website takes things a step further with more sophisticated filtering tools, including a stock and fund screener, deeper expert-level analysis of assets, and even a personalised calendar built from your watchlist, flagging notable events like upcoming dividend payments – an impressive package.

If you've used a few investing websites or apps before and then play with Lightyear, you'll see what we mean about the quality feel. It's one of those things that can only be truly understood after trying.

Fund Provider of the Year: Vanguard

Sometimes you just can't beat the classics – and when it comes to funds, Vanguard have got it in the bag, making them a natural choice for Fund Provider of the Year 2026.

We've been critical of the Vanguard platform in the past for fee structure changes that made them a pricier option for some, so we won't pretend they're doing everything perfectly. However, their LifeStrategy and Target Retirement funds remain among the most popular choices with UK investors.

This year, they've also addressed a long-standing criticism by reducing "home bias" in their LifeStrategy range, and followed that up by launching a new range of LifeStrategy Global funds that take that thinking even further by giving investors an even more internationally diversified option.

There's not a whole load of innovation you can do in the fund space, but we're glad to see they're still trying.

Best for Large Portfolios: Interactive Investor

Interactive Investor claim the Best for Large Portfolios title for the second year in a row – and this year, they're even better.

Their new, flat-fee pricing structure means investors can now hold an ISA, SIPP, and GIA with a combined value of up to £100,000 for just £5.99 per month in account fees.

For larger portfolios, their Premium plan is good value – one combined fee covers your ISA, SIPP, and GIA regardless of how much you hold across them, with the added benefit of one of the lowest FX fees on the market, unlimited free family accounts, and free fund trading.

Best for Active Investors: Interactive Brokers

For many people, Interactive Brokers would be overkill. But if you're an experienced investor who trades regularly and wants access to global markets without compromise, it's hard to imagine a platform better suited to the job.

The numbers speak for themselves: 70,000 stocks across more than 170 global markets, a powerful stock screener, and over 100 – yes, 100 – different order types to execute trades exactly how you want.

Fees are competitive across the board, and at just 0.03%, their FX fee is about as low as it gets.

Best for Beginners: InvestEngine

InvestEngine clinches the top spot for beginners by keeping things deliberately simple. An ETF-only platform where everything is priced in GBP and there are no account or trading fees, it's built around one core idea: making sustainable, long-term investing easier and cheaper for everyone.

You won't find the bells and whistles of other platforms here, but that's the point.

There are no shares, no CFDs, no temptation to do something you might regret. Just a clean, easy-to-understand range of funds, straightforward information about what you're buying, and the ability to set up regular investing and let time do the rest.

Best for Businesses: InvestEngine

InvestEngine heads to the podium for their second win of 2026 – this time for their business investment account.

Business investment accounts are something of a rarity among UK platforms, so it's a bonus that InvestEngine offers one, and at no account fees or trading commissions, no less.

A clean selection of ETFs, including money market funds with overnight rates, makes it easy to put spare business cash to work in something sensible rather than letting it sit idle.

InvestEngine will also provide businesses with a Legal Entity Identifier – required for conducting financial transactions – free of charge for the first year, which is a nice touch that removes one less headache from the business investing process.

Financial Influencer of the Year: Martin Lewis

He's been called a consumer champion, the most trusted man in Britain, and even a national hero. That's right: it's the main man Martin Lewis scooping the award for 2026 Financial Influencer of the Year. 

Known to crash websites in a matter of minutes and move millions of pounds in a matter of hours, his recommendations carry so much weight that the phenomenon has been dubbed the "Martin Lewis effect".

That's why we were so happy to see him speak up about the power of investing for the first time last year, championing the value of index funds to his audience of millions.

For a nation where too many people still aren't investing at all, that's a pretty big deal. Hats off to you, Martin – better late than never.

Financial Journalist of the Year: Dan Neidle

In a brand new category for 2026, Dan Neidle scoops Financial Journalist of the Year.

A British tax lawyer, investigative journalist, and founder of non-profit Tax Policy Associates, Dan has made a name for himself exposing all kinds of high-profile tax avoidance schemes and advocating for simpler, fairer UK tax policies. 

He also somehow recently found the time to trawl through the Epstein files, uncovering masses of incriminating evidence against Peter Mandelson – including that the former Labour politician had allegedly colluded with renowned wrongun' Epstein in a bid to scupper government plans to tax bankers' bonuses. Just another day at the office for Dan. 

His appearance on the Making Money podcast is well worth a listen.

Transparency statement

We are an affiliate of a number of platforms on this list. We have not included affiliate links in these awards. We are 100% honest at all times and never have our opinions swayed by money – our morals are worth far more to us than money in the bank – but we understand how it might look if we included affiliate links here. Plenty of brokers won awards that we are not affiliates of. Award selections were backed up with reasons that you can verify for yourself. We try our best to ask every platform for an affiliate arrangement, though some do not offer such a scheme.

Investment platforms did not know we were compiling these awards in advance of selections. They did not have to pay to enter or to claim their prize. They did not get the chance to ask their audience to vote. They do not have to pay to use our awards in their marketing.

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