Bringing value to more than half a million UK investors

It’s less than six years since Vanguard launched its award-winning UK investment platform.

I remember the day well. It was 16 May 2017 and we had good reason to be optimistic that our formula of low-cost investing, built around a person’s goals, would resonate with the public in the way it had already resonated with other investors around the world.

We were – and remain – on a mission to change the way Britain invests. However, little did any of us back then know that Vanguard would grow as quickly as it has done in the UK. As of this month, more than 500,000 of you have entrusted us with your hard-earned money – the last two tax years alone have seen the number of our clients more than double.

It’s a privilege to begin the new tax-year on such a positive note, as well as a responsibility we take very seriously.

Vanguard was founded in 1975 to help investors reach their financial goals by giving them the best chance of investment success. Living up to this mission continues to drive us. Having no shareholders helps too¹, because it means we can use our success to focus on what matters most for our clients and to keep costs down.

We know that every pound paid in fees is a pound out of investors’ future returns, which is why we have long championed the cause of low-cost investing.

It’s why, for a single fee of 0.15% capped at £375 per year, our self-directed UK investors can open an individual savings account (ISA), Junior ISA, self-invested personal pension (SIPP) or general account – or any combination of these – and simply put their money to work in global stock and bond markets by investing directly in our straightforward range of low-cost, high-quality funds.

There are presently 86 of these funds, including index and active funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and readymade portfolios like our popular LifeStrategy and Target Retirement Fund (TRF) ranges.

In all, we now hold more than £16 billion-worth² of your investments on the Vanguard UK platform, which is amazing when you consider what UK investors have been through over the past six years. Think about it – Brexit, four prime ministers, the Covid-19 pandemic, a seismic shift up in inflation and interest rates, war in Ukraine – these have been extraordinary years.

What is particularly gratifying to me, and to the Vanguard team working behind the scenes to provide you with the best possible service, is the fact the vast majority of you are investing the Vanguard way.

We know that investing involves risk – markets are unpredictable, which means the value of your investments can always fall as well as rise. But investing is also a long-term endeavour, and our four investment principles are there to improve your chances of investment success.

Start with your goals, decide on the balance of shares and bonds that’s appropriate for you, keep your costs down, and be disciplined. That means ignoring the ‘noise’ when markets turn volatile and staying the course with your investments, which is precisely what you’ve been doing, with only 0.09% of you trading on the Vanguard platform on an average day across all of 2022³.

Here’s to us continuing to help you achieve your goals!

¹Vanguard Group, Inc., our parent, is owned by Vanguard’s US-domiciled funds. Those funds, in turn, are owned by their investors. While we cannot replicate this structure in Europe, we believe that this unique mutual structure aligns Vanguard’s interests with those of our investors globally and drives the culture, philosophy and policies throughout the Vanguard organisation.

² As at 24 April 2023.

³ Analysis conducted by Vanguard. Trading defined as the act of moving money from one investment option to another within an account.

Investment risk information

The value of investments, and the income from them, may fall or rise and investors may get back less than they invested.

Important information

This article is designed for use by, and is directed only at, persons resident in the UK.

The information contained in this article is not to be regarded as an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy or sell securities in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation is against the law, or to anyone to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation, or if the person making the offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so. The information in this article does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. You must not, therefore, rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions.