Investment ISA
Tax-efficient, simple and low-cost investing
INVESTMENT (STOCKS AND SHARES) ISA
Grow your money tax-free from as little as £50 and invest up to £20,000 per tax year. Our Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA is simple-to-use and you can withdraw your cash at any time.
Capital at risk. Tax rules may change.
What is an Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA?
An Investment ISA (also known as Stocks and Shares ISA) is a tax-efficient account meaning you don’t pay UK income or capital gains tax on any returns you make. It’s a flexible way to grow your money, allowing you to invest in shares, funds, bonds and more. Investments could also provide higher returns than cash over the long term.
Tax-efficient investment
You don’t pay UK income tax or capital gains tax on any returns you make from your investments in a Stocks and Shares ISA.
Trusted by millions
Over 37m Stocks and Shares ISAs have been used since 2008 with the aim to grow your money tax-free.
Flexible withdrawals
You can withdraw cash at any time and top back up before the end of the tax year without affecting your annual ISA allowance.
Wide investment choice
You can invest in UK and overseas shares, bonds, funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and investment trusts within a Stocks and Shares ISA.
The value of investments can fall as well as rise so you may get back less than you invest. Tax rules can change and their effects vary depending on your individual circumstances. Please check the costs involved before transferring.
Our awards
We were voted Best for Customer Service 2025 and Consumer Rated Value for Money 2025 from Boring Money, and Best Stockbroker 2023 and Best SIPP Provider 2024 at The Online Money awards(1)
Why choose our Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA?
Low fees
One low annual fee, flat rate share dealing and no charge for many of our services.
Invest from £50
You can make one-off payments, set-up a regular monthly Direct Debit, or transfer an ISA to fund your account.
Dedicated support
We have a UK-based team on the phone to help when you need it.
Great options
Save time by picking a Ready-made Investment which our experts manage for you, or build a bespoke portfolio from thousands of shares, funds and bonds.
Investing could grow your money more than savings
Over the 5-year period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024 holding money in a savings account would have produced different returns to investing in Ready-made Investments. The graph below shows the performance over this period of our Barclays Everyday Saver compared to investing in each of our Ready-made Investments funds. You should also bear in mind that the past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
The graph shows a starting investment of £10,000 on 1 January 2019 and the return provided over 5 years for the Everyday Saver account versus the five Ready-made Investment funds. At the end of the 5 year period Barclays Everyday Saver would have provided a return of £10,302, Ready-made Investment Defensive £10,856, Ready-made Investment Cautious £11,716, Ready-made Investment Balanced £13,022, Ready-made Investment Growth £14,095 and Ready-made Investment Adventurous £15,095.
Important information – This is one example and there are different savings and investment products available which would have earned different returns. Barclays Everyday Saver is an easy access savings account and there are other savings options available with us that could earn you a higher return. Returns are not the same each year and in some years savings can outperform investments. Returns include compound growth where income is re-invested and have been calculated before fees and charges which after being applied would lower fund performance. All comparisons exclude inflation. Data source: Barclays internal.
“I’d never invested before but found opening my Smart Investor ISA very straight forward. I opened the account via the Barclays website – it didn’t take long and it felt like my hand was held all the way through”
Alison, 56, Lancashire
Choose how you want to invest
Whether you're new to investing or more confident with your money, we've got a choice of investments for you.
A simple, low-cost fee structure
Customer fee
0.25% p.a.
up to £200,000
and 0.05% on investments over £200,000
Buying and selling shares online*
£6
per trade**
Free to invest in funds online
|
Activity |
Cost |
|---|---|
|
Buying and selling funds online |
No charge** |
|
Regular investments (including shares) |
No charge |
|
Dividend reinvestment |
No charge |
|
Holding cash |
No charge |
|
Transferring investments |
No charge |
|
Cash withdrawal and account closure |
No charge |
*Including ETFs, investment trusts, bonds and gilts
**£25 per trade by telephone. Taxes may apply when buying shares. A foreign exchange and an international brokerage fee will be charged when trading international shares.
Learn more about our fees and Interest rates on cash.
You can also use our simple cost calculator to understand the charges that would apply.
How to apply for an Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA
Opening an Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA is quick and easy. You can get started in minutes and secure your annual ISA allowance with a debit card, a monthly Direct Debit or by moving money from your Barclays account.
Existing Barclays customers
If you already have Online Banking or the Barclays App you can apply here. If you don’t have Online Banking yet you can register here.
Transfer your existing ISA
Simply open a Smart Investor account and request an ISA transfer online and we’ll manage the process for you.
Transferring does not count towards your £20,000 annual ISA allowance or affect the tax-efficient status of your ISA. It’s free to transfer to us but please be aware of any charges, exit penalties or benefits you may give up from your current provider. Terms apply.(2)
Learn more about our Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA
ISA stands for Individual Savings Account.
Any money invested through an ISA is free from UK Income and Capital Gains Tax. Plus there is no need to declare these investments or the gains or income they produce on your tax return. The government sets the maximum ISA allowance – which is £20,000 for this tax year.
It starts on 6 April and ends on 5 April each year. If you do not use your full ISA allowance each tax year it is lost forever.
You can split your £20,000 annual ISA allowance across different ISAs. So, for example, you could put £15,000 into a Stocks and Shares ISA and £5,000 into a Cash ISA in the same tax year for example. You can also open and invest in multiple Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISAs within the same tax year.
Yes. Simply open a Smart Investor account and request an ISA transfer online. Just tell us where you are transferring from and what you want to transfer, and we will do the rest of the transfer legwork.
You can open and start investing in a Barclays Investment (Stocks and Shares) ISA from as little as £50.
Yes, you can withdraw available cash from your Investment ISA at any time without penalties.
We have over 8,000 investments you can choose from, or if you’re short on time, select a Ready-made Investment and leave the rest to us.
You may also be interested in
Top ISA tips from our experts
Our leading investment experts can help you at any stage of your investment journey.
From top ISA tips to the effect of inflation, our experts can help you navigate the market as you invest to help your money grow.
Investment Account
If you’ve maxed out your ISA allowance or you’re looking for an additional account to invest and trade in outside of your Investment ISA, our Investment Account may be for you.
Customer Testimonials
Learn why our customers, Alison and Graham, believe Smart Investor makes investing easy.
Important information
We are one of multiple platforms to win Boring Money's value for money award which was based on a survey of investment platform customers from December 2023 to December 2024. Please note this does not guarantee profits or necessarily mean we are the cheapest platform available.(Return to reference)
Before transferring investments, find out about any charges, exit penalties, benefits you may lose, or investment that you can’t transfer to us.(Return to reference)
Lines are open from 7:30am to 7:00pm Monday to Thursday, 7:30am to 6:00pm on Friday, and closed during weekends and public holidays. To maintain a quality service, we may monitor or record phone calls. (Return to reference)