Type Private Headquarters London, UK | Industry financial services Founded 2003 | |
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Trading name Interactive Investor Trading Limited Products execution-only online trading, ISAs, SIPPs, spread betting, CFD, FX, etc Services market analysis & tools, community & discussions, virtual portfolios, research account Subsidiaries Moneywise Publishing Ltd | ||
Interactive Investor (II) is an online trading and investment platform based in London. The group offers retail investors an investment service to manage and trade shares, funds and bonds via trading accounts, ISAs and SIPPs. The site provides content which is intended to support investors in making the difficult and complex decisions associated with online trading and investment.
Contents
History
Interactive Investor was founded in 1995 by Tomas Carruthers. Initially launched to provide front end research to the investment community, it also provided a platform for investors to communicate through discussion boards. Interactive Investor first provided a dealing service in 2010, when it joined forces with HSDL. The broker set up its own dealing function and customer service centre, based in Glasgow, in 2011.
II has now grown to be a notable UK investment and trading website with over 7.4 million unique users per annum who contribute to its active UK community. The company floated on the stock market in 2000, valuing the company at £242 million. At the height of the dotcom boom it was valued at £684 million before it was bought by Australian financial services group AMP a year later. The investment platform briefly re branded itself as Ample in 2002, before a third name change to Interactive Investor two years later.
Services and Products
II offers a range of investment services, including share and fund dealing, SIPPs, ISAs and Junior ISAs. The broker also offers CFDs and Spread Betting, accounts, plus Level 2 data. These services are supported by portfolio tracking tools, investment filters and a selection of ready-made investment options in addition to specialist news, TV and research from its editorial team and magazines Moneywise and Money Observer.
Following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, the UK stock market reacted strongly to the announcement of the referendum result. Within the first 90 minutes of the market opening, trades carried out on the Interactive Investor platform were running at 10 times normal levels. Trading volumes that day exceeded twice the previous day’s volumes across the platform and service levels were maintained throughout.
Acquisitions
II bought personal finance magazine Moneywise from Readers Digest in 2004. This was followed by its acquisition of investment magazine Money Observer from The Guardian in 2008. The broker joined forces with Motley Fool Share Dealing in 2015, replacing Halifax Share Dealing Limited as the brand’s service provider.
White labels
II provides the dealing, investment platform and customer services functions for Trustnet Direct, part of the Financial Express (FE) group, and Telegraph Investor, the investment services arm of the Telegraph Media Group.
Ventures
Wanting to create a standalone in-house website built around LSE securities, II launched Share Price in 2008. Share Price Pro was launched two years later.