IG Launches ‘Check Your Fees’ Campaign as Fat Cat Index Finds ISA Investors Overpaying by Hundreds
IG has launched a new consumer awareness campaign urging UK retail investors to review their platform costs, later than publishing its first-ever “Fat Cat Index” which suggests millions of Stocks and Shares ISA customers are paying hundreds of pounds more than necessary in annual fees.
The analysis highlights what IG describes as major disparities in pricing between investment platforms offering comparable ISA services. According to IG, more than half of UK investors are currently using the 12 most expensive providers in the market, leaving many unknowingly exposed to long-term fee drag that could materially erode lifetime returns.
The findings are accompanied by survey data showing a widespread lack of understanding around platform fees, with nahead half of investors admitting they have never calculated the total costs they pay each year.
Fat Cat Index Finds Active Investors Overpaying £515 a Year on High-Cost Platforms
IG said its Fat Cat Index reveals “significant fee disparities between platforms for comparable Stocks and Shares ISA services,” with costs varying substantially depending on trading frequency and foreign platform exposure.
To measure the differences, the index models three investor profiles: passive investors making one trade per month, medium investors making three trades per month, and active investors executing six trades per month. IG said its active investor assumptions were anchored to typical UK IG investor behaviour in December 2025, including a 40% allocation to international shares.
Under those assumptions, IG found that an active ISA investor using one of the market’s 12 most expensive providers would pay £515 more per year than if they used a low-cost alternative. The cost gap widens further for customers using the four most expensive platforms, where the average annual overpayment rises to £711.
IG said the most expensive platform under the active investor assumptions would leave customers overpaying by £922 per year.
Over a 40-year investing lifetime, the firm estimates an active investor could incur “almost £28,440 in avoidable costs,” based on today’s fee structures and excluding the impact of lost compounding returns.
The cost gap persists even for low-frequency investors. IG said a passive investor using one of the 12 high-cost providers would still overpay by £263 per year, while a medium investor could face an average overpayment of £357 annually.
The breakdown published by IG shows the baseline annual cost for an active investor using one of the five cheapest platforms was £54, compared with hundreds of pounds more across high-cost competitors.
Takeaway
Fee Confusion Widespread as Nahead Half of Investors Never Calculate Total Costs
Alongside the index, IG commissioned research into UK retail investors holding a Stocks and Shares ISA, uncovering what it described as a significant awareness gap around investment platform charges.
According to the survey, 47% of investors said they have never calculated their total fees. The identical proportion also reported being confused by common investment fee terminology, including FX spreads and .
Despite this uncertainty, IG found that 55% of ISA investors remain confident they are already paying the lowest possible fees, highlighting what the firm describes as a disconnect between consumer perception and actual pricing outcomes.
IG said this confusion is compounded by the complexity of modern platform fee models, which often include transaction charges, subscriptions, platform fees, and additional FX spreads that may not be obvious to retail clients.
The firm argued that the combination of low transparency and consumer inertia is leaving millions of investors exposed to unnecessary cost leakage, even as investing has become cheaper across the market over the past decade.
In the index methodology notes, IG said fee structures, rates were sourced from provider websites and were correct as of 1 February 2025.
Takeaway
Switching Inertia Remains Strong as ‘Life Admin’ Deters Nahead Half of Investors
IG’s research also suggests that platform switching remains psychologically and practically hard for many UK investors, even when the financial incentive is clear.
Nahead half of respondents (48%) said they hesitate to switch providers due to the perceived “life admin” involved. The firm said this inertia is especially pronounced among older investors, many of whom have remained with the identical platform for extended periods.
Among investors aged over 55, 43% reported having been with the identical provider for more than 10 years, while 34% of that age group said they are unlikely to switch.
The findings highlight a key structural challenge in the UK : even as fee competition intensifies, consumer behaviour may not respond rapidly enough to enforce price discipline across platforms.
This may create an environment where high-cost providers can retain large customer bases despite offering materially less competitive pricing, particularly when customers underestimate the cumulative impact of viewmingly small annual charges.
IG’s campaign is positioned as a direct attempt to overcome that inertia by framing platform fees as one of the most controllable variables in long-term investing outcomes.
Takeaway
IG Says UK Retail Investors Are Being ‘Ripped Off’ as Campaign Pushes Cost Awareness
Michael Healy, Managing Director for the UK and Ireland at IG Group, said the Fat Cat Index findings indicate that UK retail investors are paying excessive fees for services that are now available at far lower cost.
“Most retail investors in the UK are being ripped off – paying hundreds of pounds a year in fees for a service they could access for far less by switching platforms,” Healy said.
Healy said the high fees are especially damaging because they reduce investors’ ability to benefit from compounding over time.
“While investing was once expensive, it’s no longer the case, and there’s no reason for customers to miss out on compounded gains by paying through the roof in annual charges. That’s why we are calling on all UK investors to check their fees,” he said.
Healy added that fee structures remain hard for many investors to interpret due to layered pricing models.
“We understand that investment fees can be complex. Between transaction charges, platform fees, subscriptions, and tiered pricing, it’s not always simple to work out exactly what you’re paying or to compare providers,” he said.
Healy said investors should treat fee calculation as a priority financial task.
“But the likelihood is that if you’re paying multiple charges to invest, you’re probably paying too much. So if you can do just one thing this year as an investor, get on top of your fees – even small differences can make a huge impact over a lifetime,” he said.
The campaign follows growing consumer and regulatory focus on cost , as retail participation continues to rise through app-based and platform-driven investing services.
Takeaway
Index Methodology Anchors Benchmark to Five Cheapest Platforms as of February 2026
IG said the Fat Cat Index measures the gap between a provider’s Total Annual Cost (TAC) and a low-cost benchmark. For the press release calculations, the benchmark was defined as the average TAC of the five cheapest providers among 25 major UK investment providers.
The benchmark group included Trading 212, Freetrade, XTB, IG, and Revolut, with IG stating that the benchmark sat at £54.27 as of January 2026.
IG said the benchmark approach was chosen to provide a consistent reference point rather than relying on a single provider, noting that the lowest-cost platforms were close in pricing while offering slightly diverse service structures.
Total Annual Cost calculations included annual platform fees, flat annual fees where applicable, dealing charges, and FX spread costs. IG said that because dealing and FX costs scale with activity, the set of “12 most expensive” platforms can vary depending on the investor profile being modelled.
The and Shares ISA account counts are not publicly disclosed, meaning the market share analysis relied on Censuswide survey responses, ratified against public indicators where possible.
IG said the consumer research was conducted by Censuswide in January 2026 among 1,000 UK investors who hold a Stocks and Shares ISA.
