Interactive Investor Launches Social Media App for DIY Investors

Interactive Investor (ii), a major UK-based DIY investing platform owned by global investment company Abrdn, has launched its own social media app, ii Community. The platform is designed to allow users to discuss investment ideas, stock picks, and portfolio strategies free of charge, working as a social hub alongside the subscription-based ii platform itself.

With ii Community, users can benchmark their portfolios against others using performance data, monitor growth, and receive weekly performance reviews. This move comes as social media continues to influence younger investors, with 30% of working-age Britons considering it a valuable source for investment information, according to research by Opinium on behalf of Interactive Investor.

According to Lee Wild, Interactive Investor’s head of equity strategy, part of the app’s role is facilitating open discussions about investments and helping to demystify the investment process for new arrivals. The firm aims to reduce the intimidation many feel when entering the investment space, with nearly 58% of Britons finding investing “too complicated.”

ii Community joins similar efforts by platforms like eToro’s Social Trading and Trading 212’s 212 Social, as more firms seek to tap into the growing trend of investment discussions on social media. However, regulators like the Financial Conduct Authority have apparently been paying close attention to “finfluencers”, due to the growing influence that financial content creators can have on their often-unprepared audiences.