Online fund platform

When you apply for the Global Investment Centre, you open a general investment account from which you can buy, sell or switch your investments. You can also open an ISA to hold your investments within a tax-efficient stocks and shares ISA, see below to find out more.

When you’re ready to invest, you pay for your investments via an ‘uninvested cash account’. This is a deposit account which forms part of your general investment or ISA. You can move money into your uninvested cash account via an online banking transfer. 

The minimum investment per fund is £50 lump sum, or £50 per month with regular investments.

To invest within a stocks and shares ISA, you simply open an ISA – which you can do at no extra cost.

When buying funds within an ISA, you pay for your investments via an ‘uninvested cash account’ – a deposit account which forms part of your ISA. You can move money into your uninvested cash account via an online banking transfer. 

Of course, the benefit of investing from within your ISA means any interest and dividends you receive from your fund shares will be free of income tax. It also means you won’t be liable for any capital gains tax when you sell your investments.

Bear in mind, tax rules for ISAs may change in the future. And the tax benefits you can receive will depend on your individual circumstances.

You can make monthly investments into any fund that you like.

The minimum investment is £50 per month and you can choose which day of the month you’d like the payment to leave your account.

Sorry, we’re unable to accept joint account applications for our Global Investment Centre. 

If you’d like to invest with another person, please call us on 03456 076180 (textphone: 08457 660 391) to discuss your options. Lines are open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). All calls are recorded.

Most investments should be considered as a medium-to-long-term commitment, meaning you should be prepared to hold them for at least 5 years.

However, there is no fixed term with a fund investment. This means that if you need to access your money, you can sell your fund shares at any time. 

After you sell an investment, the money will normally be paid into your uninvested cash account within 5 working days. Time frames vary by fund – please see the relevant Fund Details document to find out more.

If you need a Certificate of Interest (Tax Certificate) to complete your tax self-assessment, please send us a secure e-message in online banking or by using chat in the mobile banking app.

The Certification of Interest confirms the total amount of credit interest paid into an account over the tax year.

Once we receive your request, we’ll post this to you within 7 working days.

We want to make sure our products and services are right for your circumstances. If you’re not sure whether an investment is suitable for you, we recommend you consider taking financial advice.

To find out about getting investment advice from HSBC, read our advice options page. 

To find out more about the wider industry, including how to seek independent financial advice, you can visit MoneyHelper.

A fund is a collective investment scheme which pools your money with that of other investors to give you a stake in a ready-made basket of investments.

With the money pooled together from many individuals, fund managers invest in a broad range of assets, such as bonds, shares and property. Their aim is to meet the objective of the fund while staying within its predetermined risk profile. 

An investment fund allows you to invest in lots of different assets without the need to invest in individual stocks and shares.

A fund platform is a service that allows you to research, buy, hold, monitor and sell funds. 

You could think of it like an investment supermarket. It allows you to shop around for funds that match your objectives and risk profile. 

Once you’ve bought your funds, the platform allows you to hold them in a tax-efficient ISA if you choose. It also lets you track their performance and sell them if you need to.

An index tracker, also known as a tracker fund or index fund, is a fund that aims to closely track the performance of an index – such as a stock exchange – by investing in companies within that index. 

Trackers are known as passive investments because the fund manager isn’t actively managing the investment. Tracker funds are designed to offer investors exposure to an entire index at a relatively low cost. 

The drawback of investing in a tracker is the index could be dominated by a particular sector which would leave you vulnerable if that sector were to experience losses.

Unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (OEICs) are both types of professionally managed collective investment schemes, known as funds. 

When you invest in a unit trust, you buy units. When you invest in an OEIC, you buy shares. Either way, you’re effectively buying a share in the fund – which is why we refer to your individual investments as ‘fund shares’.

If the value of your fund’s underlying assets rises, the value of your fund shares will rise. Likewise, if the value of the underlying assets falls, the value of your fund shares will fall.