The world of investing can be a difficult place to navigate if you aren’t an experienced investor. It’s for this reason that robo-advisors have become highly popular for building wealth among individuals in the UK who may not have the time or expertise needed to build their own portfolios from scratch.
Although robo-advisors are still a relatively new concept, they surpassed a 21% market share in the United Kingdom in 2023, with more than 2 million of the 9.8 million DIY investor accounts held with an automated advisor.
This number is only growing as the power of automation tools and market monitoring strengthens and builds investor confidence in leaving their wealth in the hands of the algorithms that robo-advisors operate on.
But are robo-advisors actually better than DIY investing? The answer is: it depends. This is because opting to automate your investments is only a good idea if it matches your preferred investment style and wider financial goals.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both robo-advisors and DIY investing strategies to better understand what’s best for UK investors in 2026:
What is Robo-Investing?
Robo-investing is an automated way to invest your money through platforms that use algorithms to build and manage your portfolio with minimal human intervention.
While this may sound like a scary concept when it comes to handing your wealth to robots, reputable robo-advisor platforms have been found to consistently outperform even more experienced traders over time.
Because it’s an automated service, using a robo-advisor is generally very cost-effective, and digital financial planning can be adapted to match your risk tolerance and investment goals. This makes robo-investing far more useful if you’re a newcomer to wealth management or are looking for a more passive way to manage your investments.
Robo-Advisor Pros
One of the biggest advantages of robo-advisors is that they’re far better positioned to absorb market shocks than DIY investors. Because they’re algorithm-based, automated services are less likely to panic sell falling assets in a market downturn.
According to a study from the University of Minnesota, robo-advisor users had a 12.67% performance advantage compared to matched human investors during the COVID-19 market crash because robo-algorithms rebalanced systematically, avoiding emotion-driven selling.
Other key advantages for robo-advisors include:
- Expertly managed portfolios: For passive investors, opening a GIA with robo-advisors opens the door to algorithmically managed portfolios that can quickly learn from emerging trends for maximum impact.
- Low-cost investing: Generally speaking, robo-advisors are far cheaper than traditional wealth management, charging between 0.5% and 0.95% on average per year. This makes them an excellent alternative to human financial advisors, who can range between 1% and 2%.
- Time efficiency: One of the biggest advantages of robo-advisors is that they complement investors who prefer to take a hands-off approach when it comes to growing their wealth.
However, robo-advisors aren’t an ideal match for everyone, and if you prefer to pick and choose your own investments or are experienced when it comes to building portfolios, you may prefer to take on a DIY approach for your General Investment Account.
The lack of personalisation may also be limiting for your investment needs, though most robo-investment platforms ask you to gauge your risk tolerance and ethics before setting you up with your portfolio.
Other investors may prefer a more human-driven approach that can help them to be more confident with the personalised advice they receive and reassurance in periods of market volatility, making a relationship with a financial advisor more effective.
What is DIY Investing?
On the flip side, DIY investing is when you’re free to pick and choose your investments, building a portfolio that you trust based on your experience and market research.
This approach is ideal if you’re a professional investor or have experience in trading assets. It can also be a great way for you to gain trust in your strategy by focusing directly on your financial goals and making decisions that match your risk tolerance and ethics based on your own analysis.
DIY Investing Pros
The biggest advantage of DIY investing is that you’re in the driving seat. This means that you’ll be safe in the knowledge that your portfolio has been built in your image. While robo-advisors are cheaper than their human counterparts, doing it yourself means that you completely bypass management costs, improving your earning potential over time.
Other advantages of DIY investing include:
- High-potential earnings: If you’re experienced enough to pick the same investments as your robo-advisor counterparts, you’ll generate more in earnings because you’ll be paying no annual management fees.
- Flexible investing: Another advantage is that you’ll have full control over the assets you pick and choose to be included in your portfolio. This delivers a level of control that isn’t possible with robo-advisors.
- Financial education: Even if you’re experienced enough to go it alone, opening a DIY GIA account means that you can continue to broaden your education on investing, opening the door to new skills to grow your wealth even further over time.
While these are great advantages if you’re looking to immerse yourself in the world of investing, for many of us, it’s simply too difficult to allocate ourselves the time to make a meaningful contribution to reaching our investment goals.
DIY investment strategies are best left to experienced investors. By trying to go it alone, there’s a greater risk that you’ll make a loss.
Worryingly, around 90% of retail investors lose money in the stock market over the long run, and going in without a sufficient education in equities can be highly risky.
What’s Best for You?
Always keep your financial goals in mind when deciding how to embark on your investing journey. If you believe that DIY investing provides you with the best chance to grow your wealth, and you have the time to commit to building your portfolio, this may be the strategy for you.
However, if you prefer a more passive approach to investing with the help of intelligent algorithms to create a portfolio that’s aligned with your wants and needs, opting for a robo-advisor can be a highly rewarding approach that substantially grows your earning potential over time.
There’s no right or wrong way to invest, but listening to your wants and needs and aligning a strategy that helps you in the long run is key to future success.