Investingwith an edge
When you invest, your capital is at risk
Earn interest
Our biggest rate yet
Easy access, high interest Vaults have arrived.
This is an investment product with variable rates.
4.89
%AER
4.89
%AER
Follows the
Bank of England
Benchmarked against the Bank of England’s variable overnight interest rate, which is calculated daily.
Managed by
BlackRock
Looked after by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, with over $10 trillion under management globally.
No minimums
No maximums
From £1 to infinity. We don’t limit the amount of money you can add to your Vaults.
What gives us the edge
We do things differently
From saving on fees to paying you interest, we make sure you get the most out of your money.
Commission-free access
We don’t charge for buying ETFs
Zero execution fees. Zero custody fees. No FX fees when investing in your home currency - we have ETFs priced in EUR, GBP, and USD.
Explore our universe of ETFs.
Easy access, high yield Vaults
Take control of conversion fees
Investments on Lightyear
Asset types to suit every investor
Growing wealth over the long term or hedging against risk? We’ve got tools and asset types to suit every investor.
US stocksInterestETFsUK stocksEU stocksMoney market funds
3,000+ US stocks across the NYSE and Nasdaq.
The world’s largest stocks
As seen in
Safe & trusted
Keeping Lightyear safe
As you know, when you invest your capital is at risk — so we don’t take risks with how we keep your assets.
Government insuranceSafeguarding your assets
Your US securities are SIPC protected up to $500,000
Your US securities are held with our partner Alpaca, who is FINRA regulated and a registered member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
EU investor protections insure up to €20,000 across your portfolio
Your assets are covered up to the amount €20,000 by the Estonian Investor Protection Sectoral Fund.
Fully regulated
Multi-country regulation
In each region we operate we are governed by the relevant local regulatory authorities.
Regulated in the UK by the FCA
We’re currently an appointed representative of RiskSave Technologies LTD, which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). But, excitingly, the FCA has recently directly authorised Lightyear. This means there'll be some changes in the near future, which you can read about here.
Regulated in the EU by EFSA
We’re authorised and regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (4.1-1/31) and authorised to operate across the European Union.
Frequently asked
Questions a curious investor might ask
How do you keep my money safe?
Trusting us with your money is not something we take for granted. Lightyear Europe AS is a licensed investment firm and as such is bound by strict regulatory obligations in how we handle and protect your assets.
Customer assets always sit separately to our own and are held by authorised custodians. There’s no way for creditors - in the unlikely event of anything happening to Lightyear - to get hold of the investments or cash that you hold with us.
Lightyear customers have their assets covered up to the amount of 20,000 EUR by the Estonian Investor Protection Sectoral Fund. Read more about this fund here. Your US securities are held with our partner Alpaca, who is FINRA regulated and a registered member of the SIPC. This means your US securities are protected up to the value of $500,000 should Alpaca fail. You can read more about this directly on the SIPC website.
Read more about how your assets are protected in our help centre.
What do I need to know before I invest?
Do you have cash reserves?: It’s generally good practice to have easily accessible cash available to cover your ongoing short term expenses, as well as an emergency fund for any unforeseen sudden expenses (e.g. needing to replace your washing machine), before investing extra money you might have. It may also be sensible to pay off debts with available money, rather than investing it.
Can you accept losses?: All investing contains an element of risk; your investment value can go down as well as up, so you could get back less than you invested, or in some cases, you may lose your entire investment. Generally the more risk you take gives you the opportunity for higher returns, but also increases the potential for greater losses. You should also think about how long you plan to invest for, and therefore whether you have the time to wait for any losses to recover. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. See explanations of the types of risk each investment type provided by Lightyear might be exposed to here. This can be complicated, so please let us know if you need help.
Free, impartial guidance covering cash reserves, losses and more, is available at MoneyHelper & InvestSmart (FCA) including: A beginners guide to investing, 5 questions to ask before you invest, Make sure you understand the risks, Is it the right investment for you.
Is Lightyear a bank?
Lightyear is not a bank. We’re an investment platform, so there are a couple of key differences. While we’re regulated by the same authorities as banks, the protection schemes are slightly different for investment platforms (see here). With regards to customer funds, we cannot use customer money in the same way a bank does by lending it out. You have instant access to your Lightyear assets because of this.
Why are your fees so reasonable? How do you make enough money?
We couldn’t agree more - our fees are very reasonable. We’re one of the most competitively priced investment platforms on the market and that's how we like it. Low cost, transparent pricing is in our DNA. We charge small, but fair, execution fees and take a fee for both foreign exchange and interest payments. Building a sustainable business that’s here to serve customers in 10, 20 and 100 years is something that’s paramount.
How easy is it to withdraw my money?
Easy. We ensure you always have access to your money and we’ve made the process pretty painless for when you need to withdraw. The transfer times depend on the payout method you’re using but never longer than a day or two. For GBP, EUR, and HUF, your funds typically arrive on the very same day. For USD, your funds typically arrive within two days.
Do I need financial advice?
Lightyear doesn't offer investment advice; i.e. we don't assess if our services or instruments are suitable for you. But we do provide info about what we offer – e.g. our Target Market Matrix which describes investor types based on their investment experience, financial objectives and how much risk they're comfortable with – to help you decide what investments might work best for you. You'll need to make sure your investment decisions meet your needs and amount of investment risk you're happy to take. If you don't feel you have the necessary knowledge and experience to make those decisions for yourself, you may want to get independent financial advice instead.