How to invest in FTSE 100

2. Sign up with your chosen provider and deposit money

Once you have decided which trading platform to use, you should sign up and open an account. Then, you’re ready to deposit your money.

Depending on the provider you decided to go with, some may charge a deposit fee, so you should check this before you deposit to ensure you’re prepared to cover the cost.

Tip: it is sometimes sensible to only deposit the amount of money you intend to invest and not leave any excess money sitting uninvested in your trading account. This is because you may be unlikely to earn any interest on uninvested money with a share dealing account.

3. Choose how you want to invest in the FTSE 100: through ETFs, index tracker funds, or individual shares

When you want to invest in the FTSE 100, there are many different investment options. Three common ones are ETFs, index tracker funds, and individual stocks of the companies listed on the index.

Each has its own set of benefits, so you should decide which method best suits your reasons for investing before you purchase them.

Remember: this is not a personal recommendation to invest using these methods. If you need help with your investment decisions, make sure you seek independent advice.

ETFs are a fund that track the performance of the FTSE 100

Let’s start with ETFs. These funds track the performance of a particular index, commodity, or sector, exclusively holding the shares listed on that underlying index.

In this case, the tracked asset we’re talking about is the FTSE 100.

So, say you have purchased a FTSE 100 ETF from a trading platform. Here, you can think of your money as being spread across the FTSE 100’s constituent companies. That means you gain exposure to all of these different companies.

ETFs act much like regular shares, as they are traded on the same marketplaces and the price fluctuates throughout the day. This gives you the opportunity to generate potential profits by capitalising on price movements.

Due to this, they can be bought with a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) or a Stocks and Shares ISA.

ETFs are also relatively tax-efficient, as you will only be liable for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) if you make a substantial profit when you sell.

When the FTSE 100 value increases, you will typically gain dividend income from your ETF. You can also sell them for a profit when the price increases.

A downside of ETFs is that costs could potentially be higher than trading in individual shares. This is because you may have to pay a management fee for an ETF.

If you would like to read further about ETFs, check out our comprehensive guide to ETFs to discover more details, the different providers available and which would best suit your needs.

Which FTSE 100 ETF is the best to invest in?

There are a few differences between ETFs that you should consider before you decide to invest in one.

As mentioned, you may face varying management fees, but some ETFs may also have a higher “spread” than others.

This represents the difference between the buying and selling price, much like exchanging a foreign currency. The spread is usually around 0.1% to 0.5% depending on the provider, so you should check these before you make the purchase.

It may also be worth checking where the ETF provider is based. While most of the main providers are overseas, if they are based in the UK and trade on the London Stock Exchange, you may be subject to Stamp Duty.

Index tracker funds are similar to ETFs, with slight differences

Index tracker funds are very similar to ETFs, but with a few slight differences.

The price of an index tracker fund is based on the total price of all the securities held within the fund. This is called the net asset value (NAV). Like ETFs, index tracker funds aim to match the growth of the fund they track, in this case, the FTSE 100.

Index tracker funds are also a much more passive form of investing – since they stick to the price of the FTSE 100, they don’t need as much managing by the fund provider, meaning you may face lower administrative costs.

Since index tracker funds aim to stay in line with the performance of the FTSE 100, if the value of the stock index rises, the value of your investment will also rise. As expected, your investment will also decrease in value if the FTSE 100 falls in value.

While ETFs can be traded at any time of the day, an index tracker fund can only be bought or sold for the price set at the end of the day. Due to this, you may prefer ETFs if you like to trade during the day.

Buy individual FTSE 100 company shares

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from just investing in the companies listed on the FTSE 100 directly.

Since these companies are the biggest on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), you could invest directly in them and potentially benefit from decent dividends or sell the shares for a profit at a later date.

For example, the top 10 companies with the largest market capitalisation listed on the FTSE 100 as of 31 March 2022 are:

• Shell
• AstraZeneca
• HSBC Holdings
• Unilever Group
• Diageo
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Rio Tinto Group
• British American Tobacco
• BP
• Glencore

As you can see, even within the top 10 companies, there is a decent spread across many different sectors. This could give you a good guide on potentially well-performing companies to invest in, all while keeping your own portfolio diversified.

4. Invest in your chosen area of the FTSE 100

When your money has been deposited and you have decided on how you want to invest it, you can finally make your investments.

If you want to go for ETFs, index tracker funds or individual shares, you can simply search for the chosen share or fund on your trading account and make the purchase.

Once you have purchased your shares, ETFs or funds, you may want to think about monitoring prices on a regular basis. Your chosen platform is likely to provide you with the data necessary to keep up to date with the FTSE 100’s performance.

Which individual FTSE 100 companies are best to invest in?

This depends on your interests, reasons for investing and what your portfolio already contains.

Once you have opened your share dealing account, you can buy shares and sell shares in any of the FTSE 100 companies. They include household names such as Vodafone, Barclays, Tesco, Lloyds Banking Group and Rolls-Royce.

You may want to buy shares in a range of individual companies or concentrate on a handful of well-known names or sectors.

You ideally want to diversify your portfolio of investments as much as possible. This means thinking about the sectors your money is invested in and trying to create a balance.

This way, should a specific sector (for example, retail) underperform, your other investments may offset this. The phrase “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” comes to mind.

Which is better: individual shares or funds?

There are so many options when it comes to investing in the FTSE 100. You may be asking yourself whether you should be investing in funds or just individual shares?

Well, this really depends on what you want to get out of your investments. Since funds typically cover all the different constituent companies listed in the FTSE 100, they might be better if you’re looking to diversify as much as possible. Funds also tend to be better for those who want to take a backseat and invest more passively.

However, investing in individual company shares could generate faster growth – for example, if a share price rises sharply. However, this is typically a riskier approach as you could also see your investment fall faster if an individual firm’s share price were to fall.

It is for this reason that you may want to consider getting a combination of the two. If you invest in a fund and choose a diverse selection of companies in the FTSE 100 across different sectors, your portfolio may be spread enough to limit the effects of an economic downturn.

How to make money on the FTSE 100

As is the case with most types of investing, one of the ways to make money on the FTSE 100 is to cash in the investment when the price is higher than you paid. Since ETFs and index tracker funds are more suited to long-term holds, you shouldn’t expect to be able to turn a profit immediately.

As mentioned, you should keep track of how the FTSE 100 is performing. It may also be worth keeping up with industry news, especially if you have purchased shares in individual companies. This way, you may be able to identify when you expect the price to rise, or fall, and sell your shares accordingly.

You could also set price alerts on your phone that give you a notification when the FTSE 100 or an individual company has reached a specific price.

The “Yahoo Finance” app for your phone, for example, lets you set these reminders.

Is the FTSE 100 a good investment?

As mentioned, funds in the FTSE 100 tend to be more suited to long-term holds. This is further reflected by the previous performance of the index.

Between 1984 and 2019, the FTSE 100 increased in price by 654%, and a further 1,377% on a total return basis. This equals an average annual price return of 5.8% and an average annual total return of 7.8%.

As you can see by the data, the FTSE 100 does tend to offer decent yearly returns. You should keep in mind, however, that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

You could also try trading on the FTSE 100, which includes spread betting or CFDs

This is where things tend to get slightly more complicated. Trading on the FTSE 100 usually includes either spread betting or CFDs, which are both forms of derivative trading.

Spread betting involves trying to predict whether the FTSE 100 price will rise or fall

Spread betting, simply put, is a type of derivative trading. You’re basically betting on whether the value of the FTSE 100 will rise or fall.

When you place a spread bet, you stake a certain amount of money for every point the FTSE 100 rises or falls. For example, if you staked £100 for every point, you would gain £200 if the FTSE moved two points in the direction you bet or would lose £200 if it moved against your bet.

CFDs are similar to spread betting, except you will get the difference in value

Like spread betting, “contracts for difference” (CFDs) are also a form of derivative trading.

Rather than betting per point whether the FTSE 100 will rise or fall, as is the case with spread betting, with CFDs you will instead get the difference in price from when you opened the contract.

For example, if you predicted the FTSE 100 would rise, you could buy 20 CFDs for the FTSE 100. If the price rose by 20p you would earn £400. If it fell by 20p, however, you would lose £400.

You should keep in mind that CFDs, spread betting and other types of derivative trading can get extremely complex. Not only does it take in-depth technical analysis and predictions, but your money is also leveraged.

This means that, while your investment gets more exposure to the market and you will earn more if you profit, you will also lose more if the financial markets move the other way.

In fact, more than half of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs, so you should know exactly what you’re getting yourself into before you try derivative trading.

As mentioned, this can be pretty complicated stuff, so read my in-depth guide if you want to find out more about trading CFDs and derivative trading.

What exactly is the FTSE 100?

The FTSE 100 is, simply put, a stock index. This tracks the overall performance of the 100 largest companies by market capitalisation (sometimes referred to as the market cap) that are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

This isn’t just to give you an idea of the best stocks either; it gives investors an indication as to how healthy the UK stock market, and even the UK economy, is.

The market capitalisation of all the companies is reviewed each quarter, and if they meet the requirements, or no longer meet them, they will be changed accordingly.

FAQs about FTSE 100 investing

Please note:  The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Seek personal advice if you are unsure how you may be affected.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and personal circumstances.