True Potential

True Potential is a Newcastle-based financial services firm that sells ISAs, pensions, investment accounts and cash savings to UK consumers, mostly through its app and website rather than through a branch network. Its best-known product line is a set of fully managed portfolios, where its investment team decides how your money is spread across investments and you check progress online. It also runs a workplace pension scheme used by employers for auto enrolment, and a financial advice business, True Potential Wealth Management, which provides restricted advice, meaning it recommends from a limited range of products and providers¹.

True Potential is a large name in the UK advice and platform market. It reports £40.7bn invested on the True Potential Platform as at 30 June 2026, more than 640,000 clients, and says it provides investments, technology and support services to close to 20% of all UK financial advisers and their clients². The brand most consumers meet is True Potential Investor, its direct-to-consumer investment platform, and the wider group also offers financial advice, pensions and cash savings through the True Potential name².

This page explains what True Potential sells, how its accounts work, how to get money in and out, how to complain, and what protection your money has. It carries no rates, fees or performance figures for True Potential's products: charges and returns change, so the firm's own site is the place for today's numbers.

What True Potential offers: ISAs, pensions, investment accounts and cash savings

True Potential's product range covers the four main ways a UK consumer saves and invests. Its advice business frames this around goals: it describes short-term goals as anything you plan to spend money on in the next five years, and long-term goals as any plans more than 15 years away, with retirement the most common example¹.

Stocks and Shares ISA. True Potential offers a stocks and shares ISA, which the firm states is a flexible ISA. There are four types of ISA available in the UK overall: cash ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, innovative finance ISAs and lifetime ISAs⁶. A lifetime ISA can be put toward a deposit for a home worth a maximum of £450,000 in all areas of the UK⁷. True Potential's ISA invests in the market rather than paying interest, so its value can fall as well as rise. Our ISA guide explains how the annual allowance works.

Personal Pension. The True Potential Personal Pension is a defined contribution pension: you choose how much and when to make contributions, the money is invested, and the size of your pot at retirement depends on how much went in and how the investments performed². You can read more in our pensions guide.

General Investment Account. The True Potential General Investment Account is designed for investors who have used up their ISA allowance and have more to invest. It offers the potential for growth, but capital is at risk and returns are not guaranteed⁸. Unlike an ISA or pension, a general investment account has no tax wrapper, so gains and income may be taxable. Our investing guide explains the difference.

Cash Savings. True Potential Cash Savings is a savings marketplace: True Potential acts as a distributor, giving access to a range of savings products from other providers through your True Potential account⁹. We cover it in detail on our True Potential Cash Savings page, and our general savings guide explains how savings accounts compare.

Workplace pension. For employees, True Potential runs an auto enrolment pension scheme, with a Default Investment Selection for members who do not want to choose their own funds¹⁰.

Fully managed portfolios: how your money is invested

Most True Potential customers hold one of its fully managed portfolios. The idea is simple: rather than picking funds yourself, True Potential's investment team makes the decisions, spreading your money across a range of investments and adjusting them over time. The True Potential Portfolios launched on 1 October 2015, and the firm reports over 9,801 investment experts involved across the businesses it serves, with portfolio performance quoted after fund fees¹¹.

There are variants aimed at different needs. The Income Portfolios are designed for clients who wish to take a monthly income from their investment, while the standard range is aimed at growth¹¹. The firm does not publish its charges on the pages reviewed here, and portfolio fees are typically charged as a percentage of the amount invested, taken from the value of your holding: check True Potential's own site for the current charging schedule before you invest, because charges reduce what you get back.

Two things are worth understanding about how the portfolios work in practice. First, "fully managed" means day-to-day decisions are delegated; you choose the portfolio and the goal, not the underlying investments. Second, the value of a managed portfolio still moves with the markets. True Potential's own warning applies to every portfolio it sells: with investing your capital is at risk, investments can fluctuate in value and you could get back less than you invest¹². A portfolio that falls in value over a period when you need the money may still leave you with less than you put in, managed or not.

Financial advice and pension transfers with True Potential

True Potential Wealth Management LLP is the firm's advice arm. It offers restricted financial advice, not independent advice: it recommends from a limited range of products and providers, which is worth knowing if you want the whole market compared¹². Its stated advice areas are retirement and pensions, savings and investments, tax and inheritance, and final salary pensions, where it says it has specialist expertise¹². The service is designed for clients who want to manage their financial affairs online, and begins with a remote meeting to discuss your situation and gather the information needed¹². As part of the service, the firm says it provides personal financial advice whenever you need it¹³.

On pension transfers, True Potential is explicit about where its responsibility stops. It states that it assesses the suitability of its discretionary management service, but does not assess the suitability of any transfers: the decision on whether to transfer is yours¹⁴. Its pension consolidation page warns that certain policies provide valuable guarantees, such as guaranteed annuity rates, protected higher tax-free cash percentages and protected retirement ages, and that some workplace schemes benefit from low charges that cannot be matched elsewhere. These guarantees and benefits could be lost if you transfer, so pension consolidation is not right for everyone; the firm recommends seeking expert financial advice from a consolidation specialist¹⁵.

That warning reflects the standard transfer process. The usual steps are: check your current scheme allows transfers out, make sure you will not lose any benefits, decide which scheme to transfer into, check whether you need to pay for financial advice, ask your current provider for a transfer value, and ask the new scheme to start the transfer¹⁶. If you are considering moving a defined benefit (final salary) pension, advice is a legal requirement in most cases, and our pensions guide explains why these transfers are treated so cautiously.

Who can open an account and what you need to apply

Eligibility depends on which part of True Potential you are opening. For Cash Savings, you must be aged 18 or over, a UK resident, and hold a UK bank account in your own name; the service allows personal savings accounts in your sole name only, and joint or business accounts are not currently supported⁹. You apply online with a one-time registration, then pay in and withdraw using your nominated bank account⁹.

For the investment accounts, ISA and pension, True Potential does not publish a single eligibility list on the pages reviewed here, but the accounts follow the standard UK rules: ISAs and pensions are open to UK residents within the relevant age limits, and the general investment account has no allowance cap because it has no tax wrapper⁸. For comparison, other savings providers set similar bars: NS&I Income Bonds require the holder to be at least 16, allow sole, joint and trustee openings, and exclude undischarged bankrupts and people without legal capacity¹⁷.

In practice, opening an account with True Potential means registering online, answering questions about your goals and attitude to risk, and linking a UK bank account in your own name. For the advice service, the process starts with a remote meeting rather than a form¹². If you cannot open a standard account, it is worth speaking to the firm directly about what it can offer, since its product range is narrower than a full-service bank's.

Moving a pension or ISA to True Potential

You can bring existing savings with you. For investments, the General Investment Account includes an option to automate moving money from it into an ISA at the start of each new tax year, on 6 April, which the firm presents as a way to use each year's fresh ISA allowance without manual paperwork⁸. ISAs can be transferred between providers, though not every provider accepts transfers in: NS&I, for example, lists wanting to transfer in ISA investments from another provider as a reason its Direct ISA may not suit you¹⁸.

*A pension transfer has several stages, and some benefits can be lost on the way.

For pensions, the transfer route follows the standard steps set out above: check transfers out are allowed, check for benefits you would lose, choose the receiving scheme, check whether advice is needed, get a transfer value, then instruct the new scheme to begin¹⁶. True Potential's pension consolidation service exists to combine several old pots into one Personal Pension, but the firm's own warning applies: guarantees and low charges can be lost on transfer, and it does not assess transfer suitability itself¹⁴.

Managing your money through the True Potential app and online account

True Potential's service is built around online access rather than branches or a branch-based advice network. Once your financial plan is accepted, the firm sets you up with a personal account you can access 24/7 by mobile app and online¹². The auto enrolment scheme likewise lets members access and manage their accounts online or via the app¹⁰, and Cash Savings is run entirely online, with deposits and withdrawals through your nominated bank account⁹.

The nominated bank account is the operational hub of Cash Savings. It is the UK bank account, in your own name, that you link at set-up; all deposits must be made from it, and money arrives first in a Cash Savings Holding Account before being moved automatically into the savings accounts you have selected¹⁹. You cannot transfer money directly from your True Potential investment accounts into Cash Savings: to move money between the two you withdraw to your nominated bank account first, then send it back in as a deposit¹⁹.

For help with any of this, True Potential publishes two phone numbers with different stated hours. Non-clients with questions can call 0191 625 0350, with lines reported available 7am to 8pm on weekdays²⁰. Existing customers can call 0191 242 4866 and select option 5, with lines reported available 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays²⁰. Both sets of hours are as stated by the firm, so check its website for the current arrangement before calling.

Taking money out: ISAs, investment accounts and pensions

Access rules differ sharply by product, and this is where the tax wrappers matter most.

ISA withdrawals. True Potential's ISA is a flexible ISA, which means you are free to withdraw and replace money within the same tax year without affecting your annual ISA allowance¹³. So if you take money out in March and put it back in before 5 April, you do not use up allowance you have already spent. Money withdrawn from a stocks and shares ISA is not subject to income tax or capital gains tax on the ISA's tax treatment, which is the point of the wrapper; our tax guide explains how non-ISA accounts differ.

General Investment Account withdrawals. You can withdraw at any time, or transfer holdings into a tax-efficient account such as an ISA on 6 April each year, which can be automated⁸. Because this account has no tax wrapper, selling investments at a gain can create a capital gains tax liability.

Pension withdrawals. The rules here are set by law, not by True Potential. To withdraw from a True Potential Personal Pension you need to be at least 55 years old, rising to 57 from 2028, and you can take 25% of the pot tax-free, with the rest taxed as income when you draw it². This matches the position across the UK: you cannot usually take money from a pension scheme until you are at least 55, unless you are seriously ill²¹, and the earliest you can take any pension money is usually age 55, or 57 from April 2028²². Independent guides confirm the same ages and the 25% tax-free rule²³, and the rising minimum age has been widely reported²⁵.

A survey by the Money and Pensions Service found that many people believe, wrongly, that pension money is accessible at an earlier age, so it is worth checking the rule against your own plans²⁶. If you hold a lifetime ISA rather than a pension, different rules apply: you may be able to withdraw money from a lifetime ISA or a private pension, but lifetime ISA withdrawals outside house purchase or later life attract a withdrawal charge²⁷, and lifetime ISAs and pensions work differently in several other respects too²⁸.

Complaints: how True Potential handles them and when to go to the Ombudsman

True Potential publishes a complaints process with fixed timescales. An investigating officer acknowledges your complaint in writing within five working days, contacts you again with an update no later than four weeks after receiving it, and, if the investigation is not completed within eight weeks of receipt, writes to you explaining why and telling you how to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service⁵. Complaint records are retained for at least five years from the date the complaint is received, and the firm states that it regards the Ombudsman's findings as binding⁵.

If you are unhappy with the final response, or if none arrives within eight weeks, you can bring the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and the referral must be made within six months of the date of the final response letter⁵. One further rule from True Potential's own terms: if it receives no confirmation from you within eight weeks of its final response, the complaint is considered closed⁵.

Two ombudsman services exist, and which one handles your case depends on the product. Complaints about ISAs, investment accounts and advice go to the Financial Ombudsman Service²⁹. Complaints about a pension, including the True Potential workplace scheme, go to the Pensions Ombudsman, but only after you have completed the formal complaints process with the relevant party, such as the trustees or manager of your pension scheme, the administrator or an employer³⁰. The Pensions Ombudsman urges people to raise issues as soon as they discover them, because there are time limits for bringing a complaint³¹.

How your money is held and protected, and the risks of investing

How your money is held matters more than the firm's paperwork. True Potential states that it never holds your money⁵. The firm behind the True Potential Investor brand is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registered in England and Wales as a limited liability partnership (No. OC356027), incorporated on 29 June 2010 and active, and it trades as True Potential Investor and True Potential³. True Potential Wealth Management LLP is also authorised and regulated⁴. One group company, True Potential Adviser Services, is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority¹⁵. You can check any firm on the FCA Register yourself, which is the recommended way to confirm you are dealing with an authorised business³⁴.

What protection actually covers depends on what goes wrong. Consumers who deal with an authorised company have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service if things go wrong, and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme exists for consumers of authorised firms that fail²⁹. Cash Savings is different in structure: True Potential acts as a distributor of a service provided by Bondsmith, a specialist provider of savings and banking services, so the savings products you hold sit with the underlying banks, and any deposit protection depends on those providers' own arrangements⁹. Check where your money would actually rest before you open a savings product through the service.

The bigger risk with True Potential's core products is not the firm failing; it is the market. The firm's own warning appears on every product page: with investing your capital is at risk, investments can fluctuate in value and you could get back less than you invest¹². That applies to the ISA, the General Investment Account and the Personal Pension alike². Money you may need within five years, which True Potential itself defines as short-term, is generally the sort of money that sits in cash savings rather than investments¹.

Finally, be careful about anything that is not a True Potential product. The FSCS warns that consumers holding cryptoassets have no protection from the scheme, and that losing a password to cryptoassets stored personally can mean losing access to the investment altogether³⁵. The Financial Ombudsman also handles complaints about unregulated collective investment schemes, which can leave consumers with no route to redress²⁹. If someone contacts you claiming to offer a True Potential investment with a guaranteed return, treat it as a scam until verified: check the firm is genuine on the regulator's register and read our scams guide before sending money.