How to invest in the FTSE 100 in 2024

If you’ve watched or read anything about the stock market, you’ve probably heard of the FTSE 100 index. But how do you invest in the FTSE 100? Here’s what you need to know.

Ways to invest in the FTSE 100

There are two ways you can invest in the FTSE 100. Firstly, you can invest directly in one company or a handful of companies that make up the FTSE 100. To do this, you can open a share dealing account and then buy individual investments through a platform. Alternatively, if you want to invest in the whole FTSE 100, then you can do this using an index tracker fund.

The best option for you will depend on your personal circumstances.

1. Trading the FTSE 100

Trading the FTSE 100 essentially means buying the individual stocks directly. You can buy individual stocks from the index using a brokerage or share-dealing platform.

You can buy one share of each company to create your own portfolio of FTSE 100 stocks or buy shares in select companies, depending on your chosen strategy.

2. Investing in the FTSE 100

You can’t invest in the FTSE 100 directly, but you can invest in an index fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF).

This can be a good option if you want exposure to all of the companies in the index without having to buy individual shares. These funds and ETFs track the performance of the stocks in the FTSE 100.

What to look out for before investing in the FTSE 100

As the FTSE 100 contains the top 100 performing companies in the UK, it is obviously UK-focused. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but it does mean you are heavily relying on the performance of the UK economy if you decide to invest solely in the FTSE 100.

Many investors recommend holding shares across a number of different countries in order to diversify your portfolio and reduce your risk.

Diversifying protects you if the UK economy slumps more than the rest of the world’s economies. Your portfolio won’t be as impacted as it would if you only invest in FTSE 100 companies.

It’s also worth knowing that a FTSE 100 tracker fund won’t contain any bonds. Again, this isn’t necessarily a problem, but you should be aware that if you do choose to invest solely in the FTSE 100, you won’t have any bonds to protect you from any unexpected volatility.

Bonds can offer you a cushion because, traditionally, they are more stable than shares, at least in the short term. However, it’s worth noting that bonds generally offer lower returns.

More generally, if you are new to investing, it’s important to understand that investing involves risk and that the value of your investments can go down as well as up. Check out our beginners’ guide to investing for some helpful guidance.

How much does the FTSE 100 return in a year?

The FTSE 100 has been around since 1984. And since then, there have been numerous periods of stellar and disappointing returns. Yet, investors who bought and held this index since its inception have, on average, earned roughly an 8% annualised return.

However, in more recent years, the FTSE 100 has struggled to keep up, especially compared to other international indices such as the S&P 500. Over the last decade, investors have earned closer to 6%.

There are a variety of reasons behind these lower returns. But most economists agree it’s a primarily down to a combination of lacklustre GDP growth in the UK economy as well as a lack of exposure to technology stocks.

As of 2024, only 1.01% of the UK’s flagship index is weighted in the technology industry, compared to 32.4% for the S&P 500.

How to invest in the FTSE 100

If you’re ready to get started, here’s how you can invest.

1. Choose how you want to invest

As you know, you can’t invest directly in the FTSE 100 unless you decide to buy shares in each of the companies in the index.

Instead, you can get exposure to the index by investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the performance of the stocks in the FTSE 100.

2. Decide how much you want to invest

Once you’ve decided how you want to invest in the FTSE 100, you’ll need to decide how much you want to invest. You can either invest a lump sum or a certain amount each month.

3. Open an investing account

Next, you’ll need to open an investing account. You can either do this yourself online or employ a broker to do some of the work for you.

4. Start investing

Once you’ve got everything set up, you’re ready to start investing in the FTSE 100 – either through individual stocks or an ETF.

Check out our list of the top trading platforms in the UK to start investing today!

Which FTSE 100 index fund should I buy today?

Before investing capital into index funds, it’s crucial investors understand how they work. It’s a bit of a detailed subject, so we’ve written an entire guide to understanding and selecting index tracker funds.

However, in terms of pure minimising costs, the iShares Core FTSE 100 index fund currently offers the lowest management fees for investors. However, there are additional considerations which we explore in more detail in the guide.

What is the minimum investment in the FTSE 100?

When investing in mutual funds, there is sometimes a minimum investment requirement. This means investors are forced to allocate a minimum sum of capital to become a shareholder in a fund. And in some cases, this can be prohibitively expensive for smaller investors.

Minimum investment requirements for FTSE 100 index funds are unusual. In other words, they typically don’t have this restriction. As such, the minimum investment requirement becomes the cost of a single share.

Using iShares Core FTSE 100 as an example, the fund currently trades at a share price of 789.6p. As such, the effective minimum investment requirement is £7.896. For most investors, this is negligible.