How to choose a S&S ISA?

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I'm in a position to put the maximum annual amount (20k) into a stocks & shares ISA with a medium to long term investment in mind.

But I'm confused about the different ones available. I looked at Vanguard and the fees seemed relatively high for the managed option but I also don't know enough to pick my own portfolio from their long list.

Looked at Nutmeg and the projected gain over the next year and next 10 years seemed really low.

I bank with Natwest and would just go with theirs but I have other savings with them currently and am over the £85k protected limit.

And is it best to put in a lump sum or to drip feed?

How do I choose? Would love to pick one ASAP to make the most of it this tax year.

This is one of my areas for work.

There's three main options:
Mainstream providers: e.g. Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and interactive investor
Zero commission platforms: more basic but low fees e.g. Freetrade and Trading 212
Robo advisers: like Nutmeg. You pay a bundled platform and management fee for a managed portfolios (often based on tracker rather than active funds)

Mine's with HL but AJ Bell is cheaper (as is ii for larger portfolios). Personally I'd go for a provider with a wide range of whole of market funds. All three of the mainstream providers have a lot of guidance in terms of preferred investments or ready made portfolios if you want more help (but they don't charge the earth).

Fees can really erode the value of ISAs over time.

Vanguard are reasonably priced but only offer their own funds, which are mainly index tracker funds.

You have two decisions to make- which platform you want to use (Vanguard, Nutmeg, HL etc) and then which fund or funds you want to hold.

In your shoes I’d just buy a simple global tracker such as HMWO, research which platform will be cheapest for you to buy and hold (have a look at Interactive Investor), then drip feed to benefit from pound cost averaging.

NB whoever you go with, you won’t benefit from any protection- your capital will be at risk with a S&S ISA.

I opened an ISA with Trading 212 recently, mainly because they don't charge any fees (except for 0.15% on currency conversion). So no annual platform charge and no charge for buying and selling shares. I really like the app and there's access to a good range of funds and shares, but you'd need to choose the investments yourself.

There are some index tracker funds on there with fees as low as 0.1%. I certainly haven't felt as if there is any lack of choice.

You can also get a free share if you sign up using my referral link: https://www.trading212.com/invite/16bjA3Ceso

Definitely don't go with Nat West listen to some podcast