Business investing basics

TL; DR: An InvestEngine Business Account is a General Investment Account (GIA) held in the name of a UK limited company, LLP or partnership — it is not a bank account.

A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a unique 20‑character code that identifies a legal entity in financial markets. In the UK, a business can’t invest without one.

The InvestEngine Business Account is designed for UK limited companies (Ltd), Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and partnerships that have surplus company cash to invest.

Withdrawing from an InvestEngine Business Account is a two‑step process: sell the investments you want to cash out, then transfer the resulting cash to your company.

Opening an InvestEngine Business Account is easy and available for UK limited companies (Ltd), LLPs and partnerships. This article runs through everything you need to know to get started.

If your business cash is just sitting in a bank account, chances are it’s not working as hard as it could be and might even be losing value over time.

Building a Business Account portfolio is mainly about matching each pot of company cash to its time horizon. Here’s how businesses tend to set up their investments.