AJ Bell SIPP Fees 2026: Complete Cost Breakdown for Every Portfolio Size

AJ Bell charges a tiered annual platform fee on funds (unit trusts, OEICs, and ETFs) held in your SIPP:

• First £250,000: 0.25%
• £250,001 to £500,000: 0.10%
• Over £500,000: 0.00%

For shares, investment trusts, gilts, and bonds, the platform fee is a flat 0.25% on the first £250,000, then zero above that — with an annual cap of £3.50 per month (£42 per year) for share-only holdings.

This means a £100,000 fund-only SIPP costs £250 per year in platform fees. A £100,000 share-only SIPP costs just £42. If you hold a mix, each asset class is charged separately at its own rate.

The shares fee cap is AJ Bell's biggest advantage for larger portfolios. If you're holding £250,000+ in direct equities, you're paying just £42 per year — that's 0.017%. Try finding that anywhere else.

AJ Bell's dealing charges depend on how you trade:

• Regular investing (monthly direct debit): £1.50 per deal — this is the cheapest way to invest
• Online share dealing: £5.00 per deal (drops to £3.50 if you made 10+ deals in the previous month)
• Phone dealing: £25.00 per deal — avoid this unless you absolutely must
• Frequent trader: After 10 deals in a month, subsequent deals that month drop to £3.50

For fund purchases, there's no dealing charge on AJ Bell's own funds. For third-party funds, the standard £1.50 (regular) or £5.00 (lump sum) applies.

This is where AJ Bell starts to get expensive for active traders. If you're making 5 lump-sum share deals per month, that's £25/month or £300/year in dealing charges alone. Compare that to Interactive Investor's flat monthly fee which includes free trades, and the calculus shifts.

For buy-and-hold investors making 2–4 trades per year, dealing costs are negligible. For anyone trading regularly, they're the biggest single cost component.

Let's put real numbers on this. According to AJ Bell's own charges calculator, a £15,000 portfolio split between £10,000 in funds and £5,000 in shares, with 2 fund and 2 share deals per year, costs approximately £50.50 annually.

Here's how the costs scale for different portfolio types:

Small pot (£15,000 in funds):

• Platform fee: £37.50
• 4 regular deals at £1.50: £6.00
• Total: ~£43.50 (0.29% all-in)

Medium pot (£100,000 — 60% funds, 40% shares):

• Platform fee on £60,000 funds: £150
• Platform fee on £40,000 shares: £42 (cap)
• 12 regular deals at £1.50: £18
• Total: ~£210 (0.21% all-in)

Large pot (£500,000 — 50% funds, 50% shares):

• Platform fee on £250,000 funds: £625 (first £250k at 0.25%)
• Platform fee on £250,000 shares: £42 (cap)
• 12 regular deals at £1.50: £18
• Total: ~£685 (0.14% all-in)

The pattern is clear: AJ Bell gets proportionally cheaper as your portfolio grows, especially if you hold shares. For pots over £250,000, the effective cost drops well below 0.20% — competitive with even the cheapest platforms in the UK market.

Every platform has a sweet spot. AJ Bell's is medium-to-large portfolios with a mix of funds and shares. Here's how it stacks up:

Vanguard Investor: 0.15% platform fee (capped at £375/year) but limited to Vanguard's own funds. If you only want Vanguard index trackers, they're cheaper. For anything else, you can't use them.

Interactive Investor: Flat monthly fee from £4.99/month (Essentials) to £19.99/month (Super Investor). Better for larger portfolios and active traders — the flat fee means costs don't scale with portfolio size. Worse for small pots where the flat fee represents a larger percentage.

Hargreaves Lansdown: 0.45% on funds up to £250,000, 0.25% from £250k–£1m. Significantly more expensive than AJ Bell for fund-heavy portfolios. Their share dealing is £11.95 per trade. The premium goes towards research and customer service, which is genuinely excellent — whether it's worth nearly double AJ Bell's fees is the question.

iWeb: £5 per deal, no platform fee on shares. The cheapest option for buy-and-hold share investors. But the £100 account opening fee and lack of regular investing make it less attractive for gradual pension building.

For a typical SIPP investor contributing monthly into a diversified fund portfolio, AJ Bell offers the best balance of low costs, wide investment range, and platform quality. It's not the absolute cheapest in any single category, but it's consistently competitive across all of them.

You may also find our guide to iWeb Share Dealing Fees 2026 useful.

For more on this topic, see our guide to Fidelity Personal Investing Fees 2026.

A few costs that aren't immediately obvious from AJ Bell's headline figures:

Foreign exchange fee: 0.75% on international share trades. If you're buying US stocks directly (Apple, Microsoft, etc.), this adds up. For a £5,000 US share purchase, that's £37.50 in FX costs on top of the dealing charge. Consider US-listed ETFs traded in GBP (like VUSA) to avoid this.

Exit fees: AJ Bell charges no exit fee for closing your account or transferring out. This is increasingly standard but still worth noting — some older SIPP providers charge £150+ for transfers.

Drawdown charges: Accessing your SIPP in retirement via flexi-access drawdown is included at no additional cost. Income withdrawals are free. This is a genuine advantage — some competitors charge £100+ for setting up drawdown.

Tax relief: Your SIPP contributions receive 20% tax relief at source, meaning every £80 you pay in becomes £100 in your pension. Higher-rate (40%) and additional-rate (45%) taxpayers can claim back the extra relief through their self-assessment tax return. The annual allowance is £60,000 for 2025/26, or 100% of your earnings if lower.

You can access your SIPP from age 55 (rising to 57 from 6 April 2028), taking up to 25% tax-free subject to the lump sum allowance of £268,275.

AJ Bell's SIPP makes sense if you:

• Want a wide investment range (4,000+ funds, UK and international shares, bonds, gilts)
• Are building a pension gradually through regular monthly investing at £1.50/deal
• Have a medium-to-large pot (£50,000+) where the percentage-based fee is competitive
• Want drawdown included at no extra cost for retirement
• Value a Which? Recommended platform with a proven track record

You might look elsewhere if you:

• Only want Vanguard index funds — Vanguard Investor is cheaper at 0.15%
• Trade shares frequently — Interactive Investor's flat fee with included trades works out better
• Have a very large share portfolio (£100,000+) — iWeb's zero platform fee beats everyone
• Want premium research and hand-holding — Hargreaves Lansdown justifies the premium for some

For most SIPP investors — especially those in the £20,000 to £250,000 range holding a mix of funds — AJ Bell hits the sweet spot. The 0.25% cap, £1.50 regular dealing, and comprehensive investment range make it one of the best-value SIPPs on the market in 2026.

For our full platform assessment, see our AJ Bell Review 2026. For more on building a pension portfolio, visit our pensions hub and investing hub.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. You should seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions.

For further detail, refer to the gov.uk pensions overview and MoneyHelper pensions.