Compare SIPP Accounts

Is AJ Bell's pension any good?

AJ Bell won “best SIPP provider” in our 2023 and 2022 awards. They offer a huge range of UK and international markets to invest in (with low FX fees). AJ Bell also scored very well in our survey for customer support and has an easy-to-use and low-cost SIPP account platform.

AJ Bell SIPP Special Offers:

Up to £500 cashback: Switch your SIPP to AJ Bell and they will pay up to £35 per investment and £100 in exit fees as cash back to cover your costs up to £500.
£100 gift vouchers: If you refer a friend to AJ Bell that opens a GIA, LISA, ISA or SIPP with more than £10,000 (within 120 days) you both get £100 Amazon gift vouchers.

AJ Bell SIPP Fees:

Annual account charges are 0.25% for shares (capped at £10/month) and tiered for funds (0.25% up to £250,000, 0.10% up to £500,000, and free beyond), with dealing charges of £5 for shares (£3.50 for frequent traders) and £1.50 for funds.

Is Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP (Pension) Any Good?

Yes, Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP costs start at 0.45% of your portfolio value. The account charge for shares is capped at £200 per year. Funds are charged at 0.45% for the first £250,000, then 0.25% between £250k and £1m, then 0.1% between £1-£2m. There is no charge above £2m. There is no charge for buying funds, but shares are charged at £11.95 per deal or £5.95 if you do over 20 deals per month.

But, if you open a SIPP with HL before the 30th June with £10k or more you’ll get a discount of 40% on account fees. As HL is generally quite expensive, this is a great deal, and could save you £180 in fees. But keep in mind that when this discount ends in 2026, if you have £100,000 in your SIPP with HL it will cost £450 a year, versus £155.88 with interactive investor.

For beginners and smaller accounts Hargreaves Lansdown, is a great choice, as HL offer one of the best apps on the market and provide stock research and analysis on the most heavily traded stocks in the UK and US. Hargreaves Lansdown is also good for beginners because they are quite simple to use and have an excellent reputation for customer support from their Bristol based offices.

They may be a little more expensive that some of the other platforms, but you certainly get what you pay for.

Some SIPP accounts are better suited to beginners than others. Generally speaking, beginner investors require a SIPP that is easy to use, cost-effective, and offers access to products that are well suited to beginners such as ready-made portfolios.

So, if you are a complete beginner to SIPP investing and are not confident enough to choose what individual stocks and shares you want to own in the long term. A private pension may be more appropriate. One private pension account (which is not actually a SIPP because you can’t buy individual shares) that is well suited to beginners is Wealthify. Wealthify is a robo advisor (or digital wealth manager) that offers a managed pension product. With Wealthify, you choose an investment style based on your risk tolerance. One advantage of Wealthify is that the minimum investment is just £50. One downside, however, is that there are only a few investment options to choose from.

Is Interactive Investors' SIPP (pension) any good?

Yes, interactive investor won “Best SIPP Provider” in the 2025 Good Money Guide Awards. ii has a really good pre-selected fund section, which makes crucial SIPP asset allocation decisions much easier. It’s very low cost too, with excellent education and research, and a huge range of investments to choose from.

The key advantage of interactive investor’s SIPP is that it has a flat-fee structure. This means that annual account charges do not increase as your pension pot grows in size. This structure can help those with larger SIPP portfolios save on fees, however it can be a little expensive for small pensions if you are just starting to invest for your retirement.

For smaller pension pots, those that just want to invest in ETFs, InvestEngine offer a free SIPP, but it is limited to just UK-listed ETFs, so you can’t buy individual shares. One of the good things about ii’s SIPP is that you can buy bonds, gilts, and shares in small and large UK and international companies.

Even though ii charges £3.99 for buying funds. If you compare this to Hargreaves Lansdown, which does not charge for buying and selling funds, but HL SIPP fees are higher. If you have £100,000 in your SIPP with ii you’d pay £71.88 a year, versus HL where your fees would be £450.

So, if you have a big pension, is it worth moving it to ii? Well, yes at the moment, as interactive investor claim their SIPP pricing can give you an additional £68,467 towards your pension after 30 years compared to HL. Plus, if you transfer your SIPP to ii before 31st August, you can claim up to £2,000 in cash back.

Of course, you’ll need to add cash or start a transfer of a minimum value of £10,000 to qualify for your cashback reward. Terms apply.

What is a CMC Invest SIPP?

The SIPP is available to CMC Invest Premium account holders. SIPP holders will be able to trade at zero commission (other charges may apply), within their Premium plan, which is £25 a month.

A self-invested personal pension or SIPP is a class of personal pension plan in the United Kingdom. A SIPP allows you to make your own investment decisions about your retirement savings.

With a SIPP, you have a wide range of investment options, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and more. This flexibility allows you to tailor your investments according to your risk tolerance and investment goals.

As with other personal pension schemes, contributions to a SIPP are eligible for tax relief, reducing your overall tax liability and boosting your investments. The money within the SIPP grows tax-free, and you can access your pension savings from the age of 55 under current legislation.

SIPPs are portable, meaning you can transfer them from one provider to another if you are unhappy with the service or want to consolidate multiple pensions.

With a SIPP, you have greater control over your retirement savings and investment decisions, as opposed to traditional personal pension plans where investment decisions are made by the provider. Though, of course, that puts the onus of performance firmly on you.

Overall, SIPPs are designed for self-determined individuals who want to take an active role in managing their retirement savings and who have a good understanding of investment principles.

Is IG's SIPP (pension) any good?

IG SIPP clients will be able to invest in a wide range of individual stocks, ETFs, and investment trusts, as well as placings and IPOs, through IG’s relationship with Primary Bid. IG Smart Portfolios are also available to its SIPP Customers.

To start investing in a SIPP through IG you will first need to open an IG share dealing or Smart Portfolio account, and then add a SIPP account, using the MY IG dashboard. You can then set up your SIPP with Options UK, from whom you will receive an email invite. Options UK will let IG know when the SIPP is set up and they will activate it.

IG SIPP Fees:

A SIPP with IG costs £210 per year and dealing commission for UK shares have just been removed to £0, you can buy and sell UK and US shares for free (excluding the FX fees of 0.7%). IG Smart Portfolio fees are 0.5% – capped at £250 per year. Fund management charges are 0.13% and transaction costs are 0.09%.

Can you transfer an existing SIPP into IG?

Yes. Alternatively, you can transfer an existing SIPP to Options UK from any UK-registered pension scheme, or a recognised overseas pension scheme.

IG SIPP clients can invest up to £40,000 in the current tax year (under existing legislation) and they will pay zero commission on US stock trades, and just £3.0 per trade on UK trades, if, they have traded at least three times, in the previous month.  Options UK charges £210.00 per annum as a SIPP management fee.

How does IG’s SIPP compare to Interactive Brokers and Saxo Markets?

Many of IG’s competitors offer SIPP trading facilities, for example, Interactive Brokers has its own SIPP trading account, which allows investors to trade in stocks, bonds, funds and ETFs, in 150 markets, spread across 33 different countries. Interactive Brokers offers its customary low commissions to its SIPP customers.

However, its SIPP account also has some additional perks, such as interest on uninvested cash balances, fractional share trading, and a stock yield enhancement program. Under which, qualifying SIPP holders can elect to lend the shares held in their SIPP on the stock loan market, via Interactive brokers, and they will receive 50% of the fees generated by way of return.

It’s also possible to trade derivatives such as futures, options, and currencies within the Interactive Brokers SIPP.

Saxo Markets also has its own SIPP account, however, the bank does not act as a pension administrator or trustee. Rather it facilitates the trading of securities within a SIPP, that is managed and administered elsewhere.

Opening a SIPP account at Saxo is free of charge and Saxo supports two SIPP providers, to whom clients can transfer their SIPPs.

Saxo’s charging structure is tiered, so you pay a commission thats applicable to either the Classic, Platinum or VIP tiers, depending on your activity levels.

Clients in the classic tier pay 2 cents per share commission on US equity trades, and 0.10% of the consideration on UK and European equity deals. Whilst VIP clients pay 1 cent per share on US trades, and just 0.05% on UK and European equity deals.

However, not every trading platform offers SIPP trading, for example, SIPP trading is not available at eToro or CMC Markets, though the recently launched CMC Invest platform will be introducing SIPP trading in the near future.