- Experts rate AJ Bell highly, awarding it a total rating of 5.0/5. The platform is praised for its low fees, extensive market access, and excellent customer service, making it a top choice for SIPP accounts. However, high phone dealing charges are noted as a drawback.
- Across 1104 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.2/5, customers frequently commend the user-friendly platform, responsive customer service, and transparent fee structure. Many appreciate the simplicity of the app and the range of investment options available, while some express concerns about occasional platform stability and the need for app improvements.
AJ Bell SIPP & Pension Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated AJ Bell SIPP & Pension across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing5.0
- Market Access5.0
- Online Platform5.0
- Customer Service5.0
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Low SIPP account fees of 0.25% & share dealing commission
- Wide range of shares, bonds and funds
- Ability to add a Junior SIPP for your children
Cons
- High phone dealing charges
See full expert review
Our verdict
AJ Bell offers the cheapest SIPP account when you compare them against providers that charge a percentage of your portfolio value. You can invest in a wide range of investments, including stocks in more than 20 markets, over 4,000 funds, ETFs, and bonds.
Capital at risk.
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.
Customer reviews for AJ Bell
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,104 reviews
- Excellent46%
- Very good35%
- Basic15%
- Poor3%
- Bad2%
Read customer reviews
Rings my ...
Makes things simple, great service, very professional, wonderful staff, gives me everything that I want and need currently.
Good
Good
relatively
Relatively user-friendly investment app. Still very confusing and tricky to use, for me at least
Reliable
I trust AJBell to look after my pension fund and do what is best for me. They are responsive and thoroughly professional at all times
Helpful
Great anti fraud procedures saved me losing money to an impersonator.
Simple to use app
Simple
Really good company who have transparent fees and have a really friendly client app to trade on. Feel my retirement funds are in good hands
improving
good website, app needs to catch up
Effortless
Makes investing simple and quick.
Trusted
They dont do the hard sell. They provide you with information to guide you to your investing choice
Reliable
Easy to use platform
Great
easy to use app and strong customer service
Simple
Makes investing stress free and manageable
User friendly experience
Decent service and few headaches
The best thing about AJ Bell is that generally their platform just works and they don't make any mistakes that cause me difficulties. For a fairly low-cost, execution-only service this is what I need from my investment provider.
Great
We have 4 products with Aj Bell and no issues with anything.
Very reliable platform
I keep my SIPP here & am impressed with the service, their comms & sensible prices.
I have been a customer for +/- 10 years
Easy to navigate and deal, reasonable prices
I've had a SIPP with AJ Bell for several years and have been very pleased with the service. The site is easy to navigate, stocks simple to trade and the costs are reasonable.
Simple and easy to use
Very happy with the service. Clean layout and relatively low commission costs.
The best I’ve used
I’ve used a few different options and started with the free trading apps. However, I’ve found AJ Bell to be great since making the switch.
My choice and no regrets
Very pleased with their service. Good help line with any issues. Lots of guidance and I trust them.
AJ Bell’s move to launch four new Ready-made pension portfolios earlier this year is a challenge to the digital wealth management sector.
The investment platform’s move to provide three risk-rated growth funds with annual management charges of just 0.45% puts it in a competitive position against the likes of J.P. Morgan-owned Nutmeg, Moneyfarm, and Aviva-owned Wealthify. These digital wealth managers specialise in offering their own pension solutions at similar or somewhat higher pricing points.
The new solution also links to a pension finding tool launched by AJ Bell last year for no extra cost. This allows customers to track down their pensions and automatically combine them into a simple, low-cost pension account.
“Our new Ready-made pension service takes away the hassle, automatically finding all your pensions and combining them into an easy, low-cost account,” AJ Bell managing director managing director Charlie Musson said at the time of the launch in May.
Competitive fees
AJ Bell’s new funds each invest solely in a range of low-cost index trackers, allowing the firm to keep charges competitive.
Given the management fee for AJ Bell’s SIPP is around 0.25%, investors in the Ready-made pension portfolios would pay 0.7% annually, excluding a £1.50 dealing charge to sell the fund.
In addition to the cautious, balanced and adventurous growth funds, there is also a responsible investing option with a fee of 0.60% per year. Total fees amount to 0.85% for this solution when including the SIPP platform fee.
The Ready-made pension fees compare favourably with those of similar solutions provided by Nutmeg, Moneyfarm and Wealthify.
Fees at Nutmeg and Moneyfarm start at 1% and 0.99% for their pension solutions, while Wealthify’s charges start at 0.75%. This includes each firm’s own management fees as well as underlying charges for the funds invested in. The platform charges are tiered, meaning they are reduced depending on how much assets are invested.
Given the power of compounding, what appear to be relatively small differences in annual fees can have a big affect on the value of investments and eventual outcomes.
AJ Bell noted at the time of the Ready-made pension launch that someone combining three pension pots each worth £25,000 could in five years be more than £1,300 better off by switching from pensions charging between 1%-0.5% to the new solution.
In 10 years this rises to more than £3,100, while in 20 years the difference rises to more than £8,600.
Robin has more than six years of experience as a financial journalist, most of which were spent at Citywire, and covers the latest developments in the investing, trading and currency transfer space. Outside of work, he enjoys reading literature and philosophy and playing the piano.
You can contact Robin at robin@goodmoneyguide.com