Best all-round Junior SIPP - Bestinvest
| Company |
Minimum Deposit |
SIPP |
ISA |
Investment Choices |
 Bestinvest
|
£50 |
Yes |
Yes |
 |
In my opinion, Bestinvest offers the best all-round Junior SIPP. Bestinvest has the lowest minimum lump sum contribution amounts of any of the main UK brokers offering Junior SIPPs, and you can make contributions through your online account.
Fees: Service fees are on the low end and fund trades are free. You’ll pay £4.95 each time you buy and sell UK shares or ETFs but US trades are free apart from currency conversion fees.
You pay an annual service fee of 0.2% for Bestinvest’s ready-made portfolios and US shares, or 0.4% for other investments. So if you have £1,000 in a Junior SIPP, you’d pay annual management fees of up to £4. This is on top of ongoing charges if you are invested in funds.
Platform: I found the Bestinvest SIPP easy to navigate. When on your Bestinvest account homepage, you see a summary of the value of your holding plus the overall gain or loss. There is also a handy pie chart showing the asset allocation of your portfolio – such as how much you hold in equities or bonds – and you can see the geographical spread of your holdings. You can also link accounts which means if you have another child with a Bestinvest Junior SIPP you can view their SIPP on the same homepage.
Minimum deposits: Bestinvest says there is no minimum amount for paying into its Junior SIPP but the minimum transaction amount appears to be £50 when placing a trade, whether you pay by direct debit or using funds held in cash. Still, this is lower than the minimum amounts of other UK investment platforms offering Junior SIPPs.
The service fee is clearly laid out under transactions which makes it clear how much you are paying in fees to the Bestinvest platform.
Like other brokers, Bestinvest will not allow you to open a Junior SIPP online due to ID requirements as you need to send a copy of the child’s birth certificate. Opening an account must be done via an application form – either by post or by completing a DocuSign form found on the website to open the account electronically with an e-signature.
Finally, another great advantage to the Bestinvest Junior SIPP is that you can make contributions online using a debit card. There is also the option for bank transfers, direct debits, and standing orders. This differs from a broker like Hargreaves Lansdown where you have to make contributions over the phone and cannot do it online.
Cheapest for those with large amounts to invest - Fidelity
Fidelity’s Junior SIPP works out very cost-effectively if you don’t trade in shares or ETFs too often.
Fees: Fidelity does not charge service fees on Junior accounts. Because of this, if you own funds then Fidelity will be cheaper than Bestinvest, which charges an annual service fee of 0.4%. However, one-off share or ETF trades are more expensive as Fidelity charges £7.50 for trades placed online. The fee is dropped to £1.50 if you invest in the same stock or ETF monthly.
Funds are free to buy and sell through Fidelity. That said, like with all investment platforms, the fund you invest in will likely have ongoing charges which means you will still be paying some fees at the end of the day for your Fidelity Junior SIPP.
Platform: Beyond the free service fees, another bonus of Fidelity’s Junior SIPP is that it’s easy to set up since you can open one online. You can also fund the account straightaway by debit card or bank transfer. Additionally, if you are already a Fidelity customer, the account is linked to your own so you can access it on the main homepage.
Minimum deposits: A downside of Fidelity’s Junior SIPP is that you need a larger lump sum than any other platform. The minimum contribution is £1,000 (or £800 with tax relief applied) when adding a lump sum. But for regular investments, the minimum amount required is just £25 - in line with other platforms.
If you are not put off by the minimum £800 lump sum contribution, then Fidelity can work out to be a very cheap option.
Best for tools and flexibility - Hargreaves Lansdown
There is a very wide range of investments to choose from in Hargreaves Lansdown’s Junior SIPP. You have the choice of thousands of mutual funds, stocks, and ETFs and you can select a ready-made fund portfolio if you don’t want to choose your own investments.
Fees: You’ll pay an annual service fee of 0.45% if holding funds. For shares or ETFs, the service charge is capped at £200 a year.
Fund trades are free, but ETFs and shares are £5.95 to buy or sell. This is a discounted rate for Junior accounts as Hargreaves Lansdown typically charges fees of £11.95 per trade.
Platform: I found Hargreaves Lansdown’s range of tools and educational material to be excellent, and the website and mobile app are comprehensive and easy to use.
The SIPP is also relatively easy to set up, although you have to open a Junior SIPP by post. There is no option to do it electronically so it is a slower process than Fidelity.
Minimum deposits: A good feature of the Hargreaves Lansdown Junior SIPP is that you can make ad-hoc lump sum payments starting from £100. This is a lower amount than AJ Bell’s £500 minimum and Fidelity’s £1,000 minimum, although higher than Bestinvest’s £50 minimum amount. You can make regular monthly payments starting from £25 a month, with the flexibility to stop or pause payments at any time.
One downside of Hargreaves Lansdown’s Junior SIPP is that ad hoc direct debit payments can only be made over the phone. You can’t make new contributions online. You also can’t include the Junior SIPP as part of your own account if you are already a Hargreaves Lansdown customer. A completely separate account has to be created which can be inconvenient when trying to view or make trades on your family's holdings all at once.
Best for reasonable charges if you don’t trade regularly - AJ Bell
| Company |
Minimum Deposit |
SIPP |
ISA |
Investment Choices |
 AJ Bell
|
£0 |
Yes |
Yes |
 |
AJ Bell’s Junior SIPP is similar to Hargreaves Lansdown, but slightly less expensive (except for funds) and includes the ability to link the Junior SIPP to your own account which is quite convenient.
Fees: AJ Bell is slightly cheaper than Hargreaves Lansdown whether you invest in mutual funds, ETFs, or shares. The annual service fee is 0.25% if you hold funds or shares, and there is an annual cap of £120 for holding shares or ETFs (lower than Hargreaves Lansdown’s £200 cap).
If you invest regularly in funds, be aware that AJ Bell charges a £1.50 transaction fee for funds – unlike Bestinvest, Fidelity, or Hargreaves Lansdown, which don’t charge fund trading fees.
It’s £5 to buy and sell shares, ETFs, and investment trusts. Unlike other platforms, there are no discounts for regular dealing unless you make more than 10 share trades a month which drops the fee to £3.50. This means if you choose to invest £25 a month into an ETF through AJ Bell, it works out very expensive as you’ll pay a fee of £5 each time.
Platform: At AJ Bell, you get a very wide range of investment choices and the educational material, guides, and tools are excellent. A comprehensive and user-friendly mobile app makes it easy to use and manage your account on the go.
Minimum deposits: Another point to note is that the minimum lump sum amount you can pay into an AJ Bell Junior SIPP is £500. However, the minimum monthly amount is just £25.
FAQs
Is a Junior SIPP actually worth it?
I have a Junior SIPP for each of my two children. Money is paid in around four times a year, mostly by their grandparents. There isn’t a huge amount in them currently but we think it’s a great way to get them ahead on their pension.
Starting a pension for your child can take the pressure off them into adulthood while they have other costs and financial goals to navigate. An initial payment of £800 shortly after birth (£1,000 after tax relief) would be worth almost £2,500 at age 18 if it grew by 5% a year. Contributions of £42 a month (£50 with tax relief) would be worth £17,551 after 18 years on returns of 5% a year.
When saving for your child, it’s more common to consider a Junior ISA or your own savings account before thinking about a pension for your child. But the benefit of a Junior SIPP is that money saved into the account gets a 20% boost thanks to tax relief. It can grow tax-free until the money is withdrawn. When withdrawn, the first 25% is tax-free, after which only income tax may apply.
Like with an adult pension, money can’t be withdrawn from a Junior SIPP until the child is in their mid-to-late 50s. A Junior SIPP is therefore designed for retirement and can’t be used for a child’s education or as a house deposit.
What is the youngest age to apply for a SIPP?
You can open a Junior SIPP shortly after your child has been born. There is no minimum age to open a Junior SIPP.
However, the account has to be opened by a parent or guardian. The child must be under the age of 18 and the account held in the child’s name, but the account is still managed by the parent or guardian.
Once the child turns 18, they get control over the account and how the money is invested. Like with a standard SIPP, they can’t withdraw money from the account until they reach the minimum age of 55 (rising to 57 in 2028) so it is certainly a long-term savings account.
Do Junior SIPPs get tax relief?
Yes, contributions into a Junior SIPP benefit from tax relief and this is one of the main advantages of a Junior SIPP. When you pay money into the SIPP, 20% tax relief applies. For example, if you pay in £100, a total of £125 goes into the account. Contributions are usually paid net of tax. So if you pay in £100, the Junior SIPP provider will then reclaim the 20% tax relief (£25) from HMRC and this will be paid into your account once received from HMRC, which can take a few weeks.
What is the difference between a SIPP and a Junior SIPP?
A SIPP is for U.K. adults aged 18 plus, while a Junior SIPP is for those under the age of 18. You can pay much more into an adult SIPP while benefiting from tax relief – up to £60,000 a year, compared with up to £3,600 a year for a Junior SIPP.
Can grandparents pay into a Junior SIPP?
Yes, grandparents can pay into a Junior SIPP. One option is to pay money to the child’s parent to pay into the account on your behalf. Alternatively, you can usually make a payment directly if you have the account details. Just be aware of the annual Junior SIPP contribution limits.
Note that anyone can pay into a Junior SIPP, you don’t have to be family. Friends, godparents, or anyone else who cares to can contribute.
How many Junior SIPPs can I have?
You can have multiple Junior SIPPs but there are only a few providers of Junior SIPPs in the UK so there isn’t a lot of choice. There also isn’t much benefit to opening multiple Junior SIPPs with different providers as they all offer similar investments.
If you are unhappy with your current Junior SIPP provider, you can transfer to a new one. Go to your new provider's website to start the transfer process by filling in an application form. The transfer process typically takes 2 to 4 weeks.
How much can I contribute to a Junior SIPP?
The amount you can pay into each Junior SIPP is £2,880 a year – which increases to £3,600 after 20% tax relief is applied. This works out to £240 a month if spread across a year.
Why you should trust us
Elizabeth Anderson has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. She’s written for major national newspapers, contributed to corporate reports and research, and reviewed dozens of share dealing platforms, SIPP providers, ISAs, and brokerage firms. Elizabeth started her career at Bloomberg and has worked for the BBC, The Telegraph, The Times and the i newspaper. She is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing. A keen investor herself, Elizabeth invests through general dealing accounts, ISAs and several SIPPs.
Steven Hatzakis is a well-known finance writer with 25+ years of experience in the foreign exchange and financial markets. He is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for Reink Media Group, leading research efforts for ForexBrokers.com since 2016. He has served as a registered commodity futures representative for domestic and internationally-regulated brokerages. Steven holds a Series III license in the US as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
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