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Best SIPP Providers of 2024

Elizabeth Anderson

Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Jeff Anberg

December 03, 2024

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We've been reviewing financial products and services and writing about U.K. markets since 2016. Blain Reinkensmeyer, Elizabeth Anderson and Steven Hatzakis have each placed thousands of trades, including shares, options, futures, cryptos, and forex. Find out more about us and how we test.

A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a smart way to save for retirement – you’ll benefit from tax relief on contributions while your investments grow tax-free. There are many SIPP providers in the U.K. and they all differ in what they offer along with their associated fees and charges.

In my guide to the best SIPP providers in the U.K., I analyze fees, ease of use, and trading charges to highlight the best providers in the U.K. I prioritised providers that don’t charge fees for transferring elsewhere and focused on platforms that allow you to pick your own investments, which excludes robo-advisors that solely offer ready-made portfolios.

Best SIPP Providers in the UK

I've opened and paid into several SIPPs over the years, and I currently hold three self-invested personal pensions with different providers for my personal savings. My review process at UK.StockBrokers.com involves hands-on testing of each provider, multiple rounds of fact-checking, and hundreds of data points per provider; here are my picks for the best SIPP providers in the UK for 2024:

Vanguard UK Investor
4/5 Stars 4.0 Overall

Best for low fees and a simple investment structure

Minimum Deposit£500
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ MonthN/A
ISAYes
SIPPYes

Vanguard U.K. Investor, part of one of the world's largest fund managers, is cheap and easy to use and will appeal to investors looking for inexpensive index funds for long-term investing. Its platform, however, reveals many shortcomings compared to leading brokers, particularly relating to the narrow investment selection and lack of mobile app. Read full review

Pros
  • Great value for money.
  • Low-cost diversification.
  • Good for beginner investors.
Cons
  • Investment options are very limited.
  • No mobile app.
  • Clunky website.
Interactive Investor
5/5 Stars 5.0 Overall

Best for flat fees

Minimum Deposit£0
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month£3.99
ISAYes
SIPPYes

The standout feature at Interactive Investor (ii) is its low flat-rate fees. Other investment platforms typically favour percentage fees for fund investing, although more brokers are now opting for flat fees. Our view is that Interactive Investor is a great platform for any investor, offering a wide range of investments for cheap prices on the whole. Read full review

Pros
  • Flat fee structure is very cost-effective for those with larger portfolios
  • Cheap for ISAs, SIPPs and general dealing accounts
Cons
  • Charges for mutual fund trades
  • Can work out more expensive for those with small portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
4.5/5 Stars 4.5 Overall

Great all-rounder

Minimum Deposit£1
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month£11.95
ISAYes
SIPPYes

As the U.K.’s biggest investment platform for individual investors, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a wide range of investment choices for either beginners or seasoned investors. However, its fees are generally more expensive than rival brokers, which can become an issue for large investment pots. Read full review

Pros
  • Offers a wide range of accounts
  • No custody charges for Junior ISAs
  • Plentiful educational materials
Cons
  • Stock trading fees are high
  • Charting features are not as sophisticated as other platforms
Saxo
4.5/5 Stars 4.5 Overall

Best for experienced investors with £200,000 or more

Minimum Deposit£0
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ MonthFrom £3 or 0.08%
ISAYes
SIPPYes

Saxo Markets’ trading platform is highly sophisticated and offers a huge range of international shares and funds. The biggest downside is the cost, as its charges are higher than its U.K. competitors. It's best suited for experienced investors rather than beginners. Read full review

Pros
  • Excellent web and mobile trading app
  • Offers ISAs and SIPPs
  • Now offers mutual funds
Cons
  • High fees for share and bond transactions
  • Limited chart features on the mobile app
  • Steep learning curve for newer investors
Bestinvest
4/5 Stars 4.0 Overall

Good choice for investing small amounts

Minimum Deposit£50
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month£0 - £4.95
ISAYes
SIPPYes

Bestinvest is a very good broker that should appeal to a wide range of investors. Fees are competitive, particularly if you invest in funds or US shares, and the investment options are extensive. The Bestinvest platform is relatively easy to use and the offer of a free 45 minute session with a financial coach can be a useful starting point for newer investors. Bestinvest is also a great option for a Junior SIPP, as it is one of very few UK brokers offering children’s pensions and with a low entry point. Read full review

Pros
  • Low minimum investment for junior SIPP (junior pension).
  • Free to buy and sell US shares.
  • Pays interest of 4.4% on cash held in any account.
Cons
  • 0.2% or 0.4% service charges to hold shares up to £250,000.
  • Investment options not as extensive as other platforms.
  • Some ready-made ‘expert’ fund fees are high at up to 1.5%.
AJ Bell
4.5/5 Stars 4.5 Overall
Minimum Deposit£0
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month£5
ISAYes
SIPPYes

You can invest in an extensive range of investments through AJ Bell. Charges are on the high side for those with large portfolios in mutual funds and those looking to execute one-off share deals; but its new app, called Dodl, offers much lower fees and also offers a more slim-lined and user-friendly service. Educational and research materials are strong, too. Read full review

Pros
  • Great range of accounts and investments
  • Great customer service
  • New Dodl app offers much lower fees
Cons
  • Expensive for those with larger fund portfolios
  • Chart tools are basic for more sophisticated traders
Fidelity International
4/5 Stars 4.0 Overall
Minimum Deposit£1000 info
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month£1.50 or £7.50
ISAYes
SIPPYes

Fidelity offers thousands of investments to choose from and also offers financial advice for those wanting more direction. It's best suited to traditional investors who hold a range of accounts through the platform, enjoy the great research material available and who may also use Fidelity for financial advice. The platform can be expensive for those with portfolios of less than £20,000 and those with portfolios above £40,000. Read full review

Pros
  • Offers financial advice services
  • No service fees on Junior ISAs
  • Fees are mid-range
Cons
  • You must pay in at least £25 a month or £1,000 lump sum payment to open an account
  • Does not offer bonds
Sponsored

Vanguard - Best for low fees and a simple investment structure

Company Overall Rating Minimum Deposit SIPP ISA
Vanguard UK Investor logoVanguard UK Investor
4/5 Stars £500 Yes Yes

Vanguard’s SIPP is simple, straightforward, and low-cost. It is a favourite among DIY investors who favour simple tracker funds and are looking to save on investment fees.

Investment choices: There is a very limited range of investments on the Vanguard platform, but this is no bad thing for newer investors or those who take a hands-off approach. You can’t invest in individual company stocks through Vanguard. Instead, you have access to around 85 Vanguard funds. These funds offer access to global companies and bonds.

Fees: There are typically no dealing fees. Annual management fees are just 0.15%, capped at £375 a year, on top of fund fees averaging 0.20% a year. This makes Vanguard’s SIPP a very low-cost option for investors with a portfolio of less than £100,000.

If your portfolio is worth more than £100,000 then a broker with flat fees may work out cheaper and you’d get more investment choice. Annual management fees would be £150 a year on top of ongoing fund charges. But Vanguard offers a great starting point for a SIPP.

Platform: The website is easy to navigate and you can filter funds by region, risk level or management type. There is not yet a mobile app available to all users but one is currently being tested. For an even deeper dive, check out my full review of Vanguard.

Interactive Investor - Best for flat fees

Company Overall Rating Minimum Deposit SIPP ISA
Interactive Investor logoInteractive Investor
5/5 Stars £0 Yes Yes

If you have a healthy pension pot of more than £55,000, and like access to a wide range of investments, then a flat-fee SIPP provider such as Interactive Investor (ii) is worth considering.

Investment choices: There is a broad range of investments available through the ii SIPP, with more than 40,000 assets to choose from including U.K. and U.S. stocks, funds, investment trusts, ETFs, and bonds. You can also invest in ready-made portfolios if you’d prefer not to choose your own investments.

Fees: Interactive Investor’s SIPP costs £12.99 a month (£155.88 a year) for those with savings above £50,000. If you already have an ISA or trading account with ii, the SIPP fee reduces to £5 a month (£60 a year). For those with less than £50,000, ii’s SIPP fee is £5.99 a month.

In comparison, if you held £55,000 in funds with a platform such as Fidelity or Hargreaves Lansdown, you’d pay annual management fees of £192.50 and £247.50 respectively. As you can see, a flat-fee platform can be a cheaper option for those with more invested.

Interactive Investor’s regular investing service also means there are no dealing charges if you invest regularly each month. Otherwise, one-off investments are £3.99 to buy or sell.

These dealing charges are on the lower end of other rival traditional platforms but are more expensive than a broker like CMC Invest, which offers free trading - although the monthly SIPP charge is more expensive at £25 a month (free for the first year).

Platform: There is excellent educational material and the mobile app is also comprehensive. The website is easy to use and I found it relatively simple to figure out ii's services and charges navigating through it. To learn more about what it has to offer, read my full review of Interactive Investor.

Hargreaves Lansdown - Great all-rounder

Company Overall Rating Minimum Deposit SIPP ISA
Hargreaves Lansdown logoHargreaves Lansdown
4.5/5 Stars £1 Yes Yes

Hargreaves Lansdown’s SIPP could be a great option if you have a large amount invested in ETFs or investment trusts and don’t trade frequently.

Fees: If you hold ETFs, investment trusts, or company shares then Hargreaves Lansdown’s SIPP is competitive on price as the annual management fee is capped at £200. Dealing charges are high though at £11.95 per trade for listed companies, so can work out quite expensive if you trade regularly.

Hargreaves Lansdown charges annual fees of 0.45% on mutual funds, so the platform can also work out expensive if you hold a large amount in mutual funds. If you have more than £20,000 invested in funds you may be better looking at a flat-fee broker or one that charges lower management fees. Fidelity, for example, charges 0.35% and fund trades are free like Hargreaves Lansdown.

Platform and Investment Choices: Overall, the Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP is a very good choice as research materials are extensive, there is great customer service support, a very wide range of investments, and a user-friendly app. Read my full review of Hargreaves Lansdown for a more comprehensive description.

Saxo - Best for experienced investors with £200,000 or more

Company Overall Rating Minimum Deposit SIPP ISA
Saxo logoSaxo
4.5/5 Stars £0 Yes Yes

If you have a large SIPP portfolio worth more than £200,000, Saxo’s SIPP is worth looking at.

Fees: Annual management fees are 0.12% if you hold stocks, funds, or bonds (equal to £240 a year), or 0.2% if you hold mutual funds (£400 a year on a £200,000 holding).

Saxo does not charge dealing fees for funds. Trading fees for UK shares are 0.05% (minimum £3) or 0.01% (minimum $1) for US stocks which means Saxo is on the low end compared to other SIPP providers.

Platform and Investment Choices: Saxo gives access to the widest range of investments among the platforms we reviewed this year, offering 23,500 stocks across 50 exchanges and 6,000 funds. Meanwhile, Saxo’s trading platform is one of the most comprehensive we tested and is used by both professional and large-scale traders. Delve in deeper at my exhaustive review of Saxo.

FAQs

Can I transfer my SIPP to another provider?

Yes, you can transfer a SIPP to another provider if you feel there is another that suits you better or if you are looking to save on fees. You also don’t need to go through a financial adviser. Simply find the provider you wish to switch to and start the transfer process from your new account.

crisis_alertWatch out for scams!

Always choose a SIPP provider that is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It is illegal for a company to cold-call you about pensions. Don’t sign up for any SIPP provider that contacts you out of the blue and promises investment returns that are too good to be true. All the investment platforms we review on UK.StockBrokers.com are trusted providers.

Be mindful that some providers charge exit fees when you move your SIPP away from them. However, providers attempting to attract new clients, such as Bestinvest or Fidelity, offer to cover the cost of some or all of your exit fees when you switch to them. In any case, it is always good policy to check for any set-up costs and ongoing charges with your new provider.

One available option is to sell your investments and convert them to cash to transfer to the new SIPP provider to then reinvest. Alternatively, you may be able to transfer your investments directly to another provider without selling them first if the new one offers the same investments. Do be aware that transferring your investments directly is more complicated and the process is likely to take longer than simply transferring the holdings as cash.

You can transfer funds between SIPPs at any time if you are under the age of 55. That said, if you are aged over 55 and have already started withdrawing money from your SIPP, there may be some restrictions.

Is there a penalty for withdrawing from SIPP?

There is usually a penalty if you withdraw from your SIPP before the age of 55, unless you have a serious health condition that allows you early access to your funds. You will pay tax of 55% on the amount you want to withdraw, so you’ll lose more than half of what you take out - a severe penalty for early withdrawal.

Once you are above the age of 55, there should be no longer be any penalties for withdrawing from your SIPP. However, there still may be income tax to pay depending on how much you earn per year.

What are the best-performing SIPP funds in the UK?

The three best-performing investment funds in the U.K. in the first half of 2024 were Neuberger Berman 5G Connectivity Fund Acc, Janus Henderson Global Tech Leaders, and Alger Focus Equity Z Fund US, according to investment data firm Morningstar. These are not specific SIPP funds, but they can be held in SIPPs.

Top 5 performing funds of 2024:*

  1. Neuberger Berman 5G Connectivity Fund Acc +30.45%
  2. Janus Henderson Global Tech Leaders +29.96%
  3. Alger Focus Equity Z Fund US +29.96%
  4. L&G Global Technology Index Trust Acc +29.51%
  5. Alger American Asset Growth US +28.81%

* 1 January - 30 June, Source: Morningstar

crisis_alertImportant disclaimer:

Please remember that past performance may not be a good prediction of future results. A fund which previously performed well may falter and decline in the future for various reasons. Always use due diligence and your best judgement before investing into a fund or stock.

According to SIPP provider Interactive Investor, these were the most popular SIPP funds, by category, held by its customers in July 2024:

Mutual funds:

  • Vanguard LifeStrategy 80% Equity A Acc
  • Fundsmith Equity I Acc
  • Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity A Acc

ETFs:

  • Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA)
  • iShares Core MSCI World ETF USD Acc (SWDA)
  • Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL)

Investment trusts:

  • Scottish Mortgage (SMT)
  • Alliance Trust (ATST)
  • F&C Investment Trust (FCIT)

Is my SIPP pension protected?

As long as your SIPP provider is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) then your money is protected by the Financial Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to the value of £85,000. Search the FCA’s financial services register to see if a provider is registered there and what would happen to your money if the company fails.

While you won’t get compensation if your investment goes down and you lose money, the FSCS may cover poor investment management.

Who is the best SIPP provider for commercial property?

You cannot directly hold commercial property through self-directed investment platforms – commercial property is a specialist type of investment. That said, you can invest in commercial property investment funds (called real estate investment trusts or REITs) through many of the best online brokers in the U.K. To buy and hold commercial property directly you’ll need a regulated specialist provider such as Standard Life or Barnett Waddingham.

Other SIPPs we rate:

  • Bestinvest: Offers free fund dealing. Account fees start from a low 0.2% for ready-made portfolios. However, there is a minimum annual management fee of £120 per year for SIPPs.
  • AJ Bell: A wide range of investments are available with AJ Bell’s SIPP. Annual service fees are a maximum of 0.25% for funds or up to £120 for shares and ETFs. Share dealing costs £5 and fund dealing is £1.50.
  • Fidelity: Charges a flat-rate fee of £90 a year for amounts under £25,000, and 0.35% on amounts above this up to £250,000. Dealing fees are £7.50 per trade but drop to £1.50 for regular investing.
​​

Our testing

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).

All content on UK.StockBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the U.K. brokerage industry.

Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Click here to learn more about how we test.

How we tested

At UK.StockBrokers.com, our online broker reviews are based on our collected quantitative data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research and collect hundreds of data points while testing brokerage firms, share dealing platforms, SIPP providers, ISA providers, and other financial service providers relevant to U.K. investors.

Mobile testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available:

  • For Apple, we use MacBook Pro laptops running macOS 14.5, and the iPhone 15 running iOS 17.6.1
  • For Android, we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 14.

All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.

Our researchers thoroughly test a wide range of key features, such as the availability and quality of trading platforms for web, desktop, and mobile, charting, real-time and streaming quotes, and educational resources – among other important variables. We also evaluate the overall design of the mobile experience, and look for a fluid user experience moving between mobile and desktop platforms.

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About the Editorial Team

Elizabeth Anderson

Elizabeth Anderson, lead writer and researcher, has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. In addition to her work with UK.StockBrokers.com, she has written extensively for major publications including BBC, The Times and Bloomberg. A keen investor herself, she is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing.

Steven Hatzakis

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for UK.StockBrokers.com and ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

Jeff Anberg

Jeff Anberg is a Staff Editor at UK.StockBrokers.com. Along with years of experience in media distribution at a global newsroom, Jeff has a versatile knowledge base encompassing the technology and financial markets. He is a long-time active investor and engages in research on emerging markets like cryptocurrency. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature with a minor in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.

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