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Freetrade ReviewAJ Bell Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Your capital is at risk.
One of the U.K.’s biggest DIY investment platforms, AJ Bell is a great investment platform whether you are a new investor or one with experience and a large portfolio. You can invest in an extensive range of investments through a variety of accounts including ISAs and SIPPs.
AJ Bell has a great range of educational and research material and also offers ready-made portfolios for those who don’t want to manage their own. AJ Bell also has an app called Dodl, a slimmer version of the main AJ Bell platform aimed at beginner investors.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£0 -
ISA:
Yes -
SIPP:
Yes
AJ Bell pros & cons
Pros
- Great range of accounts and investment choices
- Great customer service - easy to contact on the phone
- Dodl app offers a simpler account and fee structure
Cons
- On the more expensive side for those with larger fund portfolios
- Charges £1.50 per fund trade, whereas some other brokers don’t charge for fund trades
- Chart tools are basic for more sophisticated traders
- No fractional share dealing
Overall summary
| Feature |
AJ Bell
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Charges & Fees |
|
| Investment Choices |
|
| Mobile App |
|
| Website |
|
| Ease of Use |
|
| Education |
|
Charges and fees
AJ Bell charges a percentage of your investments to hold your money if you hold mutual funds, a fee model that’s common among investment platforms. AJ Bell charges 0.25% on funds up to £250,000, with the percentage fee dropping to 0.10% on amounts between £250,000 and £500,000. There are no custody charges on amounts above £500,000. The fees are cheaper than rival Hargreaves Lansdown, which charges 0.45% and only drops to zero on amounts above £2M.
This means the most you’ll pay per year in custody charges for funds is £875 if you have investments above £500,000. However, there is an additional charge of £3.50 a month if you hold shares through AJ Bell (or 0.25%, whichever is lower), so the total could be £917.
If you have a portfolio worth £500,000, you may be better off with a platform that charges a flat fee. Halifax, for example, charges £36 a year and Interactive Investor charges £143.88 a year. But for those with small portfolios, AJ Bell can offer good value. For example, with a portfolio of £5,000, you’d pay annual charges of £12.50.
AJ Bell charges £1.50 per mutual fund trade, although this fee is reduced to zero if you invest in an AJ Bell ready-made fund.
Fees to buy and sell stocks, investment trusts, bonds and ETFs are £5 per trade, reduced to £3.50 if you trade more than 10 times a month and to £1.50 if you invest in the same asset each month. AJ Bell works out cheap in terms of management fees if you only hold ETFs or stocks. Annual custody charges for shares, ETFs, and investment trusts are capped at £42 (or £3.50 a month).
AJ Bell also has an app-only investment platform called Dodl, which comes with lower charges than the main platform. The annual management fee is 0.15%, the same as low-cost provider Vanguard, although there is a £1 minimum monthly fee. There are no fees for buying and selling shares – so it works out much cheaper than going through AJ Bell’s main platform.
Scenario pricing: When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 shares portfolio in a traditional, taxable share dealing account, here are five scenarios of how much AJ Bell would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = £100
- 12 trades per year = £135
- 36 trades per year = £255
- 120 trades per year = £495
- 3 fund trades per year = £79.50
| Feature |
AJ Bell
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £0 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £5 |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £3.50 |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £3.50 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | £0 - £625 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £625 - £875 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £875 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £875 |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | £5 |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | £5 |
| ETFs - Fee | £5 |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | £5 |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | £25 |
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See my picks for the best UK trading platforms for beginners. More experienced traders should check out my guide to the best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders. If you're looking to trade shares on the go, read my guide to the best UK stock trading apps.
Mobile trading apps
In my testing, I found AJ Bell’s main mobile app simple to use albeit very basic in design and features. Nevertheless, it’s easy to create or view your watchlist, buy and sell holdings, and see your investments all in one place on the home page.
While there is a news and markets tab where you can see how global indices are performing, overall there is only limited news or analysis available in the app. You can also search for investment ideas in the app, but this is limited only to funds or ETFs. I think the mobile app could offer more investment inspiration for stocks, which other platforms such as CMC Invest or Robinhood do well, and is already offered on Dodl.
The main app is separate from AJ Bell’s Dodl app; you’ll need to register for both and create a separate account if you want to access both. The Dodl app is very much aimed at beginner investors, offering just three investment ranges — AJ Bell funds, themed investments and shares — with a one-sentence description of each. Themed investments include sectors such as ‘robo revolution’, where you can invest in a fund that invests in robotics companies worldwide. Despite being more basic, I found Dodl more interesting to use than AJ Bell’s main app.
Tap for a demo of AJ Bell's U.K. trading app.
Website
The AJ Bell website is very detailed, offering lots of information on account opening and management, news and insights, and investment tools.
When you log into the website you are taken to your account summary, along with a chart showing the daily performance of the FTSE 100. There are also various links to investment news and videos.
Once in your account, you can see a pie chart showing the allocations of your current portfolio and you can create a watch list of stocks and funds you would like to monitor. Share prices are delayed by 15 minutes by default, but you can select the ‘real-time’ switch to see live prices.
I found some of AJ Bell’s charting tools to be quite useful, such as the ability to compare two stocks on a single chart, or to compare the performance of a fund or stock against an index such as the FTSE 100. For experienced investors looking to use charts to analyse historical trends in more depth, brokers including eToro and Interactive Brokers offer better charting tools and indicators.
| Feature |
AJ Bell
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 31 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 8 |
| Charting - Notes | No |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes |
Investment choices
The range of investments available through AJ Bell includes more than 2,000 funds and shares across 25 markets, and 450 investment trusts. This is fewer than other platforms but is still all most investors would need.
AJ Bell’s ‘favourite funds’ list helps to make diversification easier for novice or unconfident investors by picking funds it thinks are most likely to provide you with an income or with long-term growth. You can filter by fund type, fund sector or investment goal.
AJ Bell offers corporate bonds or gilts but only by calling (0345 54 32 600). You can't buy or sell bonds online or through the mobile app.
AJ Bell is one of just a few investment platforms to offer Lifetime ISAs (LISAs) for first-time buyers or people looking for a pension alternative. Its fees are very competitive for LISAs, charging 0.15% through Dodl or 0.25% through the main AJ Bell platform. If you are looking to open an investment LISA, or already have one with another provider, I think it’s definitely worth checking Dodl to see if you can save on fees while still getting a great investment experience.
One downside of AJ Bell is that it does not offer fractional share dealing, meaning you have to buy whole shares. For a new investor looking to trade small amounts, a platform that allows you to buy fractional shares may be more suitable.
| Feature |
AJ Bell
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes |
| CFD Trading | No |
| Funds | Yes |
| Research - ETFs | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes |
| Investment Trusts | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No |
| Crypto Trading | No |
| Advisor Services | No |
Education
I was impressed by the large amount of research, news, and views on the AJ Bell website and app. The company educates investors through regular webinars, live events, email briefings, videos, and online articles. It records a weekly podcast called ‘AJ Bell Money & Markets,’ and its in-house experts are frequently quoted in the financial press.
The contact centre is very easy to access. Whenever I’ve had a query in the past it’s been easy to talk to someone.
| Feature |
AJ Bell
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
Final thoughts
AJ Bell is a solid choice for investors, whether looking to invest in funds, stocks, or both. You can open a wide range of accounts, which is particularly useful for those looking to open a Lifetime ISA or Junior SIPP as not many U.K. investment platforms offer these.
However, AJ Bell does charge £5 per time for one-off share transactions. If you have a small portfolio or are looking to trade stocks irregularly, there are cheaper platforms available – such as eToro, XTB or Trading 212. These don’t charge any trading fees at all.
On the other hand, you could sign up to AJ Bell’s new app Dodl where charges are much lower and competitive with the other commission-free brokers listed above. You’d get the benefit of the AJ Bell brand but at a much lower cost than its main platform. There are fewer investments through Dodl but there are still enough for most investors.
For those interested in investing in mutual funds, AJ Bell offers a very wide choice to help you create a diversified investment portfolio. Ongoing account charges are 0.25% a year for amounts under £250,000, on top of other charges from the fund provider itself. AJ Bell also offers its own ready-made funds to bring fees down. There are no dealing charges for AJ Bell funds, but for funds from other providers, there is a £1.50 charge each time you invest.
About AJ Bell
AJ Bell is one of the UK’s biggest investment platforms, with around 490,000 customers. This is a similar amount to Interactive Investor and about a third of the U.K.’s largest DIY broker, Hargreaves Lansdown. AJ Bell was founded in 1995 as an actuarial consultancy and is now listed on the FTSE 250.
Is AJ Bell a good broker?
AJ Bell is considered a very good broker. It offers a wide range of accounts and investments and the customer support, user experience and educational materials are all very good.
Is my money safe with AJ Bell?
Your money is very safe with AJ Bell as your investments are covered by up to £85,000 through the Financial Conduct Authority.
Is AJ Bell a good ISA?
AJ Bell offers a stocks and shares ISA, juniors ISA and a lifetime ISA. All offer the choice for you to create your own portfolio or to select a ready-made investment fund compiled by AJ Bell. In our testing, it was very easy to set up and invest through an AJ Bell ISA.
What management fees does AJ Bell charge?
AJ Bell’s management fees of 0.25% are low if you are investing low amounts – perhaps less than £10,000. For amounts above this, AJ Bell may not be the cheapest broker. However, AJ Bell’s new app Dodl, a simplified investment offering, has cheaper management charges at 0.15%.
You’ll also pay fees every time you make a trade. Fees per transaction are £1.50 through regular investing or £5 through one-off or ad hoc share or ETF trades.
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Methodology
For the UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Review, we assessed, rated, and ranked 17 U.K. share dealing platforms over a 10-week time period. Each broker’s platforms and features were exhaustively tested by hand and graded on 53 different variables. In total, over 25,000 words of research were produced.
We thoroughly tested and compared features of prime interest to everyday investors, including but not limited to:
- Investment choices, such as whether the broker offers trading of shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, and CFDs; and offers SIPP and ISA accounts.
- The broker’s charges and fees for investing.
- Functionality and design of mobile apps and website platform, and a fluid experience moving between app and web.
- Usability of tools such as charting and watch lists.
- Market research, such as screening, news and analysis.
- Educational resources including tutorials, online courses, videos, webinars and articles.
Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Our lead researcher and writer, Elizabeth Anderson, has more than a decade’s experience as a financial journalist and market researcher. Elizabeth’s expertise is backed by a team of veteran fellow traders, data auditors, editors and project managers who work to ensure that UK.StockBrokers.com reviews and guides are the most unbiased and complete in the industry. Read more about our team.
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Show allAbout the Editorial Team
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 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.
Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for Reink Media and former lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.