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With the cost of a comfortable retirement on the rise, savers need to make sure their nest egg is as large as possible. One thing that will make a difference – to the tune of thousands of pounds – is choosing a provider with the cheapest fees, especially if you opt for a self-invested personal pension (Sipp).

Analysis from the consumer group Which? earlier this year found that retirees could end up being up to £30,000 better off if they switched from the most expensive provider to the cheapest.

But it can be difficult to tell what the cheapest option is, particularly when factoring in additional fees and different charging structures – the cheapest Sipp for one person may not necessarily be the best deal for another.

Here, Telegraph Money reveals the cheapest (and most expensive) Sipp provider for 2024, and what other fees and charges to watch out for.

Which Sipp provider is the cheapest?

Holding or “platform” fees are usually charged based on the size of your portfolio, most commonly a percentage of how much you have saved. The percentages may seem small, often less than 1pc, but if you have a portfolio of, say, £500,000 then even a 0.5 percentage point difference can mean an extra £2,500 a year in fees.

Some platforms charge a flat fee, which can be a cheap option if you have a larger portfolio, but not so much if you only have a small amount invested. A fee of £10 a month, for example, is 0.02pc of that same £500,000 portfolio, but 1pc if your portfolio is just £1,000.

Figures compiled by the Lang Cat for Telegraph Money show the cheapest Sipp provider for a smaller portfolio of £5,000 is £19, or 0.37pc, with AJ Bell Youinvest. This is based on the cost of investing over a year, and includes opening fees, ongoing holding fees and assumes making four buys or sells of a fund during the year. Of course, the total cost of investing will be higher still as funds will charge their management fees on top.

The cheapest option for a £1m portfolio is Interactive Investor’s Pension Builder, which charges a flat fee of £172 a year, regardless of portfolio size. This is the equivalent of 0.02pc charge.



Britain’s biggest stockbroker, Hargreaves Lansdown, emerges as among the most expensive options, particularly for those with portfolios between £100,000-£250,000. Under the same assumptions, those with portfolios of this size could expect to pay 0.45pc, equating to £450-£1,125 in fees. With a £1m portfolio, you’d pay £3,000 a year – second only to Bestinvest, which charges £4,000 in this scenario.

Remember that the analysis only takes into account platform charges, not the quality of support, websites, investment analysis or customer service a provider may offer.

What other fees do you pay with a Sipp?

While platform fees are important to consider, they’re not the only charges you’ll stand to pay.

The amount you pay in transaction fees can depend on what kind of investor you are; if you regularly tweak your investments you’ll likely be charged more in transaction fees. These might be outweighed by your returns if you make shrewd choices, but they are worth bearing in mind nonetheless.

If you’re invested in actively managed funds, you can expect to pay an ongoing fee – costs vary, but 1pc would be considered fairly expensive. Passive funds, such as trackers, come with fees, too, but they’re generally much cheaper, and many now cost less than 0.1pc.

Not all stockbrokers will charge for fund trading, but some do. AJ Bell, for instance, charges £1.50 to buy and sell funds online.

If you trade shares, you’ll typically get charged a fee each time, but it often reduces the more you trade. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 per deal for the first nine deals, falling to £8.95 when you make 10 to 19 deals, and £5.95 per deal above that.

Similarly, AJ Bell charges £9.95 per deal, reducing to £4.95 if you had 10 or more share deals in the previous month.

If you’re more inclined to leave your investments alone, your transaction fees will be less – but it’s a good idea to keep abreast of market changes, or you could end up holding on to investments that should be ditched.

What if I don’t buy funds?

While some providers may look fairly expensive in our table, the way you invest might mean you actually end up paying far less than the table suggests.

This might be the case if you chose not to invest in funds. For example, Hargreaves Lansdown fees are charged at 0.45pc, capped at £200 a year plus any dealing charges, if you invest in shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or investment trusts within your Sipp.

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