AJ Bell is one of the UK’s biggest and longest-established investment companies, and was one of the first to offer SIPPs to a wide retail audience. Read on to find out how it compares with rival pension providers for fees, features and more.<\/p>
AJ Bell is an investment company with headquarters in Manchester. It’s been in business for more than 25 years, and has more than 644,000 investment customers.<\/p>
Alongside its personal pension products, AJ Bell also offers cash savings, various types of ISAs and a general investment account (GIA). You can read more about what the full platform has to offer in our full, in-depth AJ Bell review.<\/p>
AJ Bell offers two types of personal pensions: a full self-invested personal pension (SIPP)<\/a> and a “ready-made” pension, which it launched in early 2024. Personal, or “private pensions<\/a>” are schemes that you set up yourself, separately from your state pension and any workplace pension.<\/a><\/p> A SIPP is a type of pension where, rather than the pension provider setting up and managing your pension, you are in full control of what assets make up your pension portfolio. You’re responsible for choosing the assets in the first place, monitoring performance, and deciding if and when you want to buy and sell. You can do this completely yourself or, if you wish, pay a financial adviser to do so on your behalf.<\/p> Or, if you want to avoid the hassle of managing your own pension (or the cost of paying an adviser to do so), with AJ Bell’s more traditional ready-made portfolios means you simply choose one of its 4 growth funds. AJ Bell’s in-house experts then manage your pension on your behalf so, bar the occasional check in to make sure your pension is performing as expected, you can take a hands-off approach.<\/p> As of October 2024, the ready-made pension is only available to new customers, and you can’t hold a SIPP and a ready-made pension at the same time. If you opt for AJ Bell’s ready-made pension you’ll pay a single annual “all-in” charge of either 0.45% or 0.6% of the value of your pension.<\/p> This charge will be taken from your fund on a monthly basis. There are no additional charges to pay; it’s free to switch your investment to a different fund, or transfer your pension to another provider.<\/p> Charges for AJ Bell’s SIPP are a bit more complicated, as they depend on the specific assets you hold in your portfolio. There are two main types of fee:<\/p> As with AJ Bell’s ready-made pension, there are no fees to transfer your SIPP account to another provider. However, you may also incur a few other charges, including:<\/p> If you opt for a ready-made pension, you have 4 growth funds to choose between:<\/p> AJ Bell’s SIPP gives you access to a wide range of investment assets, including:<\/p> It’s up to you what types of asset you include in your portfolio, and in what proportion. The right balance for you will depend on lots of things, including your appetite for risk, your ethical viewpoint, and how close to retirement you are. AJ Bell allows transfers-in of most types of UK pension. You might want to consider this if AJ Bell offers lower charges than an existing pension scheme, or you just want to consolidate lots of smaller pots into a single scheme.<\/p> To initiate a transfer, the first step is to open an AJ Bell pension. As part of the application, you’ll be asked for details of the account you want to transfer, including the account number and approximate value of your holdings. You should be able to find these details on the most recent statement from your current provider. Occasionally, AJ Bell might ask you to send it supportive information by post.<\/p> Once it has all the information you need, AJ Bell will handle the transfer for you and keep you posted on progress. Transferring can take anything from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the types of investment held in your existing pensions.<\/p> If you’ve got lots of small pension pots that you want to consolidate, but can’t lay your hands on the details, AJ Bell also offers a free pension finding service for its customers.<\/p> While transferring most defined contribution pension schemes is usually straightforward, in some cases it’s a good idea to think twice \u2013 and possibly take financial advice \u2013 before doing so. These include pension schemes with special benefits, such as guaranteed annuity rates, and defined benefit pension schemes (that pay out a guaranteed income for life). If you’re thinking of transferring a defined benefit pension worth \u00a330,000 or more, you’re obliged to speak to a financial adviser before doing so.<\/p> Regardless of the type of pension you’re thinking of transferring, check whether it charges any exit fees to leave it. AJ Bell will pay up to \u00a3500 to cover exit fees when you move over an account worth \u00a320,000 or more.<\/p> AJ Bell is part of the AJ Bell Group, which is a financially secure and regulated public company. AJ Bell Securities Limited is a member of the LSE and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).<\/p> It complies with the rules and guidelines of the FCA and is subject to review in the form of individual interviews, document review and deep-dive visits.<\/p> Your money is held in FCA approved banks and is protected under the FCA rules. Under AJ Bell you are also covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection, which means you could claim up to \u00a3120,000 if AJ Bell was to go bust.<\/p> AJ Bell provides lots of ways for its customers to get in touch, including phone (open 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays), post, email and web chat.<\/p> The platform scored well for its overall service (not just its SIPP) in Finder’s 2024 customer satisfaction survey; 95% of customers said they’d recommend it to a friend.<\/p> And on reviews site Trustpilot, AJ Bell has an impressive rating of 4.9 out of 5 “Excellent” score, based on more than 6,000 customer reviews (as of October 2024), with recent positive reviews highlighting good customer service. Again, this score is for its overall service rather than specifically for its pensions, but the handful of reviews that mention its pension or SIPP are largely positive.<\/p> Among the relative minority of negative reviews, there was no particular theme to be singled out, with criticisms ranging from out of date processes to technical issues to disappointing customer service. To its credit, AJ Bell responds to all negative reviews, and typically in less than 24 hours.<\/p> With full SIPPs like AJ Bell’s, pension holders are fully responsible for making their own investment decisions, which will in turn determine how your pension performs. This kind of personal pension is typically better suited to more experienced investors, rather than beginners.<\/p> With the introduction of its ready-made pension, AJ Bell has opened up its offering to those looking for a more straightforward option, which might appeal to those new to investing. It’s a shame that, as of<\/p> October 2024, there isn’t the flexibility to split your pension holdings across its ready-made portfolios and its full SIPP, but perhaps this will come in time.<\/p> If you’re not sure what kind of pension is right for you, it’s a good idea to get financial advice first. You can pay a regulated financial adviser for tailored advice. For more general, free guidance on the options available, you can contact the government’s MoneyHelper service.<\/p>\n Fees and costs for AJ Bell pension\n <\/h2>\nAJ Bell’s charges depend on the type of pension you choose, like we mentioned, it can get a little bit complicated.<\/p>
Fees for AJ Bell’s ready-made pension<\/h4>
Fees for AJ Bell’s SIPP<\/h4>
\n Investment options with AJ Bell pension\n <\/h2>\nYour investment choice with an AJ Bell pension will depend on which type of pension you opt for.<\/p>
AJ Bell ready-made pension investment options<\/h4>
AJ Bell SIPP investment options<\/h4>
\n How can you manage the AJ Bell pension?\n <\/h2>\nYou can manage your AJ Bell pension using its online portal or the AJ Bell app. Once you’ve logged in you can:<\/p>
View the performance and current value of your pension portfolio.<\/li>\n Transferring a pension to AJ Bell\n <\/h2>\n
\n Is AJ Bell safe?\n <\/h2>\n
\n AJ Bell customer service and reviews\n <\/h2>\n
\n Who is the AJ Bell pension suited to?\n <\/h2>\n
\n Frequently asked questions\n <\/h2>\n
\n