How to Compare UK SIPPs: Fee Models, Investment Range, Withdrawal Flexibility

A SIPP is the longest-dated decision a UK self-directed investor makes. The wrapper compounds for thirty or forty years, fees scrape away at the tail of that compounding, and the choice between a capped-fee platform and a percentage-fee platform on a £500,000 future SIPP balance can swing the final pot by tens of thousands of pounds.

This article compares the main UK SIPPs that a self-directed investor is likely to consider in 2026, on the dimensions that actually move the answer: fee model, breakeven points, investment universe, drawdown flexibility, and post-Lifetime Allowance reform changes.

This is not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future returns. Consider speaking to an FCA-authorised financial adviser for personalised guidance.

Why SIPP fee structures matter at scale

The arithmetic of compounding makes SIPP fees disproportionately important. A £100,000 SIPP balance compounding at 6% real for 30 years grows to roughly £574,000. The same balance on the same return compounding at 5.5% (i.e. with 0.5% additional annual drag) grows to roughly £498,000. The £76,000 difference is the cost of an extra half-percent annual fee, paid by the investor over thirty years.

This is why "what fee am I paying" is a more important SIPP question than "what app do I like" — even though the app affects daily satisfaction far more than the fee affects daily satisfaction. The fee compounds; the app does not.

The two basic UK SIPP fee structures:

• Percentage-of-assets fees. A platform charge that is a percentage of the SIPP balance, applied annually. Hargreaves Lansdown's 0.45% custody charge on funds is the canonical example.
• Capped or flat fees. A fixed monthly or annual platform fee that does not scale with balance. AJ Bell (capped at £42/yr for shares and ETFs) and Interactive Investor (flat monthly fee) are the canonical examples.

For a small balance, percentage fees are cheaper. For a large balance, capped or flat fees are cheaper. The crossover point is where the comparison becomes interesting.

Capped fee vs % fee: where the breakeven sits

A worked illustration (numbers approximate, always confirm current schedules):

• 0.45% on £25,000 = £112.50 a year.
• 0.45% on £50,000 = £225 a year.
• 0.45% on £100,000 = £450 a year.
• A £120 capped annual fee beats 0.45% from around £27,000 onwards.
• A £200 flat annual fee beats 0.45% from around £45,000 onwards.

So once a SIPP balance moves above the mid-five-figures, capped or flat fee structures tend to be cheaper. The exact breakeven depends on which products you hold (custody charges differ between funds and shares on most platforms), what dealing charges you pay, and whether the platform tapers its percentage fee on larger balances.

A common pattern for UK self-directed investors is to start with a percentage-fee SIPP (because the balance is small and absolute pounds are low), then transfer to a capped or flat-fee SIPP at some point in their thirties or forties as the balance grows. Both directions of transfer are routine; in-specie transfers (moving holdings without selling) are widely supported among the major platforms.

Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP

The largest SIPP in the UK by assets, and the most commonly recommended by older investors and advisers.

Fee structure (approximate, confirm on HL's site):

• Funds: 0.45% per year on the first £250,000, tapering to 0.25% from £250k–£1m, 0.10% from £1m–£2m, 0% above £2m.
• Shares, ETFs and investment trusts: 0.45% capped at £200 per year on the SIPP.
• Dealing charges: £11.95 per trade for shares and ETFs; fund dealing is free.
• No additional SIPP-specific charges for routine activity. Drawdown, UFPLS payments and beneficiary nominations have their own fee schedule.

Strengths. Premium customer service, good research tooling, well-documented drawdown processes. The cap on shares-and-ETF custody at £200/yr makes HL's SIPP reasonable for share-and-ETF-heavy portfolios up to large balances, though the 0.45% fund custody is meaningfully expensive for fund-heavy portfolios above ~£25,000.

Gaps. Fund custody fees are the highest among major peers. The mobile app is a step behind some newer entrants. SIPP drawdown is well-supported but the in-app experience is more dated than the web.

Best fit: investors who want premium service and hold mostly shares, ETFs and investment trusts in their SIPP (where the cap protects them from unbounded fees), or larger fund balances in the tapered zones above £250k.

AJ Bell SIPP

The most commonly chosen capped-fee SIPP among UK self-directed investors at mid-five-figure to mid-six-figure balances.

Fee structure (approximate):

• Funds: 0.25% per year on first £250,000, tapering above. Capped at £30 per quarter (£120 per year) on shares, ETFs and investment trusts in the SIPP.
• Dealing charges: £5 online for shares and ETFs, dropping to £3.50 for frequent dealers (10+ deals previous month). Fund dealing is £1.50.
• No additional SIPP charges for routine accumulation. Drawdown is supported with a separate fee schedule.

Strengths. Capped charges on shares and ETFs make the SIPP cost-predictable for share-heavy portfolios. Fund custody is meaningfully cheaper than HL on smaller balances, though the £120 cap means the percentage drag on larger balances is smaller still. The SIPP is well-documented, drawdown options are comprehensive, and the platform supports a wide investment universe.

Gaps. The mobile app is functional but the least loved of the major UK SIPPs. The fund dealing charge of £1.50 per transaction is a small but real friction for frequent fund dealers.

Best fit: UK self-directed investors at five-to-six-figure SIPP balances who hold a mix of funds and shares and want the capped-fee profile without giving up the broad investment universe.

Interactive Investor SIPP

The flat-fee SIPP. Interactive Investor charges a monthly subscription rather than a percentage of assets, which is the cleanest expression of capped fees in the UK retail market.

Fee structure (approximate, confirm on II's site):

• Plans: Investor Essentials at one monthly price, Investor at another, Super Investor at the highest tier. The SIPP is included as part of the plan or available as an add-on depending on tier.
• Dealing charges: Per-trade charges that are partially refundable as monthly trade credits within the plan.
• No percentage of assets is charged on the SIPP itself.

Strengths. At larger balances, the flat-fee model produces the lowest absolute fee of any major UK SIPP. The investment universe is broad, the platform is well-established, and the drawdown processes are comprehensive.

Gaps. At smaller balances, the flat fee is more expensive than a percentage fee. The plan structure adds complexity — choosing between Essentials, Investor and Super Investor requires modelling expected dealing volume. The mobile app is functional but less polished than HL's web platform.

Best fit: UK investors with mid-six-figure or larger SIPP balances who want the cleanest expression of "fees do not scale with portfolio size".

Vanguard SIPP

The cheapest SIPP for Vanguard fund holders specifically — but with a deliberately narrow investment universe.

Fee structure (approximate, confirm on Vanguard's site):

• Account fee: 0.15% per year on assets up to £250,000, with the fee capped at £375 per year on balances above. The cap means the percentage drag falls as the balance grows above £250k.
• No dealing charges on Vanguard's own funds and ETFs.
• No additional SIPP-specific charges for routine activity.

Strengths. The lowest fund SIPP cost in the UK retail market, by some margin, on Vanguard products. The account fee is clean and the cap is generous. For an investor who has decided their SIPP will be a Vanguard tracker portfolio, this is hard to beat on cost.

Gaps. The investment universe is restricted to Vanguard's own funds and ETFs and a curated set of other ETFs. Individual shares are not available (or have limited availability). Investment trusts, alternative assets, and the broader market range are out of scope. The drawdown experience is functional but less feature-rich than the larger platforms.

Best fit: UK investors who have decided to hold a Vanguard-only SIPP and want the lowest possible cost. Not suitable for investors who want to hold individual shares, investment trusts or non-Vanguard funds in the SIPP.

Freetrade SIPP

The newer, mobile-first entrant. Freetrade's SIPP launched as part of the broader Freetrade product and uses a flat-fee model.

Fee structure (approximate, confirm on Freetrade's site):

• SIPP plan: monthly subscription that includes the SIPP wrapper and access to the platform.
• Dealing charges: included in the subscription on most products.
• No percentage of assets charged on the SIPP itself.

Strengths. The mobile app is the most modern in the UK SIPP market. Onboarding is fast, fractional shares are supported on most US names, and the flat-fee model means costs are predictable. For investors who want a simple, mobile-first SIPP and are happy with the share / ETF universe Freetrade supports, the product is competitive.

Gaps. The platform is younger than HL, AJ Bell or II, and the SIPP product specifically is more recent. Drawdown processes have been less stress-tested by long-running customers. The fund universe is narrower than the established platforms — primarily ETFs rather than mutual funds. Some advanced SIPP features (small self-administered scheme structures, complex in-specie transfers, certain alternative investment classes) are not supported.

Best fit: Younger UK investors building up a SIPP, who want the mobile-first experience and a flat-fee structure, and whose investment range is primarily ETFs and shares rather than the broader fund universe.

Quick comparison table

Always confirm fees, dealing charges and drawdown options on each provider's site before deciding — published schedules change.

Drawdown rules: UFPLS vs flexi-access

Once you reach the minimum pension age (currently 55, rising to 57 in April 2028), there are two main ways to take money from a SIPP:

UFPLS — Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sum. Taking ad-hoc lump sums from the uncrystallised SIPP. 25% of each lump sum is tax-free; 75% is taxed as income at marginal rate. Useful for irregular drawdown without committing the SIPP to flexi-access drawdown.

Flexi-access drawdown. Crystallising the SIPP, taking the 25% tax-free lump sum (the Pension Commencement Lump Sum, PCLS) up front, and then drawing taxable income from the crystallised pot at your own pace. The remaining 75% is taxed as income on withdrawal. This is the more common approach for UK self-directed retirees who want flexibility and control over income timing.

Both routes trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) once you start taking taxable income. The MPAA reduces the annual contribution limit for SIPPs and other money-purchase pensions from the standard annual allowance to £10,000 from the tax year you first take taxable income. The MPAA is a real constraint for people who want to keep working and contributing while drawing some pension income.

The choice between UFPLS and flexi-access drawdown depends on personal circumstances and is generally a matter for regulated advice. Most major UK SIPP platforms support both.

Lifetime Allowance changes: 2024 abolition and 2026 status

The UK Lifetime Allowance (LTA) was abolished from 6 April 2024. It was replaced by:

• The Lump Sum Allowance (LSA), which caps tax-free lump sums (PCLS and tax-free elements of UFPLS) at £268,275 across all your pensions in your lifetime.
• The Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA), which caps tax-free lump sums on death plus tax-free lump sums in life at £1,073,100.

Both replacement allowances apply across the entirety of pension lump-sum taking, not per pension. For 2026/27, both allowances remain at the post-abolition levels. There is ongoing political discussion about possible reintroduction or modification of the lifetime cap regime; always check the current position before making decisions that depend on these limits.

The LTA abolition was the most material change to UK pension tax treatment in a decade. For SIPPs in particular, it removed a 25% tax charge on growth above the previous £1.0731m cap, making heavy SIPP contributions and growth above seven figures meaningfully more attractive than they were under the LTA regime — subject to the new allowances on lump-sum taking.

Tools that surface SIPP costs alongside ISA and GIA

Most UK investors hold a SIPP alongside an ISA and possibly a GIA, often at different platforms. The total cost picture is rarely visible from any single broker's app.

What a wrapper-aware aggregation tool can show:

• Total annual fee paid across SIPP, ISA and GIA on each platform, broken down by custody charges, dealing charges and any fund TER drag.
• Effective total fee as a percentage of total invested assets — the single number that actually drives compounding outcome.
• Comparison view that estimates the fee on the same holdings at a different platform, to help quantify "what would I save by transferring this".
• Breakeven view: at what balance does my current fee structure become more expensive than alternatives — and at what balance does an alternative become cheaper than the current one.

This is the kind of analysis that genuinely changes decisions. The answer to "should I transfer my SIPP to a capped-fee platform" is a function of your current balance, expected growth, and your dealing pattern; surfacing the numbers is a precondition to thinking about it.

FAQ

Which UK SIPP has the lowest fees for £100k+?

It depends on what you hold. For a Vanguard-only fund SIPP, Vanguard's own SIPP at 0.15% capped at £375 is the cheapest by a clear margin, with the trade-off that the investment universe is restricted to Vanguard products. For a broader fund and share portfolio, AJ Bell's 0.25% on funds (capped £120 on shares and ETFs) and Interactive Investor's flat monthly fee tend to be cheaper than HL on £100k+ balances. The exact answer depends on the mix of funds versus shares and dealing volume.

Capped fee vs percentage — when does each win?

Percentage fees are cheaper at small balances; capped or flat fees are cheaper at larger balances. The crossover for typical UK SIPPs sits in the £25,000–£50,000 range, depending on the specific schedules. A common pattern is to start with a percentage-fee SIPP and transfer to a capped or flat-fee SIPP as the balance grows.

Can I hold any investment in a SIPP?

The major UK SIPPs support a broad investment universe — UK and international shares, UCITS ETFs, mutual funds, investment trusts, fixed-term bonds and gilts. Some SIPPs (particularly small self-administered structures, not the retail SIPPs covered here) support property, unquoted shares and other alternatives. Vanguard and Freetrade's SIPPs are deliberately narrower than HL, AJ Bell and II. Always check the specific platform's "supported investments" page.

Vanguard SIPP vs HL SIPP — which is better?

Different jobs. Vanguard is the cheapest fund SIPP in the UK retail market for Vanguard-only portfolios; if you have decided your SIPP will be Vanguard trackers, the cost case is strong. HL is the broadest investment universe and most premium service, with correspondingly higher fund custody fees. The choice is between "lowest cost on a narrow universe" and "highest service and breadth on a wider universe". Neither is universally right; both are reasonable depending on the investor.

Is the lifetime allowance really gone?

The Lifetime Allowance was abolished from 6 April 2024 and remains abolished as of 2026/27. It has been replaced by the Lump Sum Allowance (£268,275 cap on tax-free lump sums) and the Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (£1,073,100). The 25% LTA tax charge on growth above the old cap no longer applies. Political discussion of reintroducing or modifying lifetime caps continues; current position should always be confirmed before decisions depending on these limits.

Can I track my SIPP alongside my ISA?

Yes, with an aggregation tool. Most major UK platforms produce CSV exports and year-end statements that aggregation tools can ingest. A wrapper-aware tool will show the SIPP, ISA and GIA in a unified view with total fees, total dividend flow split by tax-treatment, and overall asset allocation. Invormed is built specifically for this multi-wrapper UK self-directed investor profile.

Want a single view of your SIPP, ISA and GIA with total fees and wrapper-aware analysis? Invormed is in early access — join the early-access waitlist.