Your SIPP is changing
What’s changing and what are my options?
You should have recently received a letter from Halifax Share Dealing (HSDL), Bank of Scotland (BoS), or IWeb, confirming that their pension partnership with AJ Bell is coming to an end.
AJ Bell currently provides the pension administration and trustee services for your Self-invested personal pension (SIPP), with the investment services provided by either HSDL, BoS or IWeb.
With the end of the partnership, you now have the following options for what you’d like to do with your SIPP:
- Keep your investment services with HSDL/BoS/IWeb
This will mean that your SIPP administration and trustee services will move to Embark Investment Services Limited, who are the new pension partner for HSDL/BoS/IWeb. - Keep your SIPP administration and trustee services with AJ Bell
This will mean your investments will move to the AJ Bell platform, with all your SIPP administration and investment services provided by AJ Bell. - Transfer your SIPP and your investments to an entirely new provider of your choice
You also have the option to transfer everything over to a different pension provider.
Whichever option you choose, you will not be charged any fees for transferring your SIPP.
Disclaimer: Remember that investments go up and down in value, and you could lose money as well as make it. How you’re taxed will depend on your circumstances, and pension and tax rules can change. We don’t offer investment advice, so you’ll need to be confident you can manage your SIPP yourself.
Why stay with AJ Bell?
Fee-free until July 2028
After you transfer to us, we won’t take any account charges for three years.
A provider you can trust
We're a Which? Recommended Provider for seven years running.
Great customer service
Our customers have rated us Excellent on Trustpilot, with over 7,000 reviews.
No need to take any action
Your investments will automatically move to our award-winning platform.
Have a question?
Call our customer services team on 0345 54 32 600 or start a web chat online.
Our opening hours are:
Monday to Friday - 8am to 7pm
Saturday - 10am to 2pm
If you don’t make a decision by 11 April 2025, the administration of your SIPP will stay with AJ Bell and your investments will transfer to AJ Bell on 23 June 2025. You’ll then manage your SIPP entirely with AJ Bell.
How do the charges compare?
To help you make your decision, we compare the charges between AJ Bell and HSDL, BOS, and IWeb.
Account charges comparison
| Charges | Halifax/IWeb/Bank of Scotland | AJ Bell |
|---|---|---|
| Account charges | Annual 0.25% of the value of your SIPP investments, paid monthly. Maximum charge of £16.50 per month. These won’t be charged from the date you’re transferred until November 2028. | Shares: Annual 0.25% max £10/month Funds: First £250,000 – annual 0.25% Next £250,000 – annual 0.10% Value over £500,000 – annual 0% These won’t be charged from the date you’re transferred until July 2028. |
| Transferring a pension in from another provider | £0 | £0 |
| Transferring your pension out to another provider | £0 | £0 |
| Purchasing an annuity | £0 | £0 |
Dealing charges comparison
| Charges | Halifax/IWeb/Bank of Scotland | AJ Bell |
|---|---|---|
| Buying and selling shares, ETFs, investment trusts and bonds/gilts online | HFX/BOS: £9.50 IWeb: £5.00 | £5.00 or £3.50 if over 10+ deals in the previous calendar month |
| Buying and selling funds online | HFX/BOS: £9.50 IWeb: £5.00 | £1.50 |
| Telephone dealing | HFX/BOS: £25 IWeb: £5.00 | £25 |
| Regular investments | HFX/BOS: £0 IWeb: N/A | £1.50 |
| Dividend reinvestment | HFX/BOS: 2% of the dividend (max £9.50) IWeb: 2% of the dividend (max £5) | £1.50 |
| Foreign Exchange (FX) charges | HFX/BOS: 1.25% IWeb: 1.5% | First £10,000 – 0.75% Next £10,000 – 0.5% Value over £20,000 – 0.25% |
Example of how we calculate your SIPP charges
Meet Grace
Grace has a SIPP with us valued at £60,200 - made up of £24,000 invested in shares, £36,000 invested in funds and £200 in cash. Here's what Grace would pay in account and dealing charges (you can click between the tabs to see the full charges breakdown).
Portfolio value:
£60,200
| Calculation | Example charge |
|---|---|
| £24,000 in shares Calculation: 0.0025 x 24,000 / 12 | £5.00 |
| £36,000 in funds Calculation: 0.0025 x 36,000 / 12 | £7.50 |
| £200 in cash | No charge |
£12.50 |
*This is only an example of our charges. Your actual monthly charge will depend on the exact value of your account and investments at the end of each month, which may vary due to market fluctuation and growth.
Dealing charges depend on how many investments you buy and sell. The example below illustrates Grace’s dealing activity in a given month:
| Deal | Calculation | Charge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 share deals | Calculation: £5.00 x 2 | £10.00 |
| 2 fund deals | Calculation: £1.50 x 2 | £3.00 |
£13.00 |
If you don't buy or sell any investments during the month, you won't pay any dealing charges.
Use our charges calculator to estimate the charges you’ll pay for investing in a SIPP with us.
More information on the AJ Bell SIPP
You can choose from any of our investment options, including more than 2,000 funds, shares from the UK and international markets as well as investment trusts, ETFs, corporate bonds and gilts. If that feels like a lot to choose from, we also have the Pension builder fund, specifically designed for those saving for their retirement.
Learn about the Pension builder fund.
Assets you can't hold in a SIPP with us include private companies (i.e. those not listed on a stock exchange) and peer-to-peer lending. You also can't invest directly in residential or commercial property through your SIPP.
For more on what you can invest in, take a look at our investment options.
When you buy or sell international shares with us, you will pay a dealing charge each time you deal, and an additional foreign exchange charge.
| Value | Charge | |
|---|---|---|
| Buying and selling international shares online (per deal) | £5.00 | |
| Buying and selling international shares by phone (per deal) | £25 | |
| Foreign exchange charge on international dealing and foreign currency funds | First £10,000 Next £10,000 Value over £20,000 | 0.75% 0.50% 0.25% |
| Foreign exchange charge payable when we have to convert any dividends or corporate action payments into sterling | 0.50% | |
Foreign exchange charge is based on the sterling consideration after conversion to / from the local currency at the prevailing spot FX rate. We may share a proportion of this charge with our service provider.
In addition to these charges, there are additional government and local stock exchange charges for certain international markets. These charges will be added to your contract note. View these extra charges here.
No, you can’t normally access the money in your SIPP account until age 55. The minimum retirement age will rise to 57 in 2028. After that, it will rise in line with the state pension age – staying 10 years below it. So, if the state pension age rises to 68, the minimum retirement age will be 58.
If you’ve turned 55 and are looking to access your pension for the first time, you can learn more about your options at retirement.
The government's Pension Wise service also offers free, impartial guidance to help you understand the options at retirement. You can access it online or by telephone. If you're unsure if a SIPP is right for you, you should speak to a financial adviser.
Yes, they can. Employer contributions are paid gross, i.e. without tax being deducted first. Your employer can pay into your SIPP by cheque, Direct Debit or BACS.
Each time your employer makes a single contribution to your SIPP, you'll need to send us a completed SIPP additional contribution form. If you want your employer to make a payment by BACS, please send us a secure message asking for our bank details.
If you want your employer to make regular payments to your SIPP by Direct Debit, please ask them to complete a SIPP employer Direct Debit form and send it to us.
Find out more about employer pension contributions.
The annual allowance for most people is £60,000. If your total pension contributions – including any your employer makes – exceed your annual allowance, you’ll be subject to a tax charge. This is known as the annual allowance charge (AAC).
For more information on this charge and how to pay it, please read our guide on scheme pays. Or you can learn more about contributing to your pension.
Frequently asked questions
AJ Bell and Halifax/BoS/Iweb have had a long-standing partnership which is due to end this year. Halifax/BoS/Iweb have selected a new SIPP partner, Embark Investment Services Limited. This means that you’ll need to make a choice as to who you want to use for your SIPP going forward.
You have 3 options to choose from:
- Keep your investment services with Halifax/BoS/Iweb and transfer your SIPP trustee and administration services to their new provider, Embark.
- Keep your SIPP trustee and administration services with AJ Bell, and transfer your investments and cash to AJ Bell, meaning your SIPP will all be under AJ Bell.
- Transfer to an entirely different provider of your choice.
You need to have communicated your option to Halifax/BoS/Iweb by 11 April 2025.
You should have received a letter from Halifax/BoS/Iweb, to inform you of how to make your decision.
You can do this by logging into your existing SIPP and completing the ‘Your SIPP options’ form, by returning the form that was sent to you in the post, or by contacting Halifax Share Dealing by phone.
Yes, you can change your mind up until 11 April 2025.
If you choose to move to AJ Bell, we’ll write to you shortly after 11 April. Your SIPP investments and any cash in your SIPP will be transferred to your new AJ Bell SIPP on 23 June.
If you choose to move your SIPP trustee and administration services to Embark (Halifax/BoS/Iweb’s new SIPP provider), your SIPP will transfer to them in September.
If you choose an entirely different provider, you need to have opened a SIPP with them and instructed a SIPP transfer to them before 11 April. We’ll then process your transfer to your new provider as soon as possible.
Read more information on the AJ Bell SIPP. You can also read more about the SIPP key features.
No, if you choose to move to AJ Bell your investments will be transferred as they are, along with any cash. You’ll be able to access your AJ Bell SIPP online from 23 June 2025.
If you choose to move to AJ Bell, you can place deals within your current SIPP until 16:30 on Friday 20 June 2025. You can then place deals in your AJ Bell SIPP from Monday 23 June 2025.
Once your account has moved to AJ Bell, you’ll need to set up a new direct debit instruction. You can do this online for any personal contributions, or you can use the following form if you need to set up a regular contribution from your employer.
If you have any regular investment or trade plan instructions set up within your current SIPP, these will stop on 5 June 2025 and you’ll need to set up new instructions within your AJ Bell SIPP.
Regular investment orders cost £1.50 per investment with AJ Bell, and are dealt on the 10th of each month, or the next working day.
For any contributions you make before transferring to AJ Bell, they’ll be added to your new AJ Bell SIPP as soon as they are received from HMRC.
If you currently reinvest any dividends automatically, this will end after 5 June 2025. You’ll need to give new instructions to us once your account has been transferred. You can do this online within the Portfolio page.
The last dates for dividend reinvestment and regular investment with your current provider will be 5 June. Once your account moves to AJ Bell, you'll need to set up new instructions for dividend reinvestment and regular investment. You can do this easily online from the portfolio page.
For more information on this charge and how to pay it, please read our guide on scheme pays. Or you can learn more about contributing to your pension.
If you have any dividends due to be paid into your SIPP after the transfer date, these will be forwarded to us so we can add them to your account. Any dividends going forwards will then be credited directly to your AJ Bell SIPP.
Any active limit orders or stop losses at close of business on Friday 20 June 2025 will be cancelled, these will need to be reinstructed within your new AJ Bell SIPP.
If you choose to move to AJ Bell, the transfer will take effect on 23 June 2025. We won’t apply the Shares or Funds account charge until July 2028. All other charges, such as dealing and FX charges, will apply from 23 June 2025.
Yes, if you want to move to AJ Bell before 23 June, you will need to open a SIPP and then submit a transfer instruction online once your SIPP is open. Please note that if you transfer early, account charges will be taken until the three year fee-free period begins on 23 June 2025.
Yes, whether you are in full-time employment or contribute from your own limited company, we can accept your employer SIPP contributions.
As Halifax/BoS/Iweb don’t offer a Junior SIPP, you have two options:
- Transfer the Junior SIPP to AJ Bell
- Choose an entirely new provider for your Junior SIPP
Yes, we can accept overseas residents in most circumstances. Please be advised that if you ever needed to take an income from your SIPP, you would need to have a UK bank account, as we cannot make payments to overseas accounts.