SIPP providers: what actually differs once they are all regulated

How to compare providers on the same basis

1. Check the registration first. GOV.UK says to check that your provider is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. Do that on the FCA register itself rather than on the provider's own page, and confirm the permissions cover the business you are giving them.
2. Price the charge stack, not the headline. A SIPP usually carries a platform or custody charge, a dealing charge and the fund charges underneath. Ask for all three as one annual figure on your own pot size, because a percentage cap changes which provider is cheapest as the pot grows.
3. Ask what the wrapper may hold. A full SIPP can hold commercial property and unlisted holdings; a low cost one is usually funds and listed shares only. Paying for permissions you will never use is the most common way a SIPP is more expensive than it needed to be.
4. Price the exit before you enter. Ask what it costs to take an income, to move the pot elsewhere and to close the account. Drawdown charges and transfer-out fees are where a cheap headline rate is often recovered, and they arrive at the point you have least appetite to move again.

What the charges are made of

Almost every SIPP charge falls into one of three layers. The wrapper charge is what the provider takes for holding the pension and reporting it, quoted either as a flat annual fee or as a percentage of the pot. The dealing charge is what you pay to buy or sell inside it. The investment charge belongs to the funds themselves and the provider never sees it, which is why it is so often left out of a comparison.

The practical consequence is that the cheapest provider depends on the size of the pot and how often you trade. A flat fee is dead weight on a small pot and very cheap on a large one, and a percentage charge does the opposite unless it is capped. Compare on your own numbers, not on a published table built around somebody else's.

What the wrapper is allowed to hold

The term SIPP covers a wide range. At one end are low cost platforms that permit funds, investment trusts and listed shares, which is everything most people will ever use. At the other are full SIPPs that can hold commercial property, including the premises a company trades from, and holdings that are not listed at all.

The wider permissions cost more, both in the annual charge and in the transaction fees when the unusual asset is bought or sold. This matters to a company director more than to most savers, because a SIPP holding the trading premises is a real arrangement with real advantages and it is not something a low cost platform will do.

What this site does and does not do

This page compares how providers are built and priced. It does not recommend a provider, does not arrange a pension and does not advise on whether a transfer is right for you or your company. Those are regulated activities and this site does not perform them.

Where you ask to be put in touch, the enquiry goes to a firm authorised to do the work, and the site is paid as an introducer for making the introduction. That payment does not change who you are introduced to and no firm buys a position in what is written here.

Common questions

How do I check a SIPP provider is legitimate?

GOV.UK says to check that your provider is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, or with the Pensions Regulator if it is a stakeholder pension. Search the FCA register directly and confirm the firm's permissions cover running a personal pension, rather than relying on a logo on the provider's own website.

Is the cheapest SIPP provider the best one?

Not reliably, because cheapest depends on your pot and your behaviour. A flat annual fee usually wins on a large pot and a capped percentage on a small one, and a provider that looks cheap to hold can be expensive to draw an income from. Price the whole life of the account, including moving out of it.

Can a limited company pay into a director's SIPP?

Yes. An employer contribution into a director's personal pension is a normal arrangement, and it is made from company funds rather than from salary already taxed. The amount that can go in with tax relief across every scheme is governed by the annual allowance, which GOV.UK states is 60,000 pounds a year.

Do I need advice to open a SIPP?

Opening one does not itself require advice, but moving certain pensions into it can, and this site does not give it. A SIPP is a self-directed product, which means the investment decisions and their consequences are yours. Where regulated advice is needed, the enquiry goes to a firm authorised to give it.

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