We’ve rounded up the best self-invested personal pension providers to find out where you should put your retirement savings
You might choose to invest into a self-invested personal pension if you don’t already have a pension or if you want to put away extra towards your retirement. They give you flexibility to invest it how you want to, are tax-free while growing and have a far higher annual allowance than an ISA. Here’s what you need to know about SIPPs, what they can invest in, how much they charge, and how to choose one.
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Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose.
What is a SIPP?
A self-invested personal pension, often referred to as a SIPP, is an account to save and invest for your retirement. It’s aimed at people that want to build up their own investment portfolio to grow their retirement fund. A SIPP is usually set up by you and can be paid into alongside any workplace pensions, although you’re able to transfer old workplace pensions into a SIPP if you want to, more on this below.
These accounts are popular with self-employed people, who don’t have access to a workplace pension, as it allows them to save up towards their retirement, but it’s not exclusive to them. Anyone can open and pay into a SIPP — you can even get them for children!
How to choose the right SIPP
Choosing a SIPP depends on a few factors:
- How much you’ll put away. Providers typically charge tiered fees, so how much you’re planning to invest can make a big difference. It’s worth calculating a ball park figure for how much you think you might invest and working out the fees for each provider.
- What you want to invest in. Some providers will allow you to choose from a huge range of shares, funds and even things like commodities. Others might only have a limited selection of investments. If you’re keen to create a portfolio with lots of different assets, you want to ensure the provider you opt for allows it.
- How active you plan on being. Some SIPPs charge transaction or trading fees, or limit how many transactions you can make for free, meaning if you’re planning on making a lot of trades you need to take these into account when comparing fees.
- How you’ll access your account. In most — if not all — cases, you can typically access your pension online or via an app, but some might be app-only. You should also consider whether there’s customer service over the phone, if you think you’d use this.
- Protection. You’ll definitely want to go for a provider that is FSCS protected, but you want to make sure that the protection doesn’t overlap with any other bank, savings or investment accounts that you have.
Our best SIPP providers
Best SIPPs
Freetrade SIPP
Customer rating
4.9/5
- Annual fee£0
- Trading fee£0
- Minimum deposit£0
- OfferUp to £5,000 cashback
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Interest on uninvested cash 1% on up to £1,000
- Investments available Shares, exchange-traded funds, gilts, funds, treasury bills, investment trusts, REITs
- Fractional shares Yes
- Trading fee £0
- Foreign exchange fee 0.99%
- Transfer out fee None
- Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
- Offer If you fund your SIPP by at least £10,000 (or transfer it in from existing pensions) by 5 April 2026, then you can get 1% cashback on the amount transferred, up to a maximum of £5,000
- Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 783189
- Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down
InvestEngine SIPP
Customer rating
4.8/5
- Annual fee£0
- Trading fee£0
- Minimum deposit£100
- OfferCashback between £25 and £5,000*
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Interest on uninvested cash None
- Investments available With InvestEngine, you can't invest in individual investments. You can choose between a range of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to build your portfolio
- Fractional shares Not available
- Trading fee £0
- Fund fees When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.89%, depending on which ones you choose
- Foreign exchange fee Not applicable
- Transfer out fee None
- Offer details New customers can get cashback for a new SIPP when you top up or transfer over at least. £5,000. You can get £25 to £5,000 in cashback, with the amount you get depending on how much you top up or transfer. You need to opt into the promotion on the homepage to get the cashback.
Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP
Customer rating
4.6/5
- Annual fee0.35%
- Trading fee£6.95
- Minimum deposit£0
- OfferGet up to £4,000 cashback*
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Interest on uninvested cash 3.75%
- Investments available Shares, funds, exchange-traded funds, investment trusts, venture capital trusts, gilts, bonds, IPOs
- Fractional shares No
- Trading fee It costs £1.95 to buy and sell funds, or there's no charge for regular investing by Direct Debit. For shares, it costs £6.95 if you made up to 19 trades in the previous month, £3.95 if you made more than 20 trades in the previous month, and no charge if you regularly invest via Direct Debit
- Fees The annual fee depends on how much you invest. Investments up to £250,000 are charged at 0.35%, between £250,000 and £1m is charged at 0.25%, and between £1m and £2m is charged at 0.1% and anything over has no charge,
- Foreign exchange fee 1%
- Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
- Offer New Hargreaves Lansdown customers can get up to £4,000 cashback when you open and fund a SIPP. The amount you'll get depends on how much you fund your SIPP with — £10,000 funded will get you £75 cashback, while £1m funded will get you £4,000 cashback.
- Offer details You need to sign up for this offer using an online form, by sending a Secure Message, or by calling Hargreaves Lansdown. You need to fund your SIPP by 5 April 2026 to get the cashback, but you can ask for an extension for transfers, which will give you until 5 July. You must keep the money in your HL SIPP until 28 February 2027 to qualify for cashback. The cashback will be paid in March 2027
- Transfer out fee None
- Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 115248
- Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down
interactive investor SIPP
Customer rating
4.2/5
- Monthly fee£5.99 per month
- Trading fee£3.99 per trade
- Minimum deposit£25 per month
- Offer£100 to £3,000 cashback*
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Interest on uninvested cash 1.71%
- Investments available Shares, funds, exchange-traded funds, investment trusts, bonds, gilts, and sustainable funds. You can also choose ready-made portfolios
- Fractional shares No
- Trading fee £3.99 per trade for UK and US shares, funds and exchange-traded funds. Other international shares cost £9.99 per trade
- Foreign exchange fee 0.75%
- Transfer out fee None
- Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 1.5%
- Offer You can earn between £100 and £3,000 cashback when you open an account and fund your SIPP with at least £20,000. The amount you'll get will depend on how much you fund your account with, so if you add £20,000, you'll get £100 cashback.
- Offer details To get the cashback, you just need to open a personal pension, stocks & shares ISA or a trading account and fund it with at least £20,000 by 5 April 2026. You need to keep the money in the account for at least 12 months. The cashback is paid within 30 days of you funding the account
- Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 141282
- Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down
AJ Bell SIPP
Customer rating
4.4/5
- Annual fee0.25%
- Trading fee£5
- Minimum deposit£25 or £500 lump sum
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Interest on uninvested cash 2.05% up to £100,000, 2.4% over
- Investments available Funds, shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Investment Trusts, Bonds and Gilts
- Fractional shares No
- Trading fee Shares dealing: £5, reduced to 3.50 if you had 10 or more trades in the previous month. Fund dealing: £1.50
- Foreign exchange fee 0.75%
- Transfer out fee No exit fees for transferring your SIPP out
- Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.04% and 1.16%
- Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 211468
- Risk warning The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you originally invested
What SIPPs can invest in
SIPPs allow you to invest your money into a huge host of different investments. You can opt for UK or international stocks, investment trusts, funds, government bonds (also known as gilts), commercial property or land, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and cash.
This means that you can create a well balanced portfolio of investments, and you have the freedom to make changes whenever you want, so it can be tailored to have less risk as you get closer to retirement.
Some providers might only offer a few of the investment options above, so look into the different assets available with each one before choosing one.
Why invest in a SIPP?
There are a few different reasons why you might want to invest in a SIPP, the most obvious one is if you’re not paying into a pension already. However, even if you have a pension, that doesn’t mean a SIPP isn’t for you. Here’s why you might want to invest into a SIPP.
You’re self-employed
If you’re self-employed, it’s important to put money aside for your retirement, as there’s nobody putting anything aside for you and the state pension will only get you so far.
You can choose your own provider, work out an amount you think you can regularly save, and have it transfer automatically every month.
In this instance, you want to ensure that you’re putting enough away to help you pay for your retirement as well as you can.
Featured switching deal
Our top pick
Customer rating
3.8/5
- Switch bonus£200
- Offer endsUnknown
- Extra bonus£25 Amazon Gift Card
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
- Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
- Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
- Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
- Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
- Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account
- £25 Amazon Gift Card requirements To qualify for the gift card, you need to complete a full switch using CASS, and make five debit card transactions within 30 days of opening the account.
Combining existing pensions
If you’ve worked a few different jobs since you started making pension contributions, then you might find you have a few different accounts open all over the place. Combining your pensions is a great way to make decisions about where the money is invested, reduce the overall fees you have and cut down on some admin and paperwork.
Lots of pension providers offer a service where you can transfer your pension over, with some able to hunt for missing pensions for you. You can’t add a workplace pension you’re currently paying into, though.
You want to save more for retirement
If you’re employed and already have a workplace pension, you might not think you need a SIPP, but if you’re only putting away the base 5% into your workplace pension, it can be worthwhile to save more to make sure you can retire comfortably. While it’s possible to increase your pension contributions with your employer (and more worthwhile if your employer matches to a higher figure), you might not get the same control as you do with a SIPP.
Tax relief
Tax relief is one of the best reasons to invest in a SIPP. You can get back the tax that you would have paid in income tax when earning the money — this might sound confusing, but it’s usually all handled by your provider (known as ‘relief at source’). Higher-rate and additional-rate taxpayers will need to claim some of the tax relief in a self assessment tax return.
The growth on the investments in your SIPP are also protected from income tax, similar to a stocks and shares ISA.
SIPPs vs ISAs
Your planned timeline for the money is generally how you’d decide between a SIPP and an ISA.
An ISA is the best option if your plans for the money are short-term. You can opt for a Stocks & Shares, Cash or Lifetime ISA, depending on what it is that you’re planning on saving for.
A SIPP is a better option if you want to (and can afford to) put the money away for retirement. You get excellent tax relief with a higher annual allowance.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the differences between the two.
| SIPP | Stocks & Shares ISA | |
| Annual allowance | Your current annual earnings up to £60,000 | £20,000 |
| Tax relief | 20% relief at source plus 20% for higher rate, and 25% for additional rate taxpayers | None |
| Access | From age 55 (57 from 2028) | Easy access (depends on the account) |
| Withdrawal tax | 25% tax free, 75% taxed as income | None |
| Designed for | Long-term retirement planning | Medium-term saving |
SIPP allowances
There’s a limit to how much you can save each year, as well as a limit on the amount that can be claimed as tax relief each year.
How much can I pay into my SIPP each year?
The annual self-invested personal pension allowance is whatever you earn that year up to a maximum of £60,000. So if you earn £30,000, then that’s your limit. But if you earn £100,000 you can only put in £60,000 a year.
This is the amount that you can pay into all of your personal pensions each year, including any pension contributions from you and your employer into a workplace pension and any money claimed by tax relief.
There used to be a pension lifetime allowance for what your total pension could be worth before tax was applied, but this was scrapped in 2024.
How much can be claimed as tax relief each year?
Your provider claims the first 20% of tax relief on your behalf, and this is used to top up your pot. The next 20% for higher-rate taxpayers or 25% for additional rate taxpayers is then claimed using self assessment.
The most you can get back via tax relief is 100% of your annual earnings. If you don’t pay income tax, then your pension provider can claim tax relief for you at 20% on contributions you pay into a pension each tax year up to either 80% of your earnings in that year or £2,880, if you have no earnings in that year.
Can I backdate SIPP contributions?
Your contributions can’t be backdated, but you can carry over unused allowances.
You can carry over three years worth of allowances to make a larger contribution in the current tax year, but not if you didn’t hold a pension scheme in the years you’re carrying your allowance from. As in, you can’t decide today that you’d like to open a SIPP, then immediately pay in four years’ worth of allowances.
SIPP fees
The fees you’ll face will depend on the specific provider you go with, but these are the ones you’ll come across most providers.
Provider or platform fees
This is a fee for using the provider to invest. It’s either a set monthly fee or charged as a percentage of the amount you invest.
Dealing/trading fees
These fees are charged each time you buy and sell an investment. Some providers offer this for free, some charge a percentage of the total trade and others charge a fixed amount for each trade.
Fund fees
These fees are charged by the fund providers for managing the investments and don’t typically change much between providers, so while they’re worth knowing about, they’re not a useful way of comparing fees between different investment platforms. These are usually a small percentage of the amount you hold in that fund.
Foreign exchange fees
If you buy or sell investments in different currencies, you may need to pay a fee to convert your money. This is a small percentage of the amount converted.
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SIPP vs workplace pension
Your workplace pension is arranged by your employer — they’ll set up the account and automatically pay yours and their contributions into it every month. You don’t get relief at source, as the contributions are generally dealt with before income tax or National Insurance is charged to your earnings, although both of these methods of tax relief arrive at the same conclusion.
You get less control over how your workplace pension is invested, at least until you’ve left the company (when you can transfer it to a new provider). Usually, though, there are a few different investment options available to choose between.
The legal minimum is 5% of your earnings, topped up to 8% overall thanks to your employer and tax relief. Your employer doesn’t have any choice about adding the extra amount. You are allowed to opt out, they are not — although if you opt out, they’ll stop paying into it.
Sometimes employers will match what you contribute to higher amounts than they legally need to — I’ve seen companies match up to 18% before. If this is an option, you’re better off contributing this way, instead of with a SIPP.
SIPP transfers
You can transfer your SIPP to another provider or transfer one into your chosen provider, depending on what provider you opt for.
To get started, you need to get in touch with the new provider to initiate a transfer. You can do a partial transfer if you want to, and you can often consolidate all existing pensions using a transfer to bring them all into one pot.
Sometimes the pension is transferred while still invested, known as ‘in specie’, or your investments might be sold, transferred as cash, then re-purchased, however you risk the market changing during this time.
If you have a defined benefit pension, which is where it guarantees to pay a percentage of your income in retirement rather than create a pot of money which you draw from, the rules are slightly different and you will be required to take financial advice before you’re allowed to make the switch.
Are SIPPs safe?
SIPPs are generally considered to be safe — they are covered by the FSCS (the Financial Services Compensation Scheme), which will reimburse up to £120,000 if you lose out financially from your provider going bust. However, as you’re investing the money in the SIPP, they carry investment risk.
This means that your investments aren’t guaranteed to perform well, and there’s no compensation for if this happens. For this reason, you should have a reasonable amount of investment knowledge or get in touch with a financial adviser before getting started. And it’s best to prepare to be invested for more than five years, to allow the market to rise and fall.
