Open a A.J.Bell account?

TUVOK

I've just about decided to open a A.J.Bell Stocks and Shares ISA account and a SIPP.
Trying to get an exact idea of costs etc etc even using the sticky on this site and many others is so difficult!
I thought that insurance, utilities etc were difficult , but far easier than platforms.
A few comparison sites state that costs work out cheaper if you intend to open a ISA and SIPP with A.J.Bell, but I'm not sure exactly why this is? 
I plan to invest the full amount I am allowed into the Sipp, which will be £2880-00, this is due to my age.
I hope to invest the full £20K into the ISA over the full taxation year, there will be no share investments and no ETF funds either, so will be OEIC's and possibly some IT's.
So knowing the parameters of my forth coming investments for this year of 2020-21, any comments on my choice of platform either way would be welcomed, also if any member can throw some light on the "reduced cost if holding a Sipp and ISA" would be welcomed too.

cloud_dog

TUVOK said:

I've just about decided to open a A.J.Bell Stocks and Shares ISA account and a SIPP.
Trying to get an exact idea of costs etc etc even using the sticky on this site and many others is so difficult!
I thought that insurance, utilities etc were difficult , but far easier than platforms.
A few comparison sites state that costs work out cheaper if you intend to open a ISA and SIPP with A.J.Bell, but I'm not sure exactly why this is? 
I plan to invest the full amount I am allowed into the Sipp, which will be £2880-00, this is due to my age.
I hope to invest the full £20K into the ISA over the full taxation year, there will be no share investments and no ETF funds either, so will be OEIC's and possibly some IT's.
So knowing the parameters of my forth coming investments for this year of 2020-21, any comments on my choice of platform either way would be welcomed, also if any member can throw some light on the "reduced cost if holding a Sipp and ISA" would be welcomed too.

Go to SnowMan's excellent spreadsheet for coolly comparing platform charges, download the spreadsheet, put in your figures / investment types and away you go. 

bowlhead99

TUVOK said:

A few comparison sites state that costs work out cheaper if you intend to open a ISA and SIPP with A.J.Bell, but I'm not sure exactly why this is? 

I'm not sure either but perhaps they are simply saying that some providers are particularly cheap for ISAs or SIPPs but actually if you want both, they can be one of the cheaper options. Or perhaps it is to do with the fact that the 'reduced transaction fees on shares if you have more than 10 deals in the previous month (£4.95 instead of £9.95)' counts across the account types. Which wouldn't be relevant for you if you are just using OEICs or the occasional IT using the regular investing program (£1.50 per trade).

AJ Bell will be competitive with the sort of values you are talking about and the types of investments you want. From a customer service perspective, they're fine. I use them for SIPP, ISA and unwrapped.

I plan to invest the full amount I am allowed into the Sipp, which will be £2880-00, this is due to my age.

As a side note, the limit of £2880 net (£3600 gross of pension contributions) is not because of your age, it's presumably because you don't have more earned income than that. Perhaps though, your age means that you are no longer working and you plan to just pull the £3600 out again quite quickly, having got the benefit of the tax relief - rather than building the £3600 up to some bigger number over the coming years with further annual contributions into the account. If that's the case, the low value means you can afford quite high percentage based fees without it being a lot of actual pounds.

My Mum uses HL for her SIPP making annual deposits and withdrawals with only about £1-3k invested at any one time and it is easy enough, with no fees for buying, selling or taking a UFPLS, so that even though the headline %-based fee is 0.45% instead of 0.25% at AJBell, it's not outrageously pricy to use it in the way that she does.

As cloud_dog mentioned, forum member Snowman has a good homemade spreadsheet for platform comparison; there are others on blogs such as Monevator et al.

Albermarle

https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/