AJ Bell

AJ Bell is a UK investment platform that has been helping customers invest for over 30 years and is listed on the FTSE 250¹. It looks after assets under administration of £121.5 billion for 762,000 customers². In plain terms, it is a place where you hold ISAs, pensions and general investment accounts in one place, choose your own investments, and manage everything online or through its app.

The main things AJ Bell sells are a stocks and shares ISA, a Lifetime ISA, a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), a Ready-made pension for people who do not want to pick their own investments, a general dealing account, and children's accounts. It also runs a Cash Savings Hub for savings held with partner banks, and a simplified investing app called Dodl. It does not offer a cash ISA³. AJ Bell does not give investment advice: you decide what to buy and sell yourself⁴.

AJ Bell accounts: ISAs, SIPPs and dealing accounts

AJ Bell's core accounts cover the three main ways Britons invest: the ISA, the pension and the general investment account.

The stocks and shares ISA is AJ Bell's tax-wrapper account for investing. Money in it grows free of UK income and capital gains tax on investments. One thing worth knowing before you pay in: the AJ Bell ISA is not a flexible ISA, so any money you take out cannot be put back in within the same tax year without using new allowance³. AJ Bell does not offer a cash ISA, so this account is for money you want invested rather than saved³.

The Lifetime ISA (LISA) is aimed at people saving for a first home or for later life. You can transfer in cash or investments from another Lifetime ISA, and cash (but not investments) from a Help to Buy ISA, a cash ISA or a stocks and shares ISA with another provider². AJ Bell's LISA is covered in more detail on the Dodl Investment Lifetime ISA page.

The SIPP is AJ Bell's self-invested personal pension. You choose the investments and manage the pension yourself, which is why AJ Bell stresses that it does not offer investment advice: you need to be comfortable running the pension before you open one⁴. If you would rather not pick investments at all, the AJ Bell Ready-made Pension invests on your behalf within a pension.

The Dealing account is the general investment account, with no tax wrapper. It is free to open, you can pay in whenever you want, and you can invest in thousands of companies around the globe as well as funds, investment trusts, ETFs, bonds and gilts⁸. Unlike an ISA or pension, there is no tax shelter, so it tends to suit people who have used their ISA and pension allowances.

All of the accounts are managed online or in AJ Bell's app, which lets you deal on the go with at best, stop-loss or limit orders, and uses 256-bit encryption to keep your information secure⁹.

Accounts for children: Junior ISA, Junior SIPP and dealing account

AJ Bell has three accounts for children: a Junior ISA, a Junior SIPP and a Dealing account for children, so a parent or guardian can build a nest egg in any of the three wrappers¹⁰.

The Junior ISA is managed by the parent or guardian who opened it, known as the registered contact¹¹. Money cannot be taken out until the child turns 18, at which point the account converts to an adult account¹⁰. Anyone can pay into it, not just the parents¹⁰. You can transfer in cash Junior ISAs, stocks and shares Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds from other providers, and transfers in are free¹². AJ Bell does not offer cash Junior ISAs, so the money is invested¹⁴.

The Junior SIPP is a pension for a child. It works like an adult SIPP in that the money cannot be accessed until pension age, and it is free to transfer an existing account in¹⁵. AJ Bell also lets you link an adult SIPP to your child's account, so a family's pensions can be viewed together¹⁰.

The Dealing account for children is the flexible option: there are no withdrawal restrictions, so money can be taken out at any time, unlike the Junior ISA and Junior SIPP¹⁰. That makes it the one to use if the money might be needed before the child turns 18.

What you can invest in through AJ Bell

The investment range is one of the main differences between AJ Bell and simpler apps. The platform offers over 2,000 funds in its fund universe, over 300 investment trusts across sector, region and asset class, and shares in 24 international markets¹⁶. The Dealing account adds up to over 4,000 funds, major and specialist investment trusts, index-tracking ETFs, bonds and gilts alongside the shares⁸.

For funds, you can hold any fund whose manager AJ Bell has agreed terms with, which covers the great majority of funds available in the UK³. The range also extends to specialist investments: venture capital trusts (VCTs) can be dealt through AJ Bell, and questions about upcoming VCT new issues are handled by its Dealing Services team¹.

If that range feels like too much choice, AJ Bell's regular investing service narrows it down: you can invest monthly in shares, funds, investment trusts and ETFs, and cancel or change the regular investment at any time¹⁷. The general principles are covered in our guide to investing.

How AJ Bell's charges work

AJ Bell's charges have three moving parts: an account charge, dealing charges, and the costs of the investments themselves. The current figures for each account are published on AJ Bell's own charges pages for the SIPP¹⁸, the stocks and shares ISA¹⁹ and the Junior SIPP¹⁵, so check those for today's numbers.

The account charge is worked out on the mid-price value of your account's investments on the last working day of each month²⁰. It is collected from the available cash in your account, so you do not need to make a separate payment, but it does mean you need some cash sitting in the account to cover it²⁰.

Dealing charges apply each time you buy or sell. Regular investments placed online carry no dealing charge, which is why monthly investing is the cheaper way to build a position²¹. One-off deals are charged per trade, with shares and funds priced separately on the charges pages.

Transfers and payments are free: there is no charge to set up a Dealing account, to pay single or regular payments in, or to transfer an account in from another provider or out to another manager or stockbroker²¹. VCTs fall under the shares account charge rather than a separate VCT fee¹.

Opening an account and paying in

It takes less than ten minutes to open an account online, and it is free to open one²². AJ Bell suggests two ways to get started: set up a monthly direct debit, or make a one-off deposit, with the minimum depending on the account²³. If you already have a SIPP, ISA, Lifetime ISA or Dealing account with AJ Bell, you can start a transfer into it straight away²².

Money can be paid in by debit card, bank transfer or direct debit²⁴. Regular investing then runs automatically: you choose from shares, funds, investment trusts and ETFs, and you can cancel or change the regular investment at any time¹⁷.

Before investing, AJ Bell's own guidance for beginners is worth heeding: make sure you have your emergency savings in cash, and keep out of investments any money you will need within five years²³. Investments rise and fall in value, so money you may need soon belongs in savings, not in the market.

Transferring an ISA or pension to AJ Bell

Transfers in are free across AJ Bell's accounts¹³. The process starts the same way whatever you are moving: open an AJ Bell account if you do not have one, log in, choose 'Transfers' and enter the details of the account or accounts you want to move²². AJ Bell then deals with your existing provider.

What you can transfer depends on the account you are moving to. Into the stocks and shares ISA you can move a cash ISA or a matured Child Trust Fund, as well as other stocks and shares ISAs¹³. Into the Lifetime ISA you can move Lifetime ISAs (including if you are over 40), stocks and shares ISAs, cash ISAs, Help to Buy ISAs and matured Child Trust Funds, with transfers from another provider possible up to age 50²⁵. Into the Junior ISA you can move cash Junior ISAs, stocks and shares Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds¹³.

Pensions can be moved to the AJ Bell SIPP free of charge, and AJ Bell offers a pension finder service to track down old pots, a process that usually takes four to six weeks²⁶. If you hold shares from a Save As You Earn (SAYE) or Share Incentive Plan (SIP) scheme at work, you can transfer them into an AJ Bell ISA by emailing or posting the form to AJ Bell's transfers team²⁷. If your remaining ISA allowance is not enough for all the shares, AJ Bell's suggested alternative is to transfer everything into a Dealing account first and then move as many shares into the ISA as the allowance allows²⁷.

The Pension dealing account works differently: the transfer instruction must come from your pension provider, not from you, and withdrawals can only be sent back to your pension provider²⁸.

How long a transfer takes depends mainly on what the account holds:

Pensions usually take a bit longer than ISAs or dealing accounts²⁹. If you transfer a Lifetime ISA from another provider, you have 30 days from the date you receive AJ Bell's acknowledgement email to exercise your right to cancel².

Buying and selling: order types and market hours

Deals can be placed in two ways: online or over the phone²⁴. In the app you can deal using at best, stop-loss or limit orders⁹. An "at best" order executes straight away at the best price available; a limit order only executes at a price you set or better; a stop-loss order sells when a price falls to a level you set.

For UK shares, direct deals can be placed between 8am and 4:30pm³⁰. You can set up a limit or stop-loss order for UK shares outside market hours, but the order will not be processed until the market opens again³⁰. Stop-loss and limit orders are not available for international shares, so those can only be traded during the relevant international market hours³⁰.

There are two quirks worth knowing. First, if the sell option is not showing on your screen, possible explanations include an active order ring-fencing the shares, shares that cannot be dealt online, an unsettled transfer, or trading outside market hours³⁰. Second, limit and stop-loss orders can fail to execute in times of market volatility or when the maximum order size has changed since you placed the order, and AJ Bell does not execute them between 8.00am and 8.02am during the London Stock Exchange uncrossing auction³¹.

Interest on cash held in your account

Any cash waiting in your account, whether money you have paid in, dividends or the proceeds of sales, earns interest. AJ Bell calculates interest daily, based on the cleared cash in your account³². Current rates are published on AJ Bell's interest rates page, so check there for today's figures³².

Neither the ISA nor the Dealing account charges you simply for holding cash while you decide what to do with it, which means you are not rushed into investing money that is sitting on the sidelines⁸. If you ask to transfer or close your account part-way through a quarter, interest is paid from the start of the quarter to the date the request is received³².

For money you want in savings rather than investments, the AJ Bell Cash Savings Hub holds savings accounts with partner banks. It costs you nothing: AJ Bell is paid by the partner banks, never by you⁶. Note that the hub cannot be used to move cash between AJ Bell accounts⁶.

Closing an AJ Bell account

A stocks and shares ISA or Dealing account can be closed online; other accounts are closed by contacting AJ Bell³³. If you have several accounts, each one must be closed individually³³. All regular payments and direct debits linked to the account are cancelled as soon as you start the closure³³, and the process typically takes 3 to 5 business days³³.

You do not have to close an account to leave: you can transfer it to another provider instead, which keeps the tax wrapper intact³³. Transfers out to another manager or stockbroker carry no charge²¹. For a savings account you have opened but not yet funded, you can simply cancel it from the pending account screen³⁴.

If you are within the first 30 days of opening an account, you can close it by contacting AJ Bell; for a SIPP or Ready-made pension, cancellation is only possible if no investments have been made³³. A Junior ISA can be cancelled within 30 days of opening if no investment has been made¹⁴.

Contact, service and complaints

The genuine AJ Bell switchboard number, as listed on the FCA Register, is 0345 408 9100³⁵. If someone calls claiming to be from AJ Bell and you are unsure, hang up and call that number yourself. AJ Bell does not use social media channels for customer service or account support, and it will never contact you via social media offering financial advice or investment recommendations³⁵.

For account admin, there are set routes. If you have changed your name, email customer services with supporting documents³⁶. AJ Bell checks in once a year, asking you to confirm the information it holds for you is correct³⁶. If you cannot log in, select 'I've forgotten my password' or 'I've forgotten my username' on the login screen; your username cannot be changed, but it can be retrieved using your registered email address, and a locked account is resolved by resetting your password or waiting until the lockout ends³⁷.

Any sensitive information about your account should be sent by secure message from within your account, and AJ Bell will never ask you for your full password³⁸. On service, AJ Bell states it is the only investment provider to be Which? Recommended eight years running, from 2019 to 2026¹. If you have a complaint that AJ Bell cannot resolve, as a customer of a Financial Conduct Authority-regulated firm you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the free independent complaints scheme; our guide to consumer protection explains how.

How your money is protected with AJ Bell

Protection with an investment platform works differently from a bank, and it is worth understanding the split. Your investments are not covered for falls in value: if your investments go down, that loss is yours. What protection covers is AJ Bell itself failing.

Your investments are protected because customer assets are ring-fenced from AJ Bell's own assets and reconciled daily⁷. If AJ Bell went out of business, your investments would still be yours and would be returned or transferred to another provider. The cash you hold with AJ Bell is eligible for protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)⁷. To reduce exposure to any single bank failing, AJ Bell holds cash across a range of carefully selected banks⁷.

In the Cash Savings Hub, your savings are covered by the FSCS up to £120,000 per bank, and all partner banks are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority⁶. Because the limit applies per bank rather than per platform, spreading savings across partner banks increases the total protection⁶.

On security, the app uses 256-bit encryption, and you can send a secure message direct from your account so that it stays within AJ Bell's secure network⁹. On scams, the firm's own warnings are worth remembering: AJ Bell never initiates contact via WhatsApp, never contacts you unsolicited with an investment opportunity, and scammers have posed as senior AJ Bell staff on WhatsApp and other channels offering advice³⁵. Our guide to scams and fraud covers the wider warning signs.