ISA fees and charges: platform fees, fund charges and dealing costs

A stocks and shares ISA is tax free, but it is not cost free. The fees come in layers, and they are taken whether markets rise or fall. Investment platforms charge either a percentage annual fee or a fixed amount each year for holding your account¹, and on top of that you pay charges inside the funds you hold, fees each time you buy or sell certain investments, and sometimes a fee to move your ISA elsewhere². A cash ISA, by contrast, usually has no platform fee at all.

The charges you might see with a stocks and shares ISA include the platform charge, an annual management fee, the cost of buying and selling funds, a transfer out fee, and advice fees if you use an adviser². Providers must also give you standardised costs and charges information covering one-off entry costs, one-off exit costs, ongoing costs, transaction costs, and any performance fees³, so you can compare like with like before you commit.

The charges that make up the cost of an ISA

When you hold a stocks and shares ISA, several different parties can be taking a slice, and each one bills you in a different way. The platform or account fee pays for looking after your investments and giving you access to the tools and resources on the provider's website¹⁰. The fund management charge is taken inside each fund you hold, so it never appears as a separate line on a statement from your platform. Dealing fees apply when you trade. And if you move your ISA to another provider, an exit fee may apply.

The full list of charges a stocks and shares ISA can carry is set out in providers' own guidance: an account fee or platform fee, a fund management charge, buying and selling charges, and a transfer out fee¹¹. TSB's ISA guide groups them the same way: platform charges, management charges, trading fees, and transfer out fees¹².

The regulator requires firms to present costs in a standard format, which is what makes comparison possible at all. The rules cover a one-off entry costs figure, a one-off exit costs figure, an ongoing costs figure, a transaction costs figure, and performance fees and carried interests³. Transaction costs themselves include broker commissions, exchange fees and other payments to agents, intermediaries or trading venues, plus stamp duty and other taxes or levies, and legal expenses³. So the price you see quoted for a fund is rarely the whole price you pay.

Two of these charges catch people out because they are not obvious from the headline fee. Foreign exchange fees of 0.45% to 1.5% apply to transactions on international shares and funds up to £5,000, and they vary by platform⁷. Transfer out fees, charged by some providers when you leave, have been found ranging from £15 to £30 per holding, although most providers now charge nothing⁸. Both are covered in more detail below.

Platform fees: a flat amount or a percentage of your investments

The platform fee is the core cost of holding an ISA. It is the amount a provider charges to look after your funds or shares and give you access to the tools and resources on its investment platform¹⁰. Without it there is no account, so this is the fee to compare first when choosing where to hold a stocks and shares ISA.

Platforms structure this fee in one of two ways. Investment platforms charge either a percentage annual fee or a fixed amount each year¹. Platform fees can be charged at a flat rate or on a percentage value of your funds². Neither structure is inherently cheaper: which one costs less depends entirely on how much you have invested.

A percentage fee is worked out on the value of your investments, so it rises and falls with your pot. If your investments double, the fee in pounds doubles too, even though the provider is doing the same work. A flat fee stays the same in cash terms whatever your balance, which means it takes a bigger bite proportionally from a small pot and a smaller one from a large pot. As a rough rule, percentage fees tend to suit smaller balances and flat fees tend to suit larger ones, but the only way to know for your own situation is to work out the pound cost of each at your actual investment value.

Some providers charge no platform fee at all on their standard offering, and make their money from the charges inside the funds instead. Others waive the fee under conditions, such as paying in by a regular savings plan or holding enough assets. The conditions are always in the provider's fee schedule, and they change, so check the current terms rather than relying on what a provider charged in the past.

Percentage platform fees: what providers state

The percentage route is the more common structure, and the rates providers state cluster in a fairly narrow band. Chip charges a 0.25% annual platform fee on its standard, free plan, applied monthly⁴. Monzo charges a 0.25% platform fee on its stocks and shares ISA, reduced to 0.20% with Monzo Perks or Max¹³. Santander states a maximum Platform Service Fee of 0.35% per year on its Investment ISA⁵.

For context, annual platform or account fees across the investment market typically range from around 0.3% to 0.8%, depending on the provider and the size of the pot¹⁴. ISA platform fees sit at the lower end of that range, in part because platforms compete hard for ISA money and in part because some costs are recovered through fund charges and dealing fees instead.

A percentage fee is not necessarily capped. Where a provider does cap it, that is its own commercial decision, not a regulatory requirement. Fidelity, for instance, states that its ISA fee is capped at £7.50 per month¹⁵, which turns a percentage charge into something closer to a flat fee for larger balances. When comparing providers, check both the percentage rate and whether a cap exists, because a slightly higher percentage with a cap can cost less than a lower percentage without one once your balance grows.

Percentage fees also interact with the other charges. A platform with a low percentage fee may charge dealing fees on every trade, or foreign exchange fees on international holdings, or both. The rate on its own tells you little: the total yearly cost at your balance, including the charges you will actually incur given how you invest, is what matters.

Flat monthly fees: from £5.99 a month

The alternative structure is a flat fee, usually charged monthly. interactive investor charges a flat monthly fee which covers your ISA, Trading Account and Junior ISA together¹⁶, so one payment can cover several accounts rather than each being billed separately. Its Core plan starts at £5.99 a month, with the option to upgrade for a wider range of benefits as your portfolio grows⁶. Across its Core, Plus and Premium plans, the ISA fee ranges from £5.99 to £39.99¹⁷. Its Managed ISA starts on the Core plan at £5.99 a month for portfolios up to £100,000, with the Plus plan at £14.99 a month and no portfolio limit¹⁸.

Fidelity takes a hybrid approach on some accounts: a percentage fee that is capped at £7.50 per month¹⁵. Where there is no regular savings plan and £25,000 or less is invested, a £7.50 per month service fee applies instead¹⁹. The same £7.50 per month service fee applies to its ready-made ISA under the same conditions²⁰. Chip's guidance on investment fees gives £4.99 per month as an example of the flat monthly or annual fees some providers charge²¹.

The practical difference between the two structures shows up as your pot grows. A percentage fee rises with the value of your investments, though Fidelity caps its ISA fee at £7.50 per month and states that fees reduce the more you invest¹⁸. A flat monthly fee stays the same whatever the balance: interactive investor's Core plan costs £5.99 a month for portfolios up to £100,000, while its Plus plan costs £14.99 a month with no portfolio limit¹⁹. Flat fees take a smaller share of a large pot; percentage fees take a smaller amount from a small one. Neither is better in the abstract, which is why the comparison has to be done at your own balance.

Note also what the flat fee covers before treating it as the whole cost. A monthly plan that includes dealing, like interactive investor's, is a different proposition from a percentage platform with free fund dealing but per-trade charges on shares. Two fees of the same size can buy very different things.

Fund charges are paid on top of the platform fee

The platform fee is only the first layer. Every fund you hold inside the ISA has its own management charge, taken inside the fund before any return reaches you. Chip states plainly of its stocks and shares ISA that fund management charges apply²². These charges pay the fund manager for running the fund, and they are deducted from the fund's assets, so they show up as a slightly lower return rather than as a bill.

This is the charge people most often underestimate, because it never appears on the platform statement. A platform fee of 0.25% and a fund charge together can easily mean a total ongoing cost several times the headline figure. Which? has examined this directly under the question of whether fund charges are eating into returns¹, and the answer for most investors is that they are the largest single ongoing cost of holding funds.

The type of investment changes what you pay. Exchange-traded funds generally tend to have cheaper ongoing charges, though they may incur extra trading fees from investment platforms⁹. Investment trusts are treated by platforms in a similar way to shares, so you will likely pay one-off fees when you buy and sell trusts, even if fund trading is free on your platform²³. So a platform with free fund dealing is not free for everything: the wrapper around the charge depends on what you actually hold.

When comparing platforms, look at the combination of platform fee and the charges on the specific funds you want, not each in isolation. A cheap platform with expensive funds can cost more overall than a mid-priced platform with cheap funds.

Buying and selling charges

Dealing fees are the charges you trigger yourself, each time you trade. You might be charged each time you buy and sell a share, investment trust or exchange-traded fund; fees for buying and selling traditional funds are less common⁷. Fidelity, for example, charges £7.50 to buy and sell shares online²⁴. If you trade frequently, these charges compound quickly; if you buy and hold a few funds, they may barely feature in your yearly costs.

Dealing fees are also not always visible as a separate line. The regulator's transaction costs category includes broker commissions, exchange fees and other payments to agents, intermediaries or trading venues, along with stamp duty and other taxes or levies, and legal expenses³. Some of these are inside the price you get when you trade rather than billed separately, which is why the same trade can cost slightly different amounts on different platforms even when the headline dealing fee is identical.

Two situations where dealing fees bite unexpectedly:

• International holdings: transactions on international shares and funds incur foreign exchange fees ranging from 0.45% to 1.5% on amounts up to £5,000, varying by platform⁷.
• Selling and rebuying: if you sell investments and buy them back, for example when moving investments around, you may also incur fees from your investment platform on both the sale and the purchase²⁵.

The second point matters for anyone considering selling holdings and rebuying them, a practice sometimes used for tax reasons. The platform fees on both legs of that trade are a real cost, and they apply whether or not the trade achieves what you hoped²⁵. The same logic applies to moving investments into an ISA: each transfer of shares involves the platform's dealing charges.

Transfer out fees when you move your ISA

If you move your ISA from one provider to another, your current provider may charge you for leaving. You might be charged if you transfer investments from one platform to another; however, many platforms have scrapped these fees, while others will offer to cover switching fees as an incentive to join them⁷. Which? has found some providers charging exit fees ranging from £15 to £30 per holding, while most providers charge nothing⁸.

The words "per holding" matter. An exit fee charged per holding multiplies with the number of different investments you own: a portfolio of ten holdings at £30 each is a very different bill from a single-account charge. Before starting a transfer, check whether your current provider charges, how the charge is calculated, and whether the provider you are moving to will cover it. Some providers run transfer offers that reimburse exit fees as part of a promotion, covered in ISA promotions and transfer offers.

Providers' own transfer guidance sets out the checks that apply before money moves. Principality lists three things that determine the cost of a transfer: whether the current ISA charges a fee to transfer out, whether interest would be lost for closing or transferring early, and whether the ISA being moved to accepts transfers in²⁶. Yorkshire Building Society states that transfer charges may apply and that this depends on who the ISA is with and which product is held, so the existing provider is the source of the exact answer²⁷.

The mechanics of moving an ISA, including how to do it without losing the tax-free status, are covered in how to transfer an ISA. The fee point to remember is that the exit fee is charged by the provider you are leaving, so it has to be checked with them, not with the new provider.

Cash ISAs usually have no platform fee

Cash ISAs are a different proposition on cost. Most investment platforms will not charge extra for an ISA, although different platforms may have different funds and assets available⁹. A cash ISA held with a bank, building society or savings provider normally has no platform at all, so there is no platform fee layer to pay.

Providers' own documents confirm this. Moneyfarm's Cash ISA key information document states the platform fee as none²⁸. Chip states there are no fees or charges associated with opening and holding its Cash ISA²⁹. Royal London, describing its stocks and shares ISA, states there are no platform or service fees, with the charge visible when you apply³⁰.

That does not make a cash ISA cost free in every sense. The return on a cash ISA is set by the interest rate, and a low rate is effectively a cost in the same way a fee is: money you do not receive. One charge that does exist inside stocks and shares ISAs is a charge on interest earned on cash held within them, and the investment platform or the asset managers will remove that charge on your behalf³¹. Cash ISAs themselves are covered in cash ISAs explained.

For someone comparing a cash ISA with a stocks and shares ISA, the fee structures are therefore not like for like. The cash ISA's cost is embedded in its rate; the stocks and shares ISA's cost is split across platform, fund and dealing charges. Comparing only the headline figures of either misses where each one's costs actually sit.

Advice fees are charged separately

If you take regulated financial advice, that is billed separately from the ISA's own charges. You usually pay for an independent financial adviser's services³². With investments, it is common to be charged a percentage of the investment, and the average fee reported is 2.4%³³; with advice on other products such as insurance or mortgages, you may be charged a flat fee or an hourly fee for the adviser's time³³. An adviser's fee is a one-off or ongoing cost of the advice itself, and it sits on top of whatever the recommended product charges: Skipton states of its member stocks and shares ISA that there are fund and platform charges to pay if you take up a recommendation³⁴.

The Lifetime ISA has specific rules here. The official scheme rules exclude from the Lifetime ISA charges table any fee or charge payable for a personal recommendation or ready-made suggestion, and any charge relating to the qualifying investments held in the Lifetime ISA³⁵. In other words, the charges shown for a Lifetime ISA account do not include advice fees or the costs of the investments inside it, so both need to be added to see the full picture. Separately, fees and charges for managing a Lifetime ISA may be paid directly to the manager from the Lifetime ISA itself without incurring a government charge³⁶.

Not everyone who helps with money matters is a regulated adviser, and unregulated help has its own costs and risks. The crackdown on finfluencers has highlighted the risk of taking investment suggestions from people who are not authorised to give them³³. Even informal arrangements set up with the help of other organisations can involve a fee, and nidirect guidance says to get them to confirm their costs before asking them to help³⁷. The distinction that matters is whether the person is regulated and what you are paying for: product charges, advice, or something in between.

Fees still matter inside a tax-free wrapper

The ISA wrapper shelters returns from tax, not from charges. You can sign up to a platform and open a stocks and shares ISA, which means you will not have to pay tax on any profits you make³⁸, but every fee described on this page is deducted from your investments regardless. Tax relief and charges work in opposite directions: the wrapper stops HMRC taking a slice, while the platform, the fund managers and the dealing desks each take theirs.

This is why the standardised costs and charges information matters in practice. Because firms must show one-off entry costs, one-off exit costs, ongoing costs, transaction costs and performance fees in a consistent format³, you can compare total costs between providers and products rather than comparing only the fees each one chooses to advertise. A provider that quotes no platform fee may still be the more expensive option once fund charges and dealing fees are counted.

Fees also compound over time in the same way returns do. A percentage platform fee taken each year reduces the amount left invested, so the fee's effect grows with the pot it is slowing down. Which?'s work on whether fund charges are eating into returns makes the point directly¹: charges are one of the few things about investing that are certain, and they are certain in the wrong direction. The tax rules of the wrapper are covered in ISAs and tax: what is tax free and what is not.

Where to get help

Every figure in this page's tables comes from providers' own published terms or from independent guidance, and both change. Before opening or switching an ISA, read the provider's current fee schedule and the costs and charges information it is required to give you³, which sets out entry costs, exit costs, ongoing costs and transaction costs in a standard format.

If a fee has been charged incorrectly, or a transfer has gone wrong, the first step is to complain to the provider directly. How to do that, and what happens if it does not resolve the matter, is covered in complaining about an ISA provider. For general, free information about ISAs and how they work, the guides in the ISA section set out each account type, the rules on the ISA allowance, and the protections that apply to your money.