AJ Bell to slash investing fees and boost savings interest from 1 April – how does it compare to its rivals?

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AJ Bell will reduce transaction fees on its platform and increase the interest it pays on cash balances from April.

Customers will pay a £5 transaction fee on shares, ETFs, investment trusts, government bonds and bonds from April 1, instead of the current £9.95 fee.

Frequent share trading, for 10 or more share trades in the last month, will cost £3 instead of the current cost of £4.95, while phone trading charges will drop from £29.95 to £25.

The charges remain £1.50 per transaction for buying or selling funds. AJ Bell customers pay 0.25 percent bill fees per year.

AJ Bell said the changes reflect ‘our commitment to providing our clients with a low-cost and easy-to-use investment platform (…) to ensure we continue to deliver great value.’

The stockbroker has also announced changes to the interest it pays on cash balances.

The interest paid on cash balances in Sipps and Junior Sipps remains 3.2 per cent for balances up to £10,000.

Balances between £10,000 and £100,000 receive 3.7 per cent interest and balances above £100,000 receive 3.95 per cent.

AJ Bell customers with Sipps on withdrawal now receive 3.45 per cent interest on cash balances up to £10,000, 3.95 per cent on balances between £10,000 and £100,000 and 4.45 per cent on balances above £100,000.

Customers with AJ Bell Shares and Shares Isas, Lifetime Isas and Junior Isas will receive 1.95 per cent on their balance

How does this compare to other platform fees?

Hargreaves Lansdown

The changes make AJ Bell cheaper than rival Hargreaves Lansdown for buying and selling shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds and government bonds.

Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 for fewer than 10 deals in the previous month, £8.95 if you had between 10 and 19 deals in the previous month and £5.95 if you had 20 or more deals in the previous month had.

Investors pay a fee of 0.45 percent on their total fund investments up to £250,000, 0.25 percent up to £1 million, 0.1 percent up to £2 million and nothing above. Shares and investment funds also have a 0.45 per cent surcharge on entire holdings, capped at £45.

Interactive investor

Interactive Investor customers pay £3.99 to buy and sell funds, investment trusts and UK and US shares. This is in addition to a monthly subscription.

These start with the Investor Essentials offer at £4.99 per month for those with portfolios of less than £50,000.

Above that level, the cost is £11.99 and £19.99 per month for the Investor and Super Investor plans respectively.

Trading other international stocks carries a fee of £9.99, except for the Super Investor plan where it is £5.99. Dividend reinvestment is just 99 cents for all plans and regular investments are free.

Fidelity

When trading Fidelity shares you are charged a flat fee of £7.50, and these charges also apply to investment trusts and ETFs. There are no transaction costs associated with buying and selling funds.

There is a surcharge for holding investment funds of 0.35 percent up to £250,000 and 0.20 percent above, up to 0 percent above £1 million.

However, if you invest small amounts, the fee structure is slightly different.

Fidelity charges £7.50 per month (£90 per year) for portfolios up to £25,000, or the 0.35 per cent rate applies if you have a regular savings scheme.

The annual charge for holding shares, trusts and ETFs is capped at £45.

Free trade*

Freetrade offers stock trading free of charge and offers a wide range of UK and US stocks. It has some ETFs and some investment trusts, but doesn’t come close to the reach of the larger platforms.

Freetrade’s Basic plan for a general investment account has no fees, while the Standard plan for those who want an Isa and a full range of shares costs a fee of £4.99 per month and the Plus account costs £9.99 per month, what investors need if they want it. a sip.

Some stocks, including many smaller companies, are only available on Freetrade Standard and higher plans.

The Standard plan gives customers 1 percent interest on up to £2,000 of cash, while the Plus plan gives them 3 percent interest on up to £4,000. A currency surcharge of 0.45 percent applies to foreign shares.

Trade 212

Trading 212 customers also pay no fees for trading shares or holding shares in stocks and shares Isa.

There is a 0.15 percent surcharge for transactions in a currency other than the account. Trading 212 also offers an Isa free of charge, but does not offer a Sipp in addition to an Isa.

It offers more than 10,000 global stocks and ETFs, including UK listed companies.