AJ Bell Review

Table Of Contents

AJ Bell Review – In Brief

AJ Bell Pros & Cons

What is AJ Bell?

AJ Bell is an execution-only investment platform that gives investors the ability to buy and sell assets.

AJ Bell give the customer a variety of options for products and tax efficient ‘wrappers’ that they can use to hold their investments, such as:

• Stocks and shares ISA
• Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
• Lifetime ISA
• Junior ISA
• Dealing Account
• Cash Savings

Once the customer chooses the product or wrapper they want to use, then they can then use the platform to execute trades on a very wide range of assets, such as stocks, shares, ETFs, funds and more.

AJ Bell Features

Multiple Investment products – ISAs, Dealing Account, SIPP

Cash Savings – with no fee

Investment ideas – many guides and best buys

Excellent customer support – and other educational tools

Flat fees on shares/ETFs – smaller investors pay same as larger

Massive range of assets available – over 19,000

Mobile app – iOS and Andoid

Investment Ideas:

Whilst AJ Bell is an execution-only platform, so does not offer financial advice, they still do have wide range of information about assets to buy, which can guide customers. These include:

• AJ Bell Funds
• AJ Bell Responsible Growth Fund
• AJ Bell Ready-Made Portfolios
• AJ Bell Favourite Funds

Investors can use these as guides to direct their investment decisions.

Who is AJ Bell for?

Of the many trading platforms available on the market, AJ Bell is one of the more traditional platforms. Whilst some customer may prefer the ‘free’ trading model of apps such as Freetrade or eToro, or the more passive investment experience of robo-advisors such as Nutmeg or Moneyfarm, AJ Bell would be likely to be attractive to a user who wanted to create their own investment plan and do their own trades.

Therefore, AJ Bell may appeal to an investor who had more experience of investing, as they would be able to understand the platform, and the assets on offer, and just get up and running. However, it is possible for a beginner investor to get value from AJ Bell too. Like their close competitors Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor, AJ Bell, whilst not giving investment advice, do have a variety of guide funds that investors can follow.

AJ Bell Costs & Fees

AJ Bell have a very standard investment platform system of fees. Essentially, their fees are made up of 2 elements:

1) A percentage of the total  amount you have held with them, calculated annually. These are:

ISA & Dealing Account:

• Shares & ETFS – 0.25% (up to a maximum of £3.50 per month)
• Funds – 0.25% for amounts from £0 to £250,000, 0.10% for amounts from £250,000 to £500,000, and free for amounts above £500,000.

SIPP:

• Shares & ETFS – 0.25% (up to a maximum of £10.00 per month)
• Funds – 0.25% for amounts from £0 to £250,000, 0.10% for amounts from £250,000 to £500,000, and free for amounts above £500,000.

2) Charges per trade i.e when you buy or sell an asset. These are:

ISA, SIPP & Dealing Account:

• Funds – £1.50 per trade
• Shares (incl. ETFs) – £9.95 per trade
• Shares (incl. ETFs when 10 trades + in previous month) – £4.95

Find a detailed list of the charges on AJ Bell’s website.

Is AJ Bell Safe?

AJ Bell are an investment platform, and all investments are risky. There is always the possibility of your investment being worth less than it was at the beginning.

AJ Bell is a UK company and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means that customers are protected in the following ways in case of the company failing:

• Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection of up to £85,000 per customer.
• Assets held by customers in ISAs, SIPP, or a dealing account are ring-fenced from AJ Bell assets, so in the event of the company failing, the assets are protected.

AJ Bell Customer Reviews

AJ Bell have a very high rating of 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot, from nearly 4000 reviews. A whopping 74% of the reviews are 5 out of 5, the maximum score. These happy customers praise the helpful and efficient customer service team. 8% of the reviews gave AJ Bell 1 out of 5 stars. These dissatisfied users had various complaints, including some about customer service not resolving their issues.

AJ Bell Alternatives

The most similar platforms to AJ Bell are other execution only style platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor.

However, customers may prefer to also look at more passive investment platforms which create the investment plan for you, such as Nutmeg, Moneyfarm or Wealthify.

Aj Bell FAQ

AJ Bell Review – Verdict

AJ Bell has nearly half a million customers, and holds over £70 billion in assets for these customers. Their service is simple and has transparent pricing, so can appeal both to the larger investor, and, thanks to their flat annual fee on shares and ETFs, to those with a smaller investment pot too.