How to use our Platform Fees Calculator
When investing, the fees you pay can significantly impact your long-term returns. Understanding platform fees is crucial for making informed investment decisions. Our Platform Fees Calculator can help you to compare providers and find the best one for you.
What does it cost to invest?
Investment platforms charge fees for holding and managing your investments. These typically include:
- Platform fees
- Typically a percentage of your portfolio value
- Flat fees in some cases
- Tiered pricing (e.g. lower % for larger portfolios)
- Fund charges
- A fee paid to the fund manager
- Typically lower for passive funds and higher for actively managed funds
- Trading fees
- Costs for buying/selling
- Sometimes free for regular investing plans
Account types
Some investment platforms have different fee structures depending on the account type:
- Stocks and Shares ISA - a tax wrapper which allows contributions up to £20,000 per tax year
- General Investment Account - a standard investment account with no tax a
- Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) - a tax wrapper which allows tax-free contributions
- Stocks and Shares LISA - also a tax wrapper but solely for first time home purchase or retirement, allows contributions up to £4,000 per tax year
Investment types
Some platforms have different charges when you invest in funds vs individual shares:
- Funds - owning small pieces of lots of different companies
- Shares - ownership of a piece of a specific company
Example platform fees when investing in funds
If you invested £50,000 in funds inside a Stocks and Shares ISA, different providers would charge different annual platform fees:
| Platform | Annual Platform Fee |
|---|---|
| Halifax | £36 |
| Interactive Investor | £60 |
| Vanguard | £75 |
| AJ Bell | £125 |
| Fidelity | £175 |
| HL | £225 |
Example platform fees when investing in shares
If you invested £50,000 in shares inside a Stocks and Shares ISA, different providers would charge different annual platform fees:
| Platform | Annual Platform Fee |
|---|---|
| Halifax | £36 |
| AJ Bell | £42 |
| HL | £45 |
| Interactive Investor | £60 |
| Vanguard | £75 |
| Fidelity | £90 |
The difference between funds and shares
You will notice from the examples above that investing in shares tends to be cheaper than funds when looking solely at platform fees. Use our Platform Fees Calculator to see a more detailed comparison between providers.
How to use the Platform Fees Calculator
- Choose your Investment Type (funds or shares)
- Enter your Amount Invested
- Choose your Account Type
The Platform Fees Calculator will show you a summary of the platform fees charged by different providers. The results table will show the cheapest provider first. The graph output gives a useful comparison of providers at different amounts invested. It can help to understand at what point it might be beneficial to switch from one provider to another. For example, as your portfolio grows you may benefit from moving away from providers that charge percentage based platform fees and towards a flat platform fee provider instead.
If you have any feedback on our Platform Fees Calculator then please get in touch.
Note that the Platform Fees Calculator only compares platform fees charged. It does not account for trading fees or fund charges.
Explore more with our Investment Forecast Tool to see how fees impact your long-term wealth.
This does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research.