Good SIPP provider?

[Vashy]

So rather surprisingly, I'm now in the position where I'm no longer an "insider" in terms of financial markets, which means I'm no longer limited to investing in broad indices, and, I believe, no longer limited to the "one size fits all" pension with Scottish Widows that I've paid in since 2008.

I currently have the following:
- c£18k in post-tax Vanguard index funds (most of it in the World All-Cap, but also some allocations to S&P 500, DAX, Global ESG and Global Small Cap), all equities
- c£330k in a Scottish Widows pension, which is my consolidated "company pays in" pension from multiple employers and the current (well, soon ex-)employer; all equities, management fee is 1%
- c£44k expected in lump sum payment shortly, though will pay tax on £14k of that

I was thinking of opening a SIPP at one of the large providers to dump most of the cash lump sum in, and do some sector and single-stock investing. I have some companies I really like and would like to hold some shares - specifically large mid-caps, the band right under the blue chips. It's not really for day trading - basically all buy-and-holds, so access to some research/education would be useful. I've heard good things about the Hargreaves Lansdown (sp?) platform, but thought I could tap the collective knowledge in the forum. Which provider are you using? Are you happy with it? I'd like to move the pension from Scottish Widows to a lower-cost provider, because paying them £3,300 a year for just sending my a statement once a year seems like a lot. I'm also aware of risk, so wouldn't want everything in one basket because of the insured level of £85,000, so scattering it across multiple providers makes sense? 100k at Vanguard, 100k at HL, 100k somewhere else? How are you handling this?

I probably won't need to access any of that money, so it can happily sit there for another 10 years or more. Any advice?

[Affable Bear]

I have placed all my old pots into a SIPP with Vanguard and put it all into the US Equity Index fund which tracks the SP Total Market Index fund.

I havent used Hargreaves Landsdown or AJ Bell or any other traditional trading portals but I do know the traditional ones can be pricey. I have heard that Interactive Investor offers flat fees and is a bit cheaper than the traditional trading accounts so might be worth looking into.

Personally if you are putting anything into index funds or ETF's stick with Vanguard or something similar, as their fees will generally be significantly smaller, I think I pay 0.10% fees on balances up to £250k (anything above is not charged) with vanguard currently.

All of my stocks are in Vanguard funds through Vanguard at the moment and I dont any individual stocks, I understand the risk aversion with the FSCS protection however to my knowledge I think most (all?) have to keep customer funds in seperate accounts/trusts so that if the company went insolvent investor money could be returned or transferred to a different provider.

The Vanguard website says this: https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/need-help/answer/what-happens-to-my-money-if-vanguard-become-insolvent

But I would check any investment platforms you have money in and ensure they are compliant with FSCS

[MarcherLady]

Hubs and I are with AJ Bell. The service is... adequate. I was rather annoyed at how many instructions had to be carried out on paper rather than electronically. Setting up ad hoc withdrawals from Hubs account was not as simple as it should have been and requires hardcopies of his requirements to be posted. Annoying.

[daverobev]

AJ Bell is/was cheapest if you're all in ETFs. Management fee is zero above the first £40k invested. The fee keeps going for mutual funds but not I think for individual shares.

Don't know what their exchange rates are like if you're buying non-UK stuff though; I know I lose a little when they convert my (Vanguard ETF) USD back to GBP. Mine's small enough that it doesn't matter much.

[bownyboy]

We both have our ISAs and SIPPs with Interactive Investor. All in Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap and some Vanguard Total Bond Fund.

The app and website are fine. I don't really use or have need for it as we don't trade. Our focus was cost and when you go over a certain amount a fixed fee broker is best which is why we chose them.

It costs £19.99 a month for ISAs, GIA and SIPP accounts which gives you one free trade a month (which we don't use).

[Vashy]

Thank you all - my "cooling off" period is over (I had to wait 6 weeks before I could do anything, and that's over today). I'll be able to transfer the pension money at some point - I'll need to wait for the "your employer has notified us of your changed circumstances - want to keep paying in?" letter from SW. Likewise, the lump sum will probably be paid in December as well. In the meantime, I can open a SIPP with Vanguard (already a customer) and check out interactive Investor/AJ Bell and run a trial portfolio with the stocks I want to buy and see how I do.