Fidelity Personal Investing

Fidelity's service fee is percentage-based with two critical exceptions:

For shares, ETFs, and investment trusts held in an ISA or SIPP, the service fee is capped at £90/year (£7.50/month). No service fee at all on shares in a General Investment Account. No service fee on Junior ISAs or Junior SIPPs — full stop.

Dealing fees:

• Funds: free — buy, sell, switch. This is Fidelity's strongest card.
• Shares online: £7.50
• Shares via regular savings plan: £1.50
• Shares by phone: £30

The chart makes the competitive position clear: Fidelity is more expensive than AJ Bell at every portfolio size for funds, but cheaper than HL everywhere. Against flat-fee ii, Fidelity wins below about £51,000. Above that, ii's flat fee becomes cheaper.

For share investors, the cap changes the maths entirely. Hold £500,000 of individual shares in an ISA and pay £90/year in platform fees. The same portfolio at HL costs £2,250.

If you hold less than £25,000 with Fidelity and haven't set up a regular savings plan, you pay £7.50/month — £90/year. On a £5,000 ISA, that's an effective 1.8%. On £10,000, it's 0.90%. Either way, you're paying more than you would at AJ Bell, Vanguard, or Dodl.

The fix takes two minutes: set up a direct debit for £25/month into any investment. That qualifies you for the 0.35% rate, reducing your cost on that £5,000 ISA from £90 to £17.50. You can change or cancel the direct debit later if you want, though keeping it running is the easiest way to stay on the percentage rate.

Fidelity doesn't exactly hide this — it's documented on the charges page — but plenty of investors miss it. The platform collects fees monthly from a separate Cash Management Account (CMA), a holding account that exists purely to pay your service fee without touching your tax-wrapped ISA or SIPP investments. If the CMA runs dry, Fidelity sells down holdings to cover the fee — largest fund first. Keep a few pounds in the CMA to avoid this.

Fidelity's investment range is broad: 3,000+ funds, 2,000+ UK and international shares, ETFs, and investment trusts. Unlike Vanguard, which restricts you to 85 own-brand funds, Fidelity opens up the full market — Fundsmith, Lindsell Train, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Legal & General trackers, and fund houses you've never heard of are all on the shelf.

The Select 50 is Fidelity's curated shortlist — 50 funds across all major asset classes and investment styles, picked by their research team. It includes familiar heavyweights alongside Fidelity's own funds. For investors overwhelmed by 3,000 options, the Select 50 is a credible starting point.

Navigator generates diversified fund ideas based on your goals and risk appetite. Ready-made ISA puts you into a single diversified Fidelity fund after a few questions. Retirement Builder does the same for pensions.

A quiet advantage: Fidelity negotiates discounted ongoing charges on hundreds of funds. Some discounts are baked into the fund's standard charge (you pay less automatically). Others are rebated quarterly. A fund charging 0.75% OCF elsewhere might cost 0.65% on Fidelity. Over 20 years on a £100,000 portfolio, that 0.10% difference compounds to roughly £3,700.

FX charges on international shares are tiered (0.75% first £10k, 0.50% £10-20k, 0.25% above £20k). On a £15,000 US share purchase, the FX cost is £100 (£75 + £25) plus the £7.50 dealing fee — £107.50 total. That's competitive but not class-leading. For heavy US equity traders, Interactive Brokers or Trading 212 offer cheaper FX.

Zero service fees on Junior ISAs and Junior SIPPs. No monthly charges. No percentage fees. No dealing charges on funds. Nothing.

No other major platform matches this. Vanguard charges £4/month or 0.15%. ii requires a Plus plan (£14.99/month) just to open a Junior ISA. AJ Bell charges 0.25% (capped at £42/year for shares). Fidelity: £0.

The Junior ISA allowance is £9,000 per year. Invest the full allowance annually for 18 years at a 6% return and the pot reaches roughly £317,000. The fee saving versus Vanguard (£48/year) totals £864 over those 18 years — plus compound growth on the saved fees, which adds another £700 or so. Versus ii Plus (£179.88/year), the saving exceeds £3,200 before compounding.

The Junior SIPP is equally fee-free — unusual for a children's pension product. If you're starting a pension for a child (up to £2,880/year, topped up to £3,600 with tax relief), Fidelity is the lowest-cost option by a wide margin.

For parents and grandparents investing for children, this single feature makes Fidelity the default choice. Pair the free account with the Select 50 and Navigator tools, and you have a zero-cost, guided investing setup for the next generation.

Fidelity's SIPP has been named Which? Recommended Provider five years running. The clean fee structure explains why:

• 0.35% service fee up to £250,000, 0.20% above
• Share fee capped at £90/year
• Free fund dealing
• Pension drawdown included at no extra charge
• No exit fees
• No charges for arranging death benefits
• No triviality payment fees
• No pension-splitting-on-divorce fees

Compare that to providers who charge £100-£300/year for drawdown administration alone. The FCA's investment pathway rules ensure providers offer clear retirement options — Fidelity implements them without layering extra fees on top.

The breakeven between Fidelity and ii is around £51,000 for fund investors. Below that, Fidelity wins on free fund dealing and percentage pricing. Above it, ii's flat fee pulls ahead. AJ Bell's 0.25% is cheaper at every portfolio size for fund-only SIPP investors — but AJ Bell charges dealing fees on shares.

For more on choosing the right SIPP, see our pensions hub.

No Lifetime ISA. Like Vanguard and ii, Fidelity doesn't offer a LISA. The 25% government bonus is only available through other providers — Dodl, AJ Bell, and Moneybox are among the cheaper options.

Share dealing at £7.50 is uncompetitive. If you trade individual shares more than occasionally, ii's £3.99 (Core plan), Freetrade's £0, or Trading 212's £0 are better. Fidelity is built for fund investors — share trading is an add-on, not the main event.

The website and app are functional, not impressive. They work — you can find funds, execute trades, and manage accounts. But the interface hasn't kept pace with newer platforms. The fund research tools are solid, but the overall experience feels a generation behind Freetrade or InvestEngine.

Cash interest on uninvested balances trails the market. Fidelity retains some interest from partner banks to fund platform services and keep fees low. The rate paid to investors is published but typically well below what you'd get in a dedicated savings account. This is a conscious trade-off — lower cash rates fund lower investment fees.

The Wealth Management Service at £250,000+ is a genuine benefit (dedicated adviser, tailored portfolio reviews), but it also marks the point where Fidelity starts competing with full-service wealth managers rather than DIY platforms. At that level, you should be comparing costs against discretionary management, not against ii and AJ Bell.

Fidelity's strength is the combination: free fund dealing, free junior accounts, an award-winning SIPP, and access to the full fund market. No other platform offers all four at competitive pricing.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. You should seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change. ISA and pension rules can change. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Fidelity Personal Investing is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference 122169). Investments are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per eligible person. Cash deposits held with Fidelity's banking partners are covered up to £120,000 per person per authorised institution.