Is the Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP good? It offers wide investment choice, a managed plan and an account charge of up to 0.35%; fit depends on your pot.

“Good” depends on how much you hold, how you invest and what else you have, so below is HL’s own account of what you can hold, what it charges and how money moves in and out. Weighing them against your own pots is the job the form on this page is for: an FCA-authorised adviser telephones, free.

What the HL SIPP is

HL’s SIPP page describes it as “a UK personal pension that gives you control over your retirement savings.” You choose the investments yourself, or pick HL’s managed option, and pension tax relief is added to personal contributions. The general idea is explained in what a SIPP is and how it works, and the relief in how pension tax relief works.

HL gives three reasons to choose its version: investing “your way” with a wide choice, a managed Ready-Made Pension Plan, and moving old workplace pensions into one online account. These are HL’s selling points; it also says the investment decisions are yours.

Who can open one, and what it takes

HL says you can open a SIPP if you are between 18 and 75, a UK resident and a UK taxpayer (the last to benefit from tax relief). Employment is not required. Whether a SIPP suits someone who lives abroad is a separate question, covered in SIPPs for non-UK residents.

On the amount, HL’s headline reads “No minimum amount to open your SIPP”, while its FAQ gives the practical route: “You can set up an HL SIPP from as little as £25 a month, or by making a one-off contribution of £100 or more.” You need your National Insurance number and either bank details or a debit card. A pension transfer is another way in, and HL asks for the old pension’s name and type, policy number and an approximate value.

What you can hold inside it

HL describes a wide choice of funds, shares, ETFs and more. Its charges page groups the non-fund side as ETFs, investment trusts, bonds, gilts and Venture Capital Trusts, and says funds include long-term asset funds. For whether a particular fund or share is available, and any minimum per investment, check HL’s live fund pages or ask the adviser on your call-back.

The managed route is the Ready-Made Pension Plan, available only inside the SIPP. HL says that more than eight years from retirement the plan is set up for long-term growth, and as retirement nears “your money is gradually moved into less risky investments”. It adds that the plan is not personal advice and that you need to check in from time to time. You can put all of your money in it or use it for part. HL says the plan is designed for people comfortable with medium-high investment risk for growth. For how a similar managed option works elsewhere, see AJ Bell’s SIPP and Ready Made pension.

What HL says it charges

The SIPP page says it is “Free to open, with an account charge of no more than 0.35% for holding investments.” The full tiers, dealing charges and worked examples are in Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP fees. Two points matter for judging value:

  • The account charge is not the whole cost. HL says “The investments you choose may have their own ongoing charges.”
  • On the Ready-Made Pension Plan, HL states: “If you invest, HL will benefit from the fund management charge, as well as the HL account charge.”

How charges of this kind add up across providers is in pension charges and fees. If you are weighing HL against Fidelity, Vanguard or Interactive Investor, each has its own page of published figures: Fidelity, Vanguard and Interactive Investor. A fair comparison uses your own pot, your mix of funds and shares and how often you trade, which is a job for the adviser call.

Transferring old pensions to HL

On transfers, HL says: “We don’t charge anything when you transfer your accounts to us, and you won’t pay set up fees. Your current provider may charge exit fees, so check this first.” It also warns that some pensions have “special guarantees or benefits that are lost if transferred, including guaranteed annuity rates, lower protected pension age and matching employer contributions.” Those are the checks that matter most before moving; the steps are in how to transfer a pension. Pensions with guarantees or final salary benefits are a particular case, see final salary pensions.

Drawing on the SIPP in retirement

HL says you can usually access a SIPP from age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028), and that 25% of the pot can be taken tax free, with the remaining 75% taxed as income at your marginal rate. GOV.UK caps tax-free cash at £268,275 in total, the lump sum allowance (see tax-free lump sums). Its drawdown page says “Take income your way, with no withdrawal fees”. Money left invested still attracts the charges above. Drawdown is explained in how pension drawdown works, and an annuity is a separate purchase, covered in how a pension annuity works.

For free, impartial guidance before you decide, HL points to Pension Wise, which it calls “a free government service for people aged 50 or over with a UK personal or workplace pension”.

HL SIPP questions that come up

Is the HL SIPP good value?

HL publishes an account charge of no more than 0.35% a year. On funds the rate steps down for the part above £250,000, and on shares, ETFs and investment trusts it is capped at £12.50 a month. Fund charges and one-off dealing charges come on top, so value turns on your pot size, your mix and how often you trade.

Can I have an HL SIPP and a workplace pension?

HL says yes, you can hold both. It says to make sure you are maximising any employer contributions before deciding whether to pay into a SIPP.

How has the HL SIPP performed?

There is no single return for the SIPP itself: it is an account, and what you earn depends on the funds, shares or plan you hold in it. HL’s SIPP page warns that values can fall and you could get back less than you invest, and a fund’s past returns are no guide to its future ones.

Does HL SIPP cash earn interest?

HL says it is free to hold uninvested cash and that the cash earns interest. Rates change, so look at HL’s live page and the comparison in SIPP interest on cash.

Who runs the money in the Ready-Made Pension Plan?

HL says the plan is administered by Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Ltd and its underlying funds are managed by Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers Ltd, both part of the HL group. That is why both the plan’s fund charge and the account charge go to HL.

Putting HL against your own pots

The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you put in. Putting your pots beside the HL SIPP is a job for a conversation. Lining HL up against your other pensions goes quicker aloud: an FCA-authorised adviser, not HL, rings at no fee once your details reach us via the form on this page.

Sources, all read 26 October 2026: Hargreaves Lansdown, SIPP; Hargreaves Lansdown, Ready-Made Pension Plan; Hargreaves Lansdown, transfer to the SIPP; Hargreaves Lansdown, SIPP charges; Hargreaves Lansdown, drawdown; and GOV.UK, lump sum allowance. Terms can change; check HL’s live pages.