Why look beyond Vanguard?
Vanguard's SIPP is brilliantly cheap at 0.15% (capped at £375), but it has one big restriction: you can only invest in Vanguard's own roughly 80 funds and ETFs. No individual shares, no rival fund houses, no investment trusts. If you want broader choice — or a flat fee that beats Vanguard's percentage on a large pot — an alternative makes sense.
Vanguard vs the alternatives
| Provider | Fee | Investment universe | Edge over Vanguard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard | 0.15% (cap £375) | ~80 Vanguard funds/ETFs | — |
| AJ Bell | 0.25% | Thousands of funds, shares, ETFs | Full choice |
| Interactive Investor | £5.99–12.99/mo flat | Whole market | Flat fee on big pots |
| InvestEngine | 0% (ETFs) | ~700 ETFs | Even cheaper on ETFs |
| Fidelity | 0.35% (capped) | Funds, shares, ETFs | Wider funds, capped fee |
Cheaper or broader — pick your reason
If you simply want lower cost, InvestEngine charges 0% to hold ETFs (you pay only the ETF's own OCF), undercutting even Vanguard. If you want more choice, AJ Bell and Fidelity open up the whole fund and share market. And on a large pot — above roughly £250,000 where Vanguard's £375 cap already applies — Interactive Investor's flat fee can still win once you factor in dealing patterns.
What you give up
- Vanguard's simplicity — a small, curated range that's hard to get wrong.
- Its low-cost LifeStrategy and Target Retirement funds, though some are available elsewhere.
- The reassurance of a single, low-cost fund house with a strong index pedigree.
See our best low-cost pension and best SIPP providers guides.
The own-fund limitation in practice
Vanguard's restriction to its own roughly 80 funds is fine for a passive investor who only wants global trackers and a couple of bond funds. It becomes limiting if you want a specific active fund from another house, an investment trust, individual shares, or niche exposure Vanguard doesn't offer. Investors who outgrow Vanguard's menu typically move to AJ Bell or Interactive Investor, which provide whole-of-market access while keeping costs reasonable.
Cheaper than Vanguard for some
Though Vanguard is famously cheap, it isn't always cheapest. InvestEngine charges nothing to hold its ETF range, so an ETF-only investor pays just the funds' own OCFs — undercutting Vanguard's 0.15% platform fee. And on very large pots, Interactive Investor's flat fee can beat even Vanguard's £375 cap once you weigh dealing patterns. The lesson is that "Vanguard equals cheapest" is a useful rule of thumb but not a universal truth.
Replicating Vanguard's funds elsewhere
Switching away from Vanguard doesn't mean abandoning its funds. Popular Vanguard products like LifeStrategy, the FTSE Global All Cap index fund and Target Retirement funds are available on AJ Bell, Interactive Investor, Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity. So you can keep the exact investments you like while gaining the ability to hold other assets alongside them — effectively getting Vanguard's funds plus everything Vanguard doesn't offer.
Deciding whether to move
- Stay with Vanguard if you only want its funds and value simplicity.
- Move to InvestEngine for an even cheaper ETF-only portfolio.
- Move to AJ Bell or Interactive Investor for shares, trusts and rival funds.
- Vanguard charges no exit fee, so switching is penalty-free.
Model the fee difference with our pension calculator.
Right reasons to move on from Vanguard
Vanguard's SIPP remains one of the best low-cost pensions available, so the case for an alternative is specific rather than general. Move because you want investments Vanguard doesn't offer — individual shares, investment trusts, or active funds from other houses — and AJ Bell or Interactive Investor will serve you well. Move because you invest only in ETFs and want to pay even less, and InvestEngine's zero platform fee is compelling. Move because your pot is very large and a flat fee suits you better. But don't move on a vague sense that there must be something better; for a passive investor content with global trackers, Vanguard is hard to improve on. The reassuring point is that you can take Vanguard's popular funds with you to most rival platforms, so switching is about gaining extra capability rather than abandoning what works. With no exit fees, the only real cost of changing is the modest effort of arranging the transfer.
Verdict
For broader choice, AJ Bell is the natural step up from Vanguard. For even lower cost on ETFs, InvestEngine. For large pots wanting a flat fee, Interactive Investor. All address Vanguard's own-fund-only limitation.