St James's Place pension drawdown hub: published fees, investment options and features. Updated for 2026. Guidance, not advice.
Estimated yearly cost at £250,000: £2,875 a year (monthly income, no share deals; Includes ongoing advice — fund charges extra).
Position on cost: Not in our DIY ranking: you need an adviser, so it is compared on advised drawdown. Compare advised drawdown platforms
| Drawdown admin fee | None Included in the yearly cost above |
|---|---|
| Regular income payments | Free |
| One-off (ad-hoc) withdrawal | Not confirmed |
| UFPLS payment | Not confirmed |
| Transfer out (exit fee) | Free |
| Minimum pot | Not confirmed |
| Cash in the pension | Not confirmed |
Fees checked 23 Sept 2026. “Not confirmed” means the charge is not published or we have not verified it; it is never counted as free.
Sources: Ongoing charges summary (23 Aug 2025) · New charging structure press release · Our charges explained
Capital at risk. Comparison information only, not advice. Confirm charges on the provider’s own pages before you act.
You need a financial adviser to use St James's Place for drawdown. Its real cost includes the adviser’s fee, so we compare it with other advised drawdown platforms rather than in our DIY ranking.
Platform fees: Ongoing: 0.80% advice + 0.35% product (tiered to 0.25%) + fund 0.09-0.69%; initial advice 3%/2%/1% (from Aug 2025)
Fund charges (Ongoing Charges Figure) apply on top of platform fees and depend on your chosen investments. Use our calculator above to see the total annual cost for your specific pot size.
St James's Place moved to a separated charging structure, so the cost is made up of four distinct parts rather than one headline percentage. The figures below are the ones SJP publishes itself.
| Charge | What St James's Place publishes |
|---|---|
| Ongoing advice charge Charged on the value held in your account(s). |
0.80% a year |
| Product charge — pensions and investment bonds Tiered from 26 August 2025; see the table below. |
0.35% a year, reducing on larger holdings |
| Product charge — unit trusts and ISAs Shown for comparison; drawdown sits under the pension charge above. |
0.27% a year, reducing on larger holdings |
| Fund charge SJP states this range applies to the majority of its funds. What you pay depends on the funds held. |
0.09% to 0.69% a year |
| Initial advice charge A one-off charge applied when money is invested. |
3% on the first £250,000, 2% on the next £250,000, 1% above £500,000 |
| Amount held | Pensions and bonds | Unit trusts and ISAs |
|---|---|---|
| First £500,000 | 0.35% | 0.27% |
| Next £500,000 | 0.32% | 0.24% |
| Next £1m | 0.29% | 0.21% |
| Next £1m | 0.27% | 0.19% |
| Over £3m | 0.25% | 0.17% |
SJP publishes a total for one of its funds: with the Polaris 3 fund charge at 0.52%, the total ongoing charge including advice, product and fund charges comes to 1.67% for a pension, or 1.59% for an ISA.
Figures taken from St. James's Place — Our charges explained, the structure applying from 26 August 2025. Checked 31 Jul 2026. Charges can change — always confirm against the provider's current documentation before acting.
Eligible claims may be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If a SIPP operator or investment firm fails, the limit is £85,000 per person per firm; a pension provided by an insurer is normally covered in full. FSCS pension protection
Source: St. James’s Place legal information, checked 24 Sept 2026.
No new verified updates this month. We only list items we can cite from an official RNS, company newsroom or official blog.
25 Feb 2026
St. James’s Place’s 25 February 2026 results statement reported record closing funds under management of £220.0 billion for 2025 and said its simple, comparable charging structure had been implemented. IFRS profit after tax was £531.4 million.
Last verified: 8 Sept 2026.
Also compare: Vanguard, Interactive Investor, AJ Bell Youinvest, Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity Personal Investing, and all UK providers we track.
Free, impartial guidance: Pension Wise offers free appointments to people aged 50 or over with a defined contribution pension, and MoneyHelper’s investment pathways comparison tool compares drawdown providers’ ready-made options. Both are backed by the government.