Bare Trust Account pricing
Get a clear view of our Bare Trust Account charges and fees below
For over 45 years we've been helping Britain invest through it all.
Our Bare trust account is the most flexible option to invest for your child's future. Choose from over 3,000 investments - with no limits on how much you can pay in. Better still, there are no dealing charges when you invest by monthly Direct Debit.
Find out why over 2mn clients choose Hargreaves Lansdown - the UK's #1 investment and savings platform.
Account charges
Account charges are annual charges, billed monthly, and based on a percentage of the value of your investments.
Account charges for funds
| Value of funds (tiered) | Annual account charge* |
|---|---|
| Up to £250,000 | 0.35% |
| £250,000 - £1mn | 0.25% |
| £1mn - £2mn | 0.10% |
| Over £2mn | No charge |
Account charge for shares and other equities
Including Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), investment trusts, bonds and gilts.
| Total invested | Annual account charge* |
|---|---|
| Any | 0.35% (capped at £12.50 per month) |
*All annual charges are calculated and billed monthly. For example, if you hold £10,000 in shares, your average monthly charge would be £2.92.
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No charge to hold cash
It's free to hold uninvested cash. Better still, your uninvested money earns interest.
Some investments have their own charges. These are set by the fund manager or provider, and can be found in the key investor information document for each investment.
Good to know: we negotiate discounts on these charges for more than 500 funds. Find out more about HL fund discounts.
Dealing charges
Dealing charges are what you pay each time you buy or sell an investment.
Dealing charges for funds
For buying and selling funds online, the following charges apply:
| Fund trades | Charge per trade |
|---|---|
| Monthly regular investing (Direct Debit) | No charge |
| One-off fund trades | £1.95 |
Dealing charges for shares and other equities
The charges below cover the cost of buying and selling shares online - including Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), investment trusts, bonds and gilts:
| Share trades | Charge per trade |
|---|---|
| Monthly regular investing (Direct Debit) | No charge |
| 0 - 19 trades last month | £6.95 |
| 20+ trades last month | £3.95 |
Extra charges apply for buying overseas shares and some equities may be affected by government taxes or levies.
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Over four decades of helping Britain build wealth through it all
From our award-winning UK-based client support to our outstanding range of accounts, we're proud to offer our investors a level of service that's hard to match – at a price that's fair.
Build for your little one's future flexibily
Choose from over 3,000 funds, shares, bonds, ETFs and investment trusts, or go ready-made and let our experts take the reins
Unlike our Junior ISA or Junior SIPP, there are no maximum investment limits, so you can pay in as much as you like
How our pricing works
Your account charges in action
You have:
£20,000 in funds: this sits within the ‘up to £250,000’ tier, which is charged at 0.35% a year.
£10,000 in shares and ETFs: these are also charged at 0.35% a year.
£650 in cash: there’s no charge for holding uninvested cash.
We apply these charges by spreading them across the year to produce a monthly total.
| Total account charge this month: £8.75 |
|---|
| This is just an example. Your monthly charge is based on the value of your investments at the end of each month, so it may change as your portfolio grows or markets move. |
Your dealing charges in action
You buy one fund individually, and sell one share individually, alongside your regular monthly investments - all done online.
1 fund trade = £1.95
1 share trade = £6.95
1 monthly regular investment trade through Direct Debit = No charge
| Total dealing charge this month: £8.90 |
|---|
| Remember: Dealing charges only apply for one-off trades. There is no charge for regular monthly investing via Direct Debit. Extra charges apply for buying overseas shares. |
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Frequently asked questions
No, it’s free to open an account.
Your account charges are taken automatically each month, based on the total value of your investments from the previous month. Everything’s handled by us, so you won’t need to do anything.
Dealing charges are slightly different – they’re applied at the point of each trade, so you’ll only ever pay them when you buy or sell something.
You can view your charges at any time by logging in online.
Find out how to view your charges online
You can also find your charges in your investment reports, which are issued four times a year via secure message. If you'd like to receive your reports via post, please contact our UK-based helpdesk.
If there’s not enough cash in your account to pay your charges, we’ll contact you to ask you to request payment. If the charges remain unpaid we might sell some of your investments to cover the cost. We would sell from your biggest investment first. There’s no additional charge for this.
We apply tiered account charges for investments in funds. The first £250,000 is charged at 0.35%. From £250,000 to £1mn it's 0.25%, and from £1mn to £2mn it's 0.10%. There is no charge for fund investments of more than £2mn.
| Value of funds (tiered) | Annual account charge |
|---|---|
| Up to £250,000 | 0.35% |
| £250,000 - £1mn | 0.25% |
| £1mn - £2mn | 0.10% |
| Over £2mn | No charge |
For example, if you have £300,000 invested in funds, the first £250,000 will be charged at 0.35%, and the additional £50,000 will be charged at 0.25%.
Tiered account charges across separate accounts
Tiered account charges are applied to each account separately, rather than across all your HL accounts combined. This means the value of your investments in each account is assessed independently when calculating your charge.
For example, if you hold £200,000 in funds in your HL SIPP, and £200,000 in your HL Fund and Share Account, each account falls within the ‘up to £250,000’ tier and is charged at 0.35%, even though your combined fund holdings total £400,000.
It’s £29 per trade to invest via phone or post.
Remember: It’s quicker, easier, and cheaper to trade shares and funds online or via our app. If you’d like any help with this, give our friendly team a call – they'll be happy to guide you through the process step by step.
If you’ve chosen to reinvest your dividends or fund income, we’ll do this automatically on your behalf. We’ll place the instruction once your income reaches £10 per holding (or an amount of your choice).
Any income paid into your account will be used to buy more of the same investment, helping you to grow your portfolio over time. We don’t charge for this.
No, you won’t be charged any exit fees if you leave or transfer out of our platform.
Beyond our account and dealing charges, there are a few additional costs worth being aware of depending on what you invest in.
Stamp duty on shares
There's a government stamp duty charge of 0.5% when buying UK listed shares. There's also a flat £1.50 PTM (Panel on Takeovers and Mergers) levy for those that buy or sell over £10,000 worth of UK shares.
| Purchase type | Rate of tax |
|---|---|
| UK Stamp Duty Reserve Tax / Stamp Duty | 0.5% on certain UK shares |
| Irish Stamp Duty | 1% on Irish shares |
| French Financial Transactions Tax | 0.4% on certain French shares |
| Spanish Financial Transactions Tax | 0.2% on certain Spanish shares |
| Italian Financial Transactions Tax | 0.2% on certain Italian shares |
These charges are applied by the government. Stamp duty applies to purchases only, and there’s no stamp duty when you sell.
Stamp duty is rounded up to the nearest £5 for shares that can't settle electronically on purchases larger than £1,000.
Fund manager charges
The investments you choose may have their own charges, for example charges from a particular fund manager. These are in addition to our account charges. You can find these in each investment's key investor information document.
Funds can differ in the way prices are displayed, and the way charges and discounts operate. Find out more here.
Help and support
If you have any questions about our charges, you can call our helpdesk or send us a message.