Understand the level of risk first
Investing offers the potential for better returns than cash savings over the long term (5+ years). But there are risks, the value of your investments may go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you’ve paid in.
What are investment charges?
When you invest in an Aviva Pension (SIPP), Stocks & Shares ISA and Investment Account you'll have charges to pay. How much you'll pay will depend on the size and type of your investments.
0.35% annual fee 
Most platforms have an admin fee to hold your investments. Ours is called the Aviva Charge and it's 0.35% up to £500,000. So, if you have £100,000 invested with us, you'll pay £350 a year.
Share deal for £4.99 
If you buy or sell UK shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or investment trusts with us you'll pay a flat fee of £4.99 per trade.
Other charges 
There will be other charges based on the investments you choose. For example, with investment funds you'll have a fund management charge. This amount is different for each fund.
Our Aviva Charge
This is our admin charge for holding your investments on our platform. It's based on the total value of your investments apart from any cash you have in your account.
| Investment value | Aviva Charge (%) |
|---|---|
| Up to £500,000 | 0.35% |
| Any amount over the balance of £500,000 | No Aviva Charge |
How the Aviva Charge works
Sam has £40,000 in his Aviva SIPP and £60,000 in his Aviva Stocks & Shares ISA.
He also has £1,000 in cash waiting to be invested.
He'll pay 0.35% on £100,000 as there's no Aviva Charge on his cash.
0.35% of £100,000 = £350 a year.
There is no Aviva Charge for cash held in your account, but we do retain some of the interest earned. Read about your cash account further down the page.
How our Trading fee works
Sam uses his Aviva Stocks & Shares ISA to buy shares twice. He also sells some shares and uses the money to buy an ETF.
He's traded four times. So his Aviva trading fees will be 4 x £4.99, which is £19.96.
Your cash account
What is it for?
You'll have a cash account with your Aviva SIPP, ISA or Investment Account it's where the money will be held when you're buying or selling investments. Your cash account is also used to pay your Aviva Charge, if there isn't enough in your account we'll sell some investments to cover it.
What interest rate will I earn?
We don't charge for any cash in this account. Instead, we'll retain a percentage of the interest earned on it. The amount will depend on the interest rate at the time. To check the interest rate you will currently earn and find out how we calculate what we will retain on your cash, you can read our cash interest factsheet to learn more.
How interest works in your cash account
Sam's cash in her account earns an interest rate of 4.00% and she has £500 in her cash account.
Sam will keep 2.93% of this interest which is £1.22 per month.
We will retain 1.07% of this interest which is £0.45 per month.
Fund manager charges
Each investment fund or ETF has an individual management charge which can be found in the Key Investor Information Document and appears as an ongoing charges figure (OCF) on your statement. We don't apply these charges, they're taken from the value of those individual investments.
If you have £1,000 in an ETF and its OCF is 0.5% then you'll pay £5 a year.
Sam's total Aviva charges
So we've seen that Sam's Aviva Charge is £350. He has trading fees of £19.95. But he also gets £28.10 in interest on his cash.
So his total annual charges with Aviva will be £350 + £19.96 - £28.10 = £341.86.
Other investment charges
Performance fees
More common with investment trusts, some investments also charge a performance fee, based on how well a fund performs. This fee can be found in the Key Investment Information Document when you're choosing your funds.
UK Stamp Duty Reserve Tax
This is 0.5% of the value and is paid on the purchase of most UK shares online. It's taken from your trade automatically and paid to HMRC.
The Panel of Takeovers and Mergers Levy
£1.50 on trades over £10,000, this is taken automatically and paid to the Takeover Panel. The Panel's role is to make sure shareholders are treated equally during takeover bids.
Important documents
Before you begin investing with us, please make sure you've read the key features documents for an Aviva Pension (SIPP), Stocks & Shares ISA or Investment Account.
And also the terms and conditions for an Aviva Pension (SIPP), Stocks & Shares ISA or Investment Account.
Learn about investing
We have a range of useful guides that can take the mystery out of investing, so you can choose yours with confidence.
Basics
How do we come up with our Experts' shortlist of investment funds?
If you'd like to know more about how we choose these funds you can find out here.
-
Strategies
Active vs passive investing: Pros and Cons
We explain how they work so you can decide which is right for you.
-
-
Strategies
Short, medium and long term investing
Whatever your goals we can give you tips on where to put your money.
Investment calculator
See what you investment could be worth over time.
Risk
profiler
Understand your attitude to investing.
Investment preference tool
Find investments that fit your values.
Frequently asked questions
What will my exact charge be?
Log into your MyAviva account to check the exact value of the Aviva Charge for your investments. You can do this by checking your transaction history to see the charge you have paid each month. Investment platforms can have different types of charges and use different terms to describe them.
Which investment products count when calculating my total Aviva Charge?
The Aviva Charge applies when you have a SIPP, Stocks & Shares ISA or Investment Account with us, and you invest by choosing from our selection of ready-made funds, our experts' shortlist or our full fund list. Read more about these funds options. The more you invest across any of these, the lower the overall percentage charge you may pay. Any money in your cash account isn't included in your investment total. Find out more in our terms and conditions.
How is the Aviva Charge calculated and paid?
These charges are calculated daily and taken monthly, from each product separately. Payment is taken from the money in your cash account. If you don’t have enough in your cash account, payment will be taken from your investments instead. For full details, see our terms and conditions.
How is the fund management charge paid?
The fund management charge is worked out as a percentage of the value of your investments. It appears as an ongoing charges figure (OCF) on your statement. For example if you have £10,000 invested in a fund with an OCF of 1%, you'll pay £100 a year. This is taken from your investments by the fund itself, not Aviva.
How is the trading fee paid?
We take the trading fee from your cash account each time that you trade. The amount of the Trading Charge is deducted from the amount you tell us you're looking to trade and isn't taken in addition.
How do you take a margin from the interest earned on cash?
We will receive interest from the banks where we hold your cash. We will retain some of this interest and pass the remainder onto you. You can learn more about the interest you’ll keep and the interest we’ll retain on our cash interest factsheet.
The next steps to sustainable investing
If you're ready to start investing our Aviva SIPP, ISA or Investment account can help you do it in a way that suits your goals.
Open an Aviva Stocks & Shares ISA 
Choose from a wide range of investments and make the most of your £20,000 a year ISA allowance.
Invest in a SIPP 
With our self-invested personal pension (SIPP) you can save for retirement in a way that suits you. And start from £25 a month.
Open an Aviva Investment Account 
Our investment account is a flexible way to invest for the long term outside a pension or ISA.