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Hoodless Brennan finally drop the ball !
Rhino666
Posts: 571 Forumite
Bit of a shame that the £7 dealing charge with no catches is changing soon, albeit in a small but annoyingly sneaky way. Here is an extract from an email just received.......
Dear Client
Hoodless Brennan Online – Keeping you up to date with changes and developments
There are a number of exciting and important changes that have occurred recently and a few more that will be happening to our Online service over the next few months and we would like to take this opportunity to keep you up to date. Many of these developments have been planned for months and were directly shaped by your comments and ideas from our client survey in 2005.
In recent months we have launched a new improved home website, great value SIPP and CFD accounts and an enhanced, completely free to use research centre. In the next few weeks we are also releasing a new fantastic low frequent trader commission rate and a brand new trading site.
1. New frequent trader commission rates for everyone – trade more and reduce your commission rate!
Our £7 flat rate online dealing commission offer has been around for over four years – in that time we have rightly been applauded as the lowest cost UK online share dealing service by What Investment, Personal Finance and latterly by the Investors Chronicle awards as Cheapest Online Broker in 2005 and 2006. During that time we have not increased our prices in all those years – not even for inflation! That means in real terms our prices are now 13.75% lower than 2003 and if the commission rate had kept pace with inflation would now be £9.62 per trade!*
However our market leading rate is finally being challenged by competitors and to maintain our clear market leading reputation for value we are announcing a new super low trading rate for frequent traders and a special thank you to all our existing clients. For the next three months all online trades will be at our new super low frequent trader rate of just £6.50 a trade! The UK’s cheapest online share dealing site just got cheaper!**
Our new £6.50 super low commission rate starts on the 1st July 2007. Then after three months your trading activity will be automatically reflected in the following revised commission bands for trades you conduct in the next quarter after:
If you have traded 20+ times in the previous quarter – Flat Rate £6.50 per trade
If you have traded 11-19 times in the previous quarter – Flat Rate £7 per trade
If you have traded 1-10 times per previous quarter – Flat Rate £8 per trade
And if you have not traded in the quarter then £5 maintenance charge (inclusive of VAT)
Some brokers require you to trade a lot more than 20 times per quarter to benefit from their lowest commissions, and if you trade at least once per quarter we will waive the quarterly maintenance fee of £5 per quarter that will be due non-trading accounts from 1st July 2007 at the end of that quarter and charged on the 1st October 2007. Each quarter your commission rate will be set against the amount of trades you did last quarter, so the more you trade the less you pay!
If you have only just applied for an account with us your month free commission will still be valid for the month and then after completion your trading commission will be set at £6.50 for the remainder of any period up to the 1st October.
2. Changes to Interest Rates
We are also setting a simple to understand 2% flat interest rate paid on money deposits held on account with us and our overdraft rate to 8% over our bank base lending rate. Interest is paid on money held on account with us, calculated daily and paid at the end of each quarter to your account direct. Our new flat interest rate is one of the best on share dealing sites in the UK:
Barclays 2% up to £20,000 balance, 0% up to £500 balance
E*Trade 0.1 to 1.5% depending on balance size
TD Waterhouse 0.5%
Hoodless Brennan 2%***
3. What’s new? Some of the other things we have been up to recently...
Hoodless Brennan launches as an electronic market maker (RSP)
Hoodless Brennan is an active market maker in over 150 AIM listed companies and LSE rules mean that trades in these companies by our clients must be booked through us. Previously we had to transact these orders by telephone, however, we have just launched successfully as an online market maker (RSP) allowing you to trade most Hoodless Brennan stocks online and not by telephone.
New Spread Trading Service added to our CFD service
We are also pleased to announce that we have successfully launched a new Spread Trading service at https://www.hoodlessbrennancfds.com. Our CFD’s offer very low commission rate for prices based on the actual underlying spreads from just 0.10%.
4. What’s coming soon? – New trading site in final testing!
The launch of our new trading site is imminent which will have:
Improved trading facilities and an updated limit system that includes trailing limits
Improved portfolio display with profit & loss, indices, sector & graphic breakdowns
Wider range of shares online, including an extra 500 CDI’s online
Extra RSPs to place your trades, ensuring we get you better prices & wider coverage
New Worldpay page access, making it easier to transfer money in and refund
No more log in/out issues – if you accidentally shut down, you can log straight back in
The design and facilities for this new site have been directly developed as a result of your comments and we are working hard to release the site asap. We will keep you posted on when the new site will go live.
Log onto http://www.hoodlessbrennan.com/products-services/online-trading/online-charges/ for full details of our new commission and interest rates.
And Remember - Hoodless Brennan Online is rightly recognised as offering the cheapest online share dealing accounts for:
Online share dealing commission in the UK and has done for the last four years**
Self Select ISA & PEP in the UK and has done since launch two years ago**
CFD’s from just 0.10% commission, based on underlying equity price for tight spreads
A competitively priced, easy to apply and use Self Invested Personal Pension
We believe you will not find better value than with Hoodless Brennan Online; with great value commission rates, improved trading facilities and the products you want. I’d like to thank you for your continued custom and hope you will take advantage of our new frequent trader flat rate.
Yours Faithfully,
Nigel Smith
CEO Hoodless Brennan plc
I have read this email fairly quickly but what it seems to mean to me and probably 95+% of Hoodless Brennan customers is a dealing charge increase to £8 with a distinct possibility of several quarterly £5 charges throughout the year. Hoodless are still the cheapest around AFAIK but I am not impressed with their changes or communication which reads as an insult to the intelligence!! - what do others think ?
Dear Client
Hoodless Brennan Online – Keeping you up to date with changes and developments
There are a number of exciting and important changes that have occurred recently and a few more that will be happening to our Online service over the next few months and we would like to take this opportunity to keep you up to date. Many of these developments have been planned for months and were directly shaped by your comments and ideas from our client survey in 2005.
In recent months we have launched a new improved home website, great value SIPP and CFD accounts and an enhanced, completely free to use research centre. In the next few weeks we are also releasing a new fantastic low frequent trader commission rate and a brand new trading site.
1. New frequent trader commission rates for everyone – trade more and reduce your commission rate!
Our £7 flat rate online dealing commission offer has been around for over four years – in that time we have rightly been applauded as the lowest cost UK online share dealing service by What Investment, Personal Finance and latterly by the Investors Chronicle awards as Cheapest Online Broker in 2005 and 2006. During that time we have not increased our prices in all those years – not even for inflation! That means in real terms our prices are now 13.75% lower than 2003 and if the commission rate had kept pace with inflation would now be £9.62 per trade!*
However our market leading rate is finally being challenged by competitors and to maintain our clear market leading reputation for value we are announcing a new super low trading rate for frequent traders and a special thank you to all our existing clients. For the next three months all online trades will be at our new super low frequent trader rate of just £6.50 a trade! The UK’s cheapest online share dealing site just got cheaper!**
Our new £6.50 super low commission rate starts on the 1st July 2007. Then after three months your trading activity will be automatically reflected in the following revised commission bands for trades you conduct in the next quarter after:
If you have traded 20+ times in the previous quarter – Flat Rate £6.50 per trade
If you have traded 11-19 times in the previous quarter – Flat Rate £7 per trade
If you have traded 1-10 times per previous quarter – Flat Rate £8 per trade
And if you have not traded in the quarter then £5 maintenance charge (inclusive of VAT)
Some brokers require you to trade a lot more than 20 times per quarter to benefit from their lowest commissions, and if you trade at least once per quarter we will waive the quarterly maintenance fee of £5 per quarter that will be due non-trading accounts from 1st July 2007 at the end of that quarter and charged on the 1st October 2007. Each quarter your commission rate will be set against the amount of trades you did last quarter, so the more you trade the less you pay!
If you have only just applied for an account with us your month free commission will still be valid for the month and then after completion your trading commission will be set at £6.50 for the remainder of any period up to the 1st October.
2. Changes to Interest Rates
We are also setting a simple to understand 2% flat interest rate paid on money deposits held on account with us and our overdraft rate to 8% over our bank base lending rate. Interest is paid on money held on account with us, calculated daily and paid at the end of each quarter to your account direct. Our new flat interest rate is one of the best on share dealing sites in the UK:
Barclays 2% up to £20,000 balance, 0% up to £500 balance
E*Trade 0.1 to 1.5% depending on balance size
TD Waterhouse 0.5%
Hoodless Brennan 2%***
3. What’s new? Some of the other things we have been up to recently...
Hoodless Brennan launches as an electronic market maker (RSP)
Hoodless Brennan is an active market maker in over 150 AIM listed companies and LSE rules mean that trades in these companies by our clients must be booked through us. Previously we had to transact these orders by telephone, however, we have just launched successfully as an online market maker (RSP) allowing you to trade most Hoodless Brennan stocks online and not by telephone.
New Spread Trading Service added to our CFD service
We are also pleased to announce that we have successfully launched a new Spread Trading service at https://www.hoodlessbrennancfds.com. Our CFD’s offer very low commission rate for prices based on the actual underlying spreads from just 0.10%.
4. What’s coming soon? – New trading site in final testing!
The launch of our new trading site is imminent which will have:
Improved trading facilities and an updated limit system that includes trailing limits
Improved portfolio display with profit & loss, indices, sector & graphic breakdowns
Wider range of shares online, including an extra 500 CDI’s online
Extra RSPs to place your trades, ensuring we get you better prices & wider coverage
New Worldpay page access, making it easier to transfer money in and refund
No more log in/out issues – if you accidentally shut down, you can log straight back in
The design and facilities for this new site have been directly developed as a result of your comments and we are working hard to release the site asap. We will keep you posted on when the new site will go live.
Log onto http://www.hoodlessbrennan.com/products-services/online-trading/online-charges/ for full details of our new commission and interest rates.
And Remember - Hoodless Brennan Online is rightly recognised as offering the cheapest online share dealing accounts for:
Online share dealing commission in the UK and has done for the last four years**
Self Select ISA & PEP in the UK and has done since launch two years ago**
CFD’s from just 0.10% commission, based on underlying equity price for tight spreads
A competitively priced, easy to apply and use Self Invested Personal Pension
We believe you will not find better value than with Hoodless Brennan Online; with great value commission rates, improved trading facilities and the products you want. I’d like to thank you for your continued custom and hope you will take advantage of our new frequent trader flat rate.
Yours Faithfully,
Nigel Smith
CEO Hoodless Brennan plc
I have read this email fairly quickly but what it seems to mean to me and probably 95+% of Hoodless Brennan customers is a dealing charge increase to £8 with a distinct possibility of several quarterly £5 charges throughout the year. Hoodless are still the cheapest around AFAIK but I am not impressed with their changes or communication which reads as an insult to the intelligence!! - what do others think ?
PLEASE DO NOT STEAL
The Government will not tolerate competition
Always judge a man by the way he treats someone who is of no use to him
The Government will not tolerate competition
Always judge a man by the way he treats someone who is of no use to him
0
Comments
-
Yes that's a pain - my gf only invests once a month so she'll be hit by slightly higher dealing fees.
But is anyone cheaper? Selftrade is £12.50 a trade. I've not looked anywhere else....yet.LBM: Nov 2004 Debt Apr06: £19,273.46 (Highest)
Debt 2006: Jul:£18,552.06|Aug:£17,615.14|Sep:£16,297.98|Oct:£15,961|Nov:£15,760.66|Dec:£13,204.37
Debt 2007: Jan:£13,183.71|Feb:£13,851.03|Mar:£13,349.15|April:£12,997.33 | May: £12,300.00 | June: £12,000 | July: £9,894.44 |Aug:£0
Debt Free Date: 31 August 2007
The £2 Coin Savers Club = £72
Reclaiming my bank charges - £105 reclaimed
My Diary: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2305610 -
"And if you have not traded in the quarter then £5 maintenance charge (inclusive of VAT)"
So if you dont trade for a year its gonna cost you £20. Am I reading that right?.0 -
Agree entirely - this is very sneaky, especially as they made such a big deal of the fact that they levied no quarterly/annual fixed charges.0
-
DontDoDebtKids wrote: »Yes that's a pain - my gf only invests once a month so she'll be hit by slightly higher dealing fees.
But is anyone cheaper? Selftrade is £12.50 a trade. I've not looked anywhere else....yet.
Halifax are £11.99 per deal0 -
are they allowed to do this to existing customers? i never accepted a maintenance charge in my terms and conditions....
is there any way i can challenge them? or perhaps ask for free transfer to another broker?0 -
are they allowed to do this to existing customers? i never accepted a maintenance charge in my terms and conditions....
is there any way i can challenge them? or perhaps ask for free transfer to another broker?
It's a good point.
HB have sucked in clients with their low fees over the last four years. Most of these clients are now tied in to the HB nominee account. I know it is possible to sell shares or transfer but in practice most would not want to pay the transfer fees or risk the market with a sale and re-purchase.
HB have been underhand and appear to be yet another greedy company - pretty unsubtle about it too.
I would encourage others to email HB, as I have, complaining about the unreasonable condition changes, particularly the proposed £5 quarterly charge - you never know they may take notice.PLEASE DO NOT STEAL
The Government will not tolerate competition
Always judge a man by the way he treats someone who is of no use to him0 -
I think some brokers offer to transfer your shares to them for free (well, up to a certain amount of dealing fees).
I'm going to have to look into who was offering this, if they still are.LBM: Nov 2004 Debt Apr06: £19,273.46 (Highest)
Debt 2006: Jul:£18,552.06|Aug:£17,615.14|Sep:£16,297.98|Oct:£15,961|Nov:£15,760.66|Dec:£13,204.37
Debt 2007: Jan:£13,183.71|Feb:£13,851.03|Mar:£13,349.15|April:£12,997.33 | May: £12,300.00 | June: £12,000 | July: £9,894.44 |Aug:£0
Debt Free Date: 31 August 2007
The £2 Coin Savers Club = £72
Reclaiming my bank charges - £105 reclaimed
My Diary: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2305610 -
It's a good point.
HB have sucked in clients with their low fees over the last four years. Most of these clients are now tied in to the HB nominee account. I know it is possible to sell shares or transfer but in practice most would not want to pay the transfer fees or risk the market with a sale and re-purchase.
HB have been underhand and appear to be yet another greedy company - pretty unsubtle about it too.
I would encourage others to email HB, as I have, complaining about the unreasonable condition changes, particularly the proposed £5 quarterly charge - you never know they may take notice.
yep maybe if lots of moneysavers expressed their dissatisfaction the HB might do sth bout it.... i think i'm gonna start a thread to encourage people to complain!0 -
Sorry but complain about what, they still are very cheap by anyones standard and if you trade once a quarter then the charge is waived. They are a commercial entity who have done what many before have done, attract people with a headline rate then increase their price. The difference is that they
1. Are still the cheapest if you trade.
2. Have reduced the price for very regular traders
3. Only have a small fee, which is waived if a trade is made
4. They kept their original deal in place far longer than most others would have done.0 -
You missed out:
5. Take £20 a year off you for doing absolutely nothing.
*That* is why people are complaining.
Str0
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