Which Stocks and Shares ISA

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JakeWS
JakeWS Posts: 12 Forumite
in ISAs & tax-free savings
I am a higher rate taxpayer looking to begin investing in stocks and shares.

I am looking to build a good portfolio which I manage myself (Economics Graduate).

I was just wondering which ISA platforms you'd recommendwho have the most shares available with reasonable fees?

I know people who use Halifax, however their trade fees are quite high. I tried Charles Stanley but they are missing a few of the American stocks I'd like to invest in eg Amazon and Google.

So what platforms would you all recommend?

Thanks

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  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 17,636 Forumite
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    I use iWeb and am happy with them.

    Are you sure individual shares are the best way to start if you have no investments at the moment?
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 31,211 Forumite
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    You'd probably be best starting from http://monevator.com/find-the-best-online-broker/ or similar, as there are too many variables involved for anyone to give a meaningful one-size-fits-all answer to questions like this.

    Forum member SnowMan also created a spreadsheet to allow comparison, see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5583030
  • JakeWS
    JakeWS Posts: 12 Forumite
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    I'm not really interested in Funds I'd like to choose my own Shares.

    That table is interesting albeit a bit unorganised/confusing, interesting to know the charges but I'm interested as well in who offers a lot of stocks, Charles Stanley wouldn't let me buy Google.
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371 Forumite
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    You can buy with Halifax for £2 a trade if you use the regular investment for a one off purchase - only drawback is its not live.
  • JakeWS
    JakeWS Posts: 12 Forumite
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    I'd be looking to invest maybe £10,000 to begin with, split it into £1000 "Chunks" and use it to semi-actively trade stocks and shares, not a day trader as such but not long term either, holding for a month at a time maximum if possible, scalping off smaller ~£100 profits on momentum of certain stocks.
  • ColdIron
    ColdIron Posts: 9,115 Forumite
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    Not the best strategy particularly for a novice, but you'll learn a useful lesson
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371 Forumite
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    JakeWS wrote: »
    I'd be looking to invest maybe £10,000 to begin with, split it into £1000 "Chunks" and use it to semi-actively trade stocks and shares, not a day trader as such but not long term either, holding for a month at a time maximum if possible, scalping off smaller ~£100 profits on momentum of certain stocks.

    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sounds like iweb will be your cheapest platform. I think they use the Halifax site and you can buy international stocks with Halifax.

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If you can afford to lose as well as gain then buying a portfolio of 10 x £1,000 is a good way to learn. Less than 10 and your risk of loss is too great.

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]At £1,000 per stock you will have 2 trading fees say £10 plus stamp duty of £5 so the stock has to go up 1.5% plus any buy/sell spread and currency conversion loss before you even break even.

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I have done something similar in the past, I also chose a 10 stock strategy to minimise risk and now a 20 stock strategy, but not this time with the aim of creaming off short term gains.

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The trouble I had with both portfolios is that even in a rising market there are those pesky stock which insist on going down in value. Out of 10 you might find 1, 2 or even 4 go down and maybe by 10% of 30%. If 1 share has gone down by 30% you will need to sell 3 at £100 gain just to break even. Also what do you intend to do with those that go down, hold or sell?

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]With Halifax and I assume iweb you can trade immediately with sale proceeds you don't have to wait for settlement day which is good for what you have in mind.

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]My experience is that my 1st portfolio of 10 beat the equivalent index tracking fund but not by that much and my current 20 stock portfolio is slightly below the index tracker fund.

    [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Good luck, it will be far more interesting than sticking £10,000 in a World tracker and you may be lucky. [/FONT]
  • JakeWS
    JakeWS Posts: 12 Forumite
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    Yeah I am well aware of the risks etc. While obviously £10,000 is a lot of money to lose, I also think there is a potential upside. I have spent many months trading on demo accounts and did two whole years worth of projects on it at university. I understand everyone comes in thinking they can beat the Market, and I would say I am in as good of a position as anyone else, but it will only be as a tester anyway as I am in a comfortable job where losing this money wouldn't be a catastrophe, although it would obviously be very bad.

    Do you find it better with the 20 Stock portfolio or the 10? I just feel like 20 is a large Portfolio to be managing and must include most sectors and just generally follow the market.
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371 Forumite
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    JakeWS wrote: »
    Yeah I am well aware of the risks etc. While obviously £10,000 is a lot of money to lose, I also think there is a potential upside. I have spent many months trading on demo accounts and did two whole years worth of projects on it at university. I understand everyone comes in thinking they can beat the Market, and I would say I am in as good of a position as anyone else, but it will only be as a tester anyway as I am in a comfortable job where losing this money wouldn't be a catastrophe, although it would obviously be very bad.

    Do you find it better with the 20 Stock portfolio or the 10? I just feel like 20 is a large Portfolio to be managing and must include most sectors and just generally follow the market.

    With a total of £10k to invest, stick with 10 as £1k per stock is quite a low amount when the cost of each trade is fixed.
  • lr1277
    lr1277 Posts: 1,684 Forumite
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    edited 2 December 2017 at 1:50PM
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    I am fairly certain Charles Stanley (like quite a few brokers) do trade foreign stocks. However you need to call up their trading desk. Obviously this will have a higher charge than internet dealing.
    Also I believe you have to complete a W8-BEN form for the US government before you can trade US stocks.
    Perhaps you should email/contact your chosen broker to confirm these suggestions.
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