Halifax share builder - Good idea??

steadysaver

I am interested in buying shares. However currently I don't have a large amount of additional income to purchase shares. (As I am saving mainly in cash for a house deposit) + I have used up my ISA allowences, both Cash and S&S.

I have been looking at the Halifax share builder as an idea way to slowly build up my portfolio cheaply. Would the halifax share builder be a wise option? Or are there other alternatives that are available? I am looking at investing about £50~100 p/m.

Would I have any problems transfering my shares out of Halifax to another broker when I am ready to build up a more substantial portfolio?

Thank you in anticipation of your help and advice

MORPH3US

Not sure what S&S is mate, but if your ISA is full then a regular saver (e.g. Halifax might be a better way to keep your cash safe in these uncertain times....)

M

cheerfulcat

steadysaver, for the amounts you're talking about the Sharebuilder is fine. There are a couple of other similar offerings but AFAIK they are just branded versions of the same thing ( for instance, the Motley Fool sharebuilder ).

Would I have any problems transfering my shares out of Halifax to another broker when I am ready to build up a more substantial portfolio?

There shouldn't be any problems, bar the usual foul-ups that can occur! In any case, you don't have to move away from the Halifax - if you want a normal sharedealing service ( rather than the batched one of the Sharebuilder ), they offer that as well.

You could also consider regular purchases of one of the global generalist investment trusts instead - this would spread your risk much more.

steadysaver

MORPH3US wrote: »

Not sure what S&S is mate, but if your ISA is full then a regular saver (e.g. Halifax might be a better way to keep your cash safe in these uncertain times....)

M

S&S = Stocks and shares ISA.

I already save in a Halifax regular saver, as well as 2 other regular savers. I also have savings with Icesave, both easy access and fixed.

But I also want to diversify my portfolio for retirement/future life. Hence building up shares in several companies, there are several that I think are well placed to ride out these uncertain times. Oil exploration for one, a business I know rather well. Not to mention bargin shops such as Lidl or Primark (tho thats one for the ethical investors to avoid :rolleyes: )

cheerfulcat

steadysaver wrote: »

Oil exploration for one, a business I know rather well.

Then you'll want to pop on over to TMF's oily boards! O&G Companies and O&G Markets and Trends might interest you. There are plenty of individual company boards as well. Apols if you're already a regular there.

steadysaver

Does anyone know if dividends are paid back into your halifax sharebuilder? I have looked on their site but found nothing regarding dividend payments?

Banderman

not a good idea if you're going to invest in hbos shares

steadysaver

Banderman wrote: »

not a good idea if you're going to invest in hbos shares

No plans to buy shares in the banking sector :rolleyes:

terakris

steadysaver wrote: »

Does anyone know if dividends are paid back into your halifax sharebuilder? I have looked on their site but found nothing regarding dividend payments?

Once your sharedealing account is open you can choose what you want to do with your dividends. So you can either have it paid into your sharedealing account or automaticly re-invest for you.

lizb3112

steadysaver wrote: »

Does anyone know if dividends are paid back into your halifax sharebuilder? I have looked on their site but found nothing regarding dividend payments?

I've been using the halifax sharebuilder for around 12 months now and have had no problems wth them at all although the search for shares function isn't as good as some I've seen. It's up to you how you want your divies paying (see below)

Dividend Handling Please select how you would like dividends to be handled on each of your accounts.
'Automatic Dividend Reinvestment' will enable dividends from UK and Irish CREST eligible stocks to be automatically reinvested into the source stock. Any remaining cash will be paid into your share dealing account. Please note a 1% commission is payable on all dividend reinvestments.

'Hold In Account' will retain the dividend in your share dealing account until you take further action.

'Pay Away Immediately' will send collected dividend totals to your nominated bank account shortly after the dividend pay date.

'Pay Away 6-Monthly' will send collected dividend totals to your nominated bank account every 6 months, usually at the end of April and October of each year.