Preferred share dealing accounts/brokers

notinmynature

I work for an FSA regulated company which insists that any personal share dealing accounts are held with one of a list of approved brokers where they have reporting channels in place.

I am not likely to do more than a couple of trades a month, and nothing too large. I already have a tracker fund ISA with L&G that I would consider merging into a self select ISA that I could trade under. I have looked at Barclays for this and I like to the look of their interface/platform for online dealing but they are not the cheapest out there.

The list I have to choose from is Barclays Stockbrokers, Charles Stanley, Comdirect, IG Index/IG Markets and UBS Wealth Management.

Can anyone share any feedback on any of the above to help me make my decision?

Thanks in advance...

cheerfulcat

Comdirect is now Selftrade. I use them but have not been happy with their service over the last couple of days - it has been impossible to trade ( couldn't even log in at times ). Hargreaves Lansdown's service is expensive but it was possible to get into my account even this morning when things were a bit haywire - I suspect that the cheap and cheerful brokers are going to be useless in times of upheaval. Of the rest you have listed, Barclay's seems to have had problems too. Charles Stanley has been mentioned a few times, most recently on the Brokers board at TMF and I am thinking of moving my Selftrade a/c to them.

HTH

Cheerfulcat

obsessed_saver

I'm also with Selftrade, and am not impressed at all with their service over the last couple of days either!

I'm thinking of moving over to HoodlessBrennan, but they don't seem to be able to trade foreign shares except for those listed on FTSE "some foreign share" index, that lists in GBP.

notinmynature

Thanks. I think i'll aviod SelfTrade then. I've heard good things about HoodlessBrennan but they're not on my approved list. I'll look at Charles Stanley in a bit more detail. Does anyone have any experience with them or Barclays Stockbrokers?

turbobob

I have been trying to register with Selftrade for nearly two weeks now as their prices seem competitive and a friend recommended them (and I want to claim my £50!). I have been unsuccessful. I applied online and got a reference number and waited the best part of a week for my PIN to arrive in the post. Nothing arrived. I phoned them to be told the identity check didn't work properly the first time, so could I apply again... They couldn't do anything for me over the phone, I'd have to re-apply. So I've tried that a few times and the website simply won't finish the application process.

After more phone calls, and being no further on I have given up now. I have to say I am not impressed...

Was thinking of trying TD Waterhouse. Does anyone have experience of them?

Cheers

obsessed_saver

turbobob, I think it's best to avoid Selftrade. Their services are disrupted YET again right now.

turbobob

Oh well, I've gone with TD Waterhouse although with all this hassle trying to register with Selftrade I've missed out on some deals. No doubt there will be more opportunities in the coming months though so I'm not too bothered about it.