Actually going to invest!

JoeCrystal

I am currently looking at Halifax ShareBuilder with commission fee of £1.50 a trade. Of course, I am aware of disadvantages of it as you can only buy shares on one day and ahead, meaning the prices may be different. The amount I will pay monthly into vary but the maximum is one hundred pounds (including the charges)

But I also have noticed Interactive Investor Portfolio Builder and the advantage of Interactive Investor Portfolio Builder is you can use it within Self-Select ISA.

So I was wondering, if there is any other UK based similar accounts online?

Special_Saver2

So I was wondering, if there is any other UK based similar accounts online?

There is one other similar service - Selftrade's Regular Investment Service. This is available within an ISA but that will cost £25 per year.

You should also compare the charges for other services - to help you, here are links to the relevant pages for Halifax, Selftrade and iii.

SS2

JoeCrystal

@Special_Saver2 The idea to compare all the charges have indeed occurred to me. Thank you for pointing Selftrade's Regular Investment Service. Time to compare the charges.

JoeCrystal

Comparing charges between these three services:

Transfer out of shares electronically to another stockbroker:
Halifax: £15 per investment
Interactive Investor: £10 per stock
Selftrade: £10 inc VAT per holding (max £100 per account type)

Cash withdrawal by cheque:
Halifax: £25 per investment
Interactive Investor: Unknown
Selftrade: Unknown

Certified withdrawal of stock:
Halifax: £25 per investment
Interactive Investor: £10 per certificate
Selftrade: £10 inc VAT

Participation in selected corporate actions - Rights Issues, Open Offers and Offers for Subscription:

Halifax: £1.50
Interactive Investor: Free
Selftrade: Unknown

Re-investment of dividends:

Halifax: £1.50
Interactive Investor: Free
Selftrade: 1% of the value of the dividend paid (capped at £10)

Overdue payment/stock chaser letter
Err... what is stock chaser?

What is the minimum/maximum I can invest?
Halifax: £5 per month into each stock line, (monthly subscription of £20)
Interactive Investor: The minimum limit per investment is £20. There is no maximum limit.
Selftrade: The minimum limit per investment is £50

ozzage

I'm not sure where all these figures came from... I believe that Halifax Sharebuilder charges 1% for dividend reinvestment. And for that matter I believe it's the same for Interactive Investor.

Actually, I believe that they use the same platform and the charges are, when it comes to trading, identical.

Happy to be proven wrong.

JoeCrystal

Not exactly identical.

Under Administration Charges of Halifax whose link is provided above.

Halifax ShareBuilder customers pay £1.50 on Re-investment of dividends.

You can check the links provided by Special_Saver2.

Halifax, Selftrade and iii.

More than happy to be proven wrong

ozzage

OK well that's weird, because I use Halifax Sharebuilder and if I log in to my account, and look at the Charges section, I see the following:

Dividend Reinvestment Charges:

Reinvestment of dividends is charged at 1% of the value of the deal, capped at the appropriate trading commission for that deal. Please note: Dividend reinvestment is subject to Stamp Duty.

Plus in the section where I select my dividend option, it says

'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.

I believe that it IS a 1% charge, and it's terrible that they give inconsistent information!

JoeCrystal

What! :eek: That is terrible for them to do that! ozzage.

Still, I am leaning toward to Halifax Sharebuilder at the moment.