First Direct Sharedealing

djantler

I'm thinking of opening a first direct sharedealing account and am surprised to find very little discussion about them (apologies if I've missed any but not much came up on a search).

With a £10 dealing fee and no annual or registration fees they seem to be one of the cheapest services around and I've always been pleased with their banking service. Does anyone have any positive or negative feedback about their sharedealing side? How does their functionality and trading universe compare to selftrade and the other main execution only sites?

Calchas

I also await replies with interest.

My thanks to djantler for bringing the subject matter to my attention. :T

ihatecharges

Calchas wrote: »

I also await replies with interest.

My thanks to djantler for bringing the subject matter to my attention. :T

+1, considering this myself

mickymellon

I bank with FD and use their share dealing service with no problems

things that could be better / be added are:

your investment value (i.e total value of shares) is calculated at end of trading not real time ---- not a big deal.

You can't put a stop loss in place (however you can set email alerts)

apart from that they are spot on and I use them over my other account (interactive investor)

gil13

Funnily enough I have just sent back the forms for this as we bank with FD. It has timed well as we have just closed down selftrade account due their silly introduction of an AMC on trading accounts. I suspect some of the other brokers including FD/HSBC might be picking up some extra biz.

mickymellon

gil13 wrote: »

Funnily enough I have just sent back the forms for this as we bank with FD. It has timed well as we have just closed down selftrade account due their silly introduction of an AMC on trading accounts. I suspect some of the other brokers including FD/HSBC might be picking up some extra biz.

If you have any specific questions, I'll answer what I can.

I moved my banking from the rubbish Abbey then set up this share dealing and due to the fact that they are trouble free, will prob switch my mortgage over so coupled with incentives such as £100 for switching, I feel that they are / will be cleaning (picking up more business) up in general!!!

Farway

I was with FD sharedealing, but for some reason after a website upgrade by them I just could not access the site [Windows XP]

It only ever worked using IE so could not use Firefox

I did ring them and they were very hlepful, even taking control of my PC, but in the end they admitted some users just could not access sharedealing after upgrade, so I went off to Selftrade

I think the bug is fixed now as I can access my old ex portfolio

Apart from this I had no problems, but the problem I did have was of course a major one

allan2006

Whats first direct sharedealing like cureently, any one here use it??

Smi1er

Wife and I have bank accounts with FD. She is self employed but they won't let her open a share dealing account as she doesn't earn enough. I on the other hand pay 40% tax and want to buy shares in my Wifes name so I get the divis with less tax taken away. Will they allow that?

Will they heck!

Even when I offered to settle any bills from my personal account they said no.

I then suggested that we both open share dealing accounts. I would buy them and then transfer them straight away to her account. They said no to this also:mad:

Oldbiggles

Smi1er wrote: »

Wife and I have bank accounts with FD. She is self employed but they won't let her open a share dealing account as she doesn't earn enough. I on the other hand pay 40% tax and want to buy shares in my Wifes name so I get the divis with less tax taken away. Will they allow that?

Will they heck!

Even when I offered to settle any bills from my personal account they said no.

I then suggested that we both open share dealing accounts. I would buy them and then transfer them straight away to her account. They said no to this also:mad:

Your best bet would be to deal through a broker that still issues Share Certificates.
It means you have to keep on top of things yourself but you wouldn’t have to pay annual fees and all the dividends could go to your bank or building society account by direct debit. Your wife could deal herself as she would pay per transaction by cheque so her income need not be disclosed and if you have any share certificates in your own name, you can transfer them to your wife for free by contacting the appropriate Registrar.

mimosas

Hi, I signed up for FD Sharedealing three weeks ago. I am currently using another broker based in London. It is three weeks since I sent my transfer forms in and FDS haven't managed to transfer my shares. I know it isn't my broker, it is FDS too slow back office. I cannot trade these shares so I have been stuck in limbo for three weeks. FDS whilst responsive to my enquiries seem to think that up to six weeks is acceptable to transfer shares. Other brokers I have used manage to do this within a week. Not a very promising start to my experience. I have lost a trading window for these particular shares and will have to wait months before I can shift them at the next piece of news. Sign up only if you are not concerned about getting up and running quickly. They don't do quickly. Also their virtual portfolio leads one to believe that they can manage US equities, but they can't, they can only track them for you, big deal. I am wondering why I have signed up now, their tools are poor in comparison to digital look and advfn.