Joint trading account and ISA Wrapper

mr_scientist

Hi all,

Me and a friend are planning on going into share trading. We are looking to open a joint trading account and ISA wrapper. I was wondering if by doing things jointly it could affect things like credit ratings, history etc?

Lokolo

ISA = Individual Savings Account

You cannot have joint ISAs.

But yes joint accounts means there is a link between both your credit files.

mr_scientist

Ah yes you make a good point there RE: ISAs haha :embarasse

My next question is what then is the best way to group stock investments together?

Lokolo

If you trust each other. Get one of you to open one and one person has it in their account. That will help with fees and such. But it does mean you have to trust each other...

mr_scientist

I recognise that trust plays a large part in this (regardless of things being joint). Although I do trust the individual it's always good to have some sort of safety backup in tow.

Why do you recommend doing things as an individual; is it not possible to do things in a joint manner?

Lokolo

I personally do not recommend you do it as a joint thing as it gets very confusing and things can happen which can complicate more (such as if you disagree about something)

Theres also a tax problem but I am not sure how this work.

But thats the reason you can't open joint accounts for trading and such.

barak

Both shares and funds can have [up to four] joint holders, but some discount brokers probably wouldn't want the hassle, and I agree with Lokolo that it doesn't seem a very good idea for "Me and a friend", for practical reasons. I don't think there is a tax problem as the liability is split equally.

I would imagine that joint holdings are most commonly held by Trustees - and perhaps married couples.

mr_scientist

So in essence your saying that it'd be better for one of us to do it as an individual, but that this would require a large amount of trust between the two parties?

Mini_Bear

why dont you invest seperately, each in your own isa wrapper. you can decide jointly on stock allocation and the portfolios dynamics.
are you wanting to do this jointly because one of you has the cash and the other wants to trade?
whoever the one is who is wanting to trade and not put as much cash in i would be VERY wary.

mr_scientist

No, we plan on doing everything 50/50, and plan to select our investments from a pool of companies that are of interest together.

turbobob

I guess another alternative is to set up an investment club. Lots of brokers allow you to set up accounts for investment clubs. See here for more information http://www.proshareclubs.co.uk/ It might be especially useful if there's a chance of other family or friends being involved.