Transferring away from Selftrade

momo101

Hi everyone,
I'm in the process of sorting out my finances and I hold £2000 worth of Central Fund of Canada (CEF) international shares with Selftrade and because I don't trade using the account I am looking to avoid the annual fee and transfer the shares to another provider.

So the advice I'm looking for is which other broker/provider can I use that accepts International shares and has either a zero or minimal annual mgt charge because I intend to just hold on to them and not trade in other shares? I currently have a HSBC current account.

Also, what is the steps and sequence of transferring my shares?
I have downloaded the Selftrade form F11 (Administration form Account closure)
I guess once I have registered an account with a new broker/provider, I then will need to complete this form ticking the transfer to another provider option?

Thanks in advance

BLB53

Try Interactive Investor (www.iii.co.uk) - no inactivity charges, or annual fees

momo101

Hi,
Does Interactive Investor allow transfer in of international (Canadian) shares?

Thanks

Momo

momo101

Spoke to someone at II and they confirm that they don't allow dealing in Canadian shares but US shares are fine. So are there any other options?

cloud_dog

momo101 wrote: »

Spoke to someone at II and they confirm that they don't allow dealing in Canadian shares but US shares are fine. So are there any other options?

momo are you sure you are holding Canadian CEF shares as they are also listed on the NYSE.

I held shares in CEF via SelfTrade and they were NYSE listed ones priced in US$, so that should be acceptable.

temagami

It could actually end up simpler and as cheap to sell the shares from the Selftrade account and buy them again with another provider since I assume you'd get the sale 'free' with Selftrade under the 'three trades included in the annual fee' terms, but will be charged something anyway for transferring it out. Since you're talking about £2,000, that presumably wouldn't take you into capital gains tax charge territory unless you're selling other investments. (Obviously check all fees carefully before doing this.)

The UK execution-only brokers I know of that trade Canadian stocks online are Barclays, Hargreaves Lansdown, Stocktrade and TD Waterhouse/NatWest. (Also Saxo Bank and Interactive Brokers, but the minimum account size there is greater than your planned investment).

If your shares turn out to be NYSE registered as cloud_dog suggests you have a couple more choices (and of course you could sell the TSX-registered shares and replace them with NYSE ones). Halifax (which includes the Motley Fool, iWeb and Interactive Investor white labels - though Interactive Investor is switching away from using Halifax, so terms there may change), iDealing (I think) and also HSBC (which offers UK and US shares only).

Most have some kind of inactivity fee. Hargreaves Lansdown (for Canada) and the Halifax-backed services and HSBC (if you have/buy the US listed shares) don't and might be worth looking at. H-L's and Halifax's commissions aren't great for frequent trading because they have sizeable currency conversion charges, but might suit what you want.

I'd rarely suggest NatWest (which is a TD Waterhouse white label with generally higher fees), but I think it has no inactivity fees for accounts above £2,000 while TD Waterhouse-branded accounts charge inactivity fees unless your account is over £5,000, so for once it could possibly be worth looking at.

If you go down the Halifax route, fees vary a bit depending on which brand you use - I think iWeb is marginally the cheapest.

If you want to compare a few of them, I run a site with international investing information (I write about this for a living and get lots of queries on how to buy which shares) - tables and other details are here: http://the-international-investor.com/comparison-tables

momo101

momo101 wrote: »

Spoke to someone at II and they confirm that they don't allow dealing in Canadian shares but US shares are fine. So are there any other options?

I spoke to cus' services and looked at my account online and they are Toronto Stock Exchange listed shares.

So I have the choice of selling them and buying New York listed shares, or transfering to the limited online alternative brokers.

momo101

temagami wrote: »

The UK execution-only brokers I know of that trade Canadian stocks online are Barclays, Hargreaves Lansdown, Stocktrade and TD Waterhouse/NatWest. (Also Saxo Bank and Interactive Brokers, but the minimum account size there is greater than your planned investment).


If you want to compare a few of them, I run a site with international investing information (I write about this for a living and get lots of queries on how to buy which shares) - tables and other details are here: http://the-international-investor.com/comparison-tables

It looks like only Hargreaves Lansdown has a zero inactivity fee, any others not mentioned for Canadian shares?