share dealing Online cheaply

ED

I am a novice at share dealing, wanting to choose companies via my own research + experience on the high street. Online dealing preferred, at minimal cost. Activity likely to be 1 - 2 trades per month, rarely exceeding £2,000 - £4,000 per company. I understand 0.50% Stamp Duty has to be paid at time of each purchase. Likewise commission to one of the following - have I missed any vital info in my notes (which may help others reading this) :-

Halifax - 'Sharedealer' @ £1.50 commission per trade to buy shares. Only 4 trades per month are done by Halifax bank, grouping together orders from numerous customers (presumably share price may be higher on day of purchase than day order placed?).

Hoodless Brennan – free trading for 1st month; £7 flat fee thereafter – £7 to sell – no management fee

First Direct - Sharedealing @ £10 per trade

Selftrade - @ £12.50 per trade (referral incentive £50 + £25?)

Hargreaves Lansdown - Vantage Share Account @ £24.95 per deal of £4,000 - £19,999 (£9.95 up to £499 deal; £14.95 for £500 - £1,999; £19.95 for £2,000 - £3,999)

+ anyone else worth considering?

gt94sss2

Apart from the act, that some people including me, would offer you £50 + £30 for the Selftrade referral.. have you considered:

1) If you plan to place your shares into a share ISA? If so, you also need to take into account, any annual charges providers make for this.

2) If you are thinking about buying tracker funds - consider Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) as a (usually) cheaper alternative. Selftrade allow you to purchase these commission free within an ISA.

3) HSBC charge £11.95/trade and are also worth considering imv. Perhaps e-trade as well.

4) If thinking of joining the Halifax Sharebuilder account, join the one at the Motley Fool instead. Run by Halifax but slightly cheaper overall. However, before joining this, read the Halifax Sharebuilder board at TMF. You will see Halifax have been having some IT trouble recently which doesn't fill one with lots of confidence!

Regards
Sunil

allan2006

Also remember, once you have shares in an online dealing account .
They will charge you if you want to move your holding to a different brokers account.

Some online dealing accounts let you deal by phone too.

https://www.stocktrade.co.uk although they are pricier £15-50


Anyone know any good cheaper sites that are good?

ED

Sunil + Allan2006 – Many thanks for your input. Indeed I am, additionally, considering a Shares ISA. Meanwhile, I wish to improve costs for non-ISA share dealing. Hoping folk, here, can share their experience.

Recently tried Hargreaves Lansdown, but have found them expensive + repeated malfunction of online deposits from my Debit Card, causing worry, time-wasting + phone calls. Problem not at my bank + another firm collected without hitch. Or is there an advantage in continuing with H+L?

Do any of the brokers make annual charges? Or do I pay only when buying / selling?

How much do each of them charge if I transfer to a rival?

If £18,000 in old PEPs is transferred-in, what would the management fee be? I believe HSBC management fees + VAT = c. £43 per year (auto buying shares with quarterly dividends). Any fee from HSBC if transferring-out? Or would it be best to continue with HSBC for the PEPs?

Any advantage in buying shares via HSBC (£11.95 per trade) instead of their offshoot bank First Direct (£10 per trade)?

Anyone use e-trade? If so, what are the costs?

mutley74

Self trade – I have used them frequently but think there expensive compared to others now. Although very easy to use and login but hear customer service is going downhill. I though the referral offer was just £25 each not £50 each – well that’s what I see when I login to a family account.


I was going to open account with Hoodless Brennan, but heard on another post here that they had been involved some mis-guidance and fined with the FSA.

Another major online broker is etrade. If I am correct they allow phone trades too. Trading is £8-95 for normal users and £6-95 for active traders (30+ per quarter) and a management fee of £2.5/month for an ISA. Not used them much but customer service seems okay as they always picked up the phone quickly when I have called them up.

gt94sss2

ED wrote: »

Do any of the brokers make annual charges? Or do I pay only when buying / selling?

Most brokers do not make annual charges for non ISA accounts.

How much do each of them charge if I transfer to a rival?

Most brokers charge £10-15 per holding to transfer to another broker. Some brokers (i.e. Selftrade) offer to refund this charge if you are transferring your shares to them.

Unusually HSBC InvestDirect do not make any charge for transferring your shares to another broker or converting them to paper certificates.

If £18,000 in old PEPs is transferred-in, what would the management fee be? I believe HSBC management fees + VAT = c. £43 per year (auto buying shares with quarterly dividends). Any fee from HSBC if transferring-out? Or would it be best to continue with HSBC for the PEPs?

I'm not sure what product you currently have but for their self select PEP account, HSBC make no annual charges for PEP's or ISA's.

Also remember from April 2008, you can merge your ISA and PEP accounts into one single account.

Any advantage in buying shares via HSBC (£11.95 per trade) instead of their offshoot bank First Direct (£10 per trade)?

It really depends who you bank with (if either) - the differences are slight but seem to be:

1) Slight difference in dealing charges. HSBC are slightly higher but allow dealing in US stocks and their frequent trader rate is less.

2) First Direct charge to move to another broker, HSBC do not.

3) If you have over £50,000 invested with HSBC, you qualify for their free 'HSBC Premier' service (no idea what thats like though)

Anyone use e-trade? If so, what are the costs?

They are displayed here

Regards
Sunil

kitster_2

have a look at https://www.chart-breakouts.co.uk , plenty of free info on there.

debbie42

ED wrote: »

Do any of the brokers make annual charges? Or do I pay only when buying / selling?

How much do each of them charge if I transfer to a rival?

If £18,000 in old PEPs is transferred-in, what would the management fee be?

I use Selftrade, and their management charges are £25 for an ISA. No annual charges for the dealing account. I'm currently transferring in an old ISA (don't know about PEPs though), and the management charge stays fixed at £25.

ED

Thanks, debbie42 + all the preceding. ('Thanks' button still not working). Very happy to learn, here.