Santander Shares - A Wise Investment?

wary

My wife has 100 Santander shares, converted from AN freebies and I believe they are held with Equiniti. She has just received a form advising her that she can buy some more (via Equiniti) without paying any fees.

Appreciate that no one has a crystal ball, but would be interested to know anyone’s thoughts on whether this would likely be a wise investment, and what you intend to do if you've also received such a form?

Current Santander share price is quoted online as 465 but not sure if that’s Sterling or Euros?

Dividends seem pretty good albeit they’re starting to decrease – paid quarterly and the last 4 are £10.45, £11.79, £11.82 & £12.30, so she’s received around 10% for the past year.

jimjames

What other investment do you have?

If the answer is none then I'd sell asap and invest the money in a balanced fund that isn't exposed to the performance of a single company in a single sector, however good that may appear to be.

wary

We've got a few other investments and have maxed out our 123s. So have got some money earning not a lot of interest.

This seems to be a good dividend payer, far better than bank interest. So it may be a good alternative to a savings account, assuming the share price doesn't significantly dip of course.

jimjames

wary wrote: »

We've got a few other investments and have maxed out our 123s. So have got some money earning not a lot of interest.

This seems to be a good dividend payer, far better than bank interest. So it may be a good alternative to a savings account, assuming the share price doesn't significantly dip of course.

Are you talking about stock market investments, mentioning interest makes me think you are referring to cash savings accounts not investment.

You cannot compare shares to bank accounts as one has capital guaranteed and the other could drop to zero. It might be unlikely but ask the northern rock shareholders or even rbs.

If you want better return then investment is certainly an option but I wouldn't use single company shares unless it's part of a much bigger portfolio.

2010

wary wrote: »

My wife has 100 Santander shares, converted from AN freebies and I believe they are held with Equiniti. She has just received a form advising her that she can buy some more (via Equiniti) without paying any fees.

You can buy BNC shares anytime for as little as £5, so I wouldn`t let the no fees offer affect your decision.
If you do buy yourself, you pick the time and price that you want to pay.
If you do it through Equiniti they may lump everyone`s order together and place it and you won`t know the price you`re getting untl later on.

Scarpacci

As part of a wider portfolio, I'm partial to Banco Santander, though I don't hold it yet myself. In the short-term, their improving situation in Spain and strong position in the UK, along with the recent changes (shoring up capital and rationalising the dividend) mean they are likely to deliver solid results. The quality of their lending has been improving.They pay a respectable, though by no means exciting, dividend now.

What I like over the long-term is the international make-up of the bank. They are big in Latin America which is, despite short-term setbacks, likely to outperform developed markets over time. BNC is well placed to benefit from the growing middle-classes there, who will need mortgages/bank accounts/credit cards, along with the commercial growth from increase trade with the region. BNC is also, right now, a play on some of the better performing EU countries, including the U.K. and former PIIGS Spain.

Global banks vary in their make-up so there is, I think, often the need to have more than one in a portfolio. One might want to add pure UK bank, an Asian focused-bank like HSBC or StanChart, one with African exposure like Barclays or again StanChart, or a U.S. bank like Wells Fargo. I wouldn't suggest having a strong tilt to any one stock or sector, especially financials, but as part of a portfolio I can see a place for BNC.

PeacefulWaters

They are big in Latin America which is, despite short-term setbacks, likely to outperform developed markets over time

It also makes their business riskier in the view of some.

2010

Is their divi paid in £ or € ?

molerat

It is recorded in € but you receive it in £. You can also receive the dividend with only a 0.3% fee deducted instead of the 21% (Spanish) tax by electing to receive the dividend as shares and sold on market. http://www.santander.com/csgs/Satellite/CFWCSancomQP01/en_GB/Corporate/Shareholders/Shareholders-UK/Santander-Scrip-Dividend-Scheme.html