HSBC Invest Direct

w00519772

I currently have the following:

1) HSBC Invest Direct account (not wrapped in ISA)
2) Charles Stanley Stocks and Shares ISA (wrapped in ISA)

HSBC Invest Direct wrote to me this year and said they are going to start charging a holding fee of £10.50 from January. I have sold the shares I have at the moment except for the shares in BlinkX.

I bought these shares for £190.19 and they are now worth about £160. These shares rocketed at one point (2014) as shown here: https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=BLINKX+share+price

However, a professor at Harvard Law School professor criticized the company in January 2014 and the shares plummeted as described here: http://www.cityam.com/article/1396313937/blinkx-hits-back-professor-s-damning-blog

I have three options:

1) Leave the shares in my Invest Direct account. Pay a quarterly account fee of £10.50 until I sell them. If I sell them before May 2015 then it is free, else it is £10.50.
2) Move the shares to Charles Stanley who charge 0.25% of the portfolio. If I sell the shares at a later date, then it will cost: £10.
3) Convert into a share certificate.

I realize that no-one has a crystal ball, but I would be interested to hear what others would do.

grey_gym_sock

that's only 2 options - you said there'd be 3 ...

you could just sell now - probably the most logical option. a £100-odd shareholding is really a waste of time - too much to decide, for too little potential reward.

or you could ask HSBC to convert your holding to a share certificate, put it in a spare biscuit tin, and forget about it.

w00519772

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

that's only 2 options - you said there'd be 3 ...

you could just sell now - probably the most logical option. a £100-odd shareholding is really a waste of time - too much to decide, for too little potential reward.

or you could ask HSBC to convert your holding to a share certificate, put it in a spare biscuit tin, and forget about it.

I have edited the question.

w00519772

If I converted to a share certificate then I guess I can avoid the holding fee? Then when the shares rise to what I paid for them (I realize this may never happen), then I can store them electronically with Charles Stanley. Is that correct?

grey_gym_sock

w00519772 wrote: »

If I converted to a share certificate then I guess I can avoid the holding fee?

yes.

Then when the shares rise to what I paid for them (I realize this may never happen), then I can store them electronically with Charles Stanley. Is that correct?

yes. the cheapest way to sell a certificated share is usually to transfer it into a broker's nominee account first.

planteria

good advice above, but you do mean that the total holding you have in BlinkX is worth c£160?

w00519772

planteria wrote: »

good advice above, but you do mean that the total holding you have in BlinkX is worth c£160?

Yes, I do (I don't understand your point).

I think the shares were worth 1.1k at one point.

bigfreddiel

Shares worth £160!

Just sell them and go out for a slap up meal!

Cheers fj

Superscrooge

w00519772 wrote: »

I bought these shares for £190.19 and they are now worth about £160.

I have three options:

1) Leave the shares in my Invest Direct account. Pay a quarterly account fee of £10.50 until I sell them. If I sell them before May 2015 then it is free, else it is £10.50.
2) Move the shares to Charles Stanley who charge 0.25% of the portfolio. If I sell the shares at a later date, then it will cost: £10.
3) Convert into a share certificate.

.

w00519772 wrote: »

If I converted to a share certificate then I guess I can avoid the holding fee? Then when the shares rise to what I paid for them (I realize this may never happen), then I can store them electronically with Charles Stanley. Is that correct?

I get the impression from your comments that you are reluctant to sell the shares at a loss? Nobody likes selling at a loss but sometimes it is the sensible thing to do.

You will be best completely forgetting what you paid for them and looking at the situation as it is now.

The dealing and account costs make holding £160 of shares uneconomic.

Selling shares held as paper share certificates is usually more expensive, so I'm not convinced converting them to paper share certificates is a good idea.

I would make use of the 'sell for free' option.