BT shares - Transfer to EasyShare / Equiniti ?

Gusfoe1967

I have around 1600 BT shares in certificate form. I have received a letter from BT offering the chance to transfer the shares to an EasyShare account managed by Equiniti. The offer is to do this for free.
I have no immediate plans to sell the shares. Should I accept the offer on the basis that it would be easier and cheaper to sell in the future or is it better to retain the shares in certificate form?
Are Equiniti the best option to manage the shares?
Many thanks for your advice.

AnotherJoe

I would think its free to transfer with many share dealers.
I certainly wouldn't want the hassle of paper certificates so I'd do it with someone.
No idea about equiniti though.

traineepensioner

I know you have no immediate plans to sell the shares but do checkout how much Equiniti would charge you. I think you'll find that they are not the cheapest! A colleague had his BT shares with this company and they wanted a fee plus percentage based commision to sell them. He had to transfer them to another online broker who sold them for a flat rate fee of £12.50.

madeinireland_2

traineepensioner wrote: »

I know you have no immediate plans to sell the shares but do checkout how much Equiniti would charge you. I think you'll find that they are not the cheapest! A colleague had his BT shares with this company and they wanted a fee plus percentage based commision to sell them. He had to transfer them to another online broker who sold them for a flat rate fee of £12.50.

Absolutely correct - easy share charge a fair amount to sell but you can transfer them from there to an equiniti investment account which is free to open and only charge £12.50 for a sale.

I think it's typical of a big company to set up a deal with a company like that where they create the product and run it for the company for free but get to fleece the employees when they sell.

sabretoothtigger

Halifax allow you to transfer paper shares to them. Nobody can stop you doing that afaik and its free to do so last I checked. You just have to decide which broker charges least.

Im not sure BT is the best sell at the moment, as a utility they seem to do best with a level or cautious stock market. Where as we have new highs at present

hamski

check out x-o (jarvis) they charge £5.99 per trade ,no account fees.I transfered from equinti to avoid there high charges.Just wish i had sold when shares were £5.