Is Selftrade good for share dealing?

john269

Hi,

I am currently using Barclays stockbrokers, but want to change as I have not traded in over 4 years now and I am still being charged a rate of over £10 every calender quarter for nothing. I will start trading again so, but would like to start with another account that is cheaper to maintain and purchase shares. The cost of purchasing through Barclays is around $12 and more expensive over the phone.

The thing with Barclays is I think I have to have another account if I wanted to trade in overseas stocks. Now I can do this with Selftrade, but I check Google for a quote and it didn't have the image by it so that you can either purchase it via the website or phone. Does this mean that you can't purchase this shock at all through Selftrade when infact it's seems to be a very popular and good share. If they didn't allow that, then what others can't you purchase. I don't want to signup with a sharedealing account if half the stocks that I want to purchase, I will not be able to because they don't allow it on my chosen stocks.

Also, how trusted is the company? How long have they been around? I looked at alexa and compared to other companies that are ranking around 2k - 5k, this company is ranking at a rather poor 50k - 60k.

Also, I want to hold my shocks / shares and don't want to find the company going bankrupt in a year or 2 after I went with them.

Also, do they charge a fee for closing an account just incase I end up closing it at anytime?

If someone could provide me some useful information here so that I know whether it's worth my joining these or someone else. I want to join asap so if you can reply to this rather quickly.

Thanks!

debbie42

Selftrade don't charge a maintenance charge, other than for their ISAs. I've never traded in overseas stock with them , so can't comment on that. I've always had a decent response from their phone support, so you could try asking them about a specific stock.

They are regulated by the FSA, and part of the Société Générale Group. There is a forum on TMF dedicated to Selftrade share dealing, which may be of some interest.

I think they do charge a fee for transferring stock out iof you close your account. There is a decent FAQ page on their site with this sort of stuff.

Also, there used to be a referral available on sign up. It saved me a fair few dealing charges. I've been happy with the service to date.

gt94sss2

john269 wrote: »

The thing with Barclays is I think I have to have another account if I wanted to trade in overseas stocks. Now I can do this with Selftrade, but I check Google for a quote and it didn't have the image by it so that you can either purchase it via the website or phone. Does this mean that you can't purchase this shock at all through Selftrade when infact it's seems to be a very popular and good share. If they didn't allow that, then what others can't you purchase. I don't want to signup with a sharedealing account if half the stocks that I want to purchase, I will not be able to because they don't allow it on my chosen stocks.

I usually recommend:

1) HSBC InvestDirect who will charge you £11.95/trade to sell your shares but you do need to have a (free) HSBC current account.

2) Selftrade who charge £12.50/trade but have a referral scheme where you could get up to £80 for joining them (my own details are in post 242)

Before you can trade foreign stocks with Selftrade, you need to send them a W-8BEN form. If you search for a share and it doesn't have a tick against it which means it can be traded online, they can still normally be traded by telephone.

Selftrade charge the same £12.50 regardless of whether its a UK stock or one overseas. They also do not charge extra for telephone dealing or have any inactivity fees.

Also, how trusted is the company? How long have they been around? I looked at alexa and compared to other companies that are ranking around 2k - 5k, this company is ranking at a rather poor 50k - 60k.

Also, I want to hold my shocks / shares and don't want to find the company going bankrupt in a year or 2 after I went with them.

As has been said - Selftrade (previously Comdirect and Squaregain) are owned by Société Générale and are now the 2nd or 3rd largest stockbroker in the UK.

Also, do they charge a fee for closing an account just incase I end up closing it at anytime?

No, there is no charge for closing accounts, but if you have a shareholding in your account and want to transfer it to another broker or want a share certificate, they will charge you £10/holding.

However, if transferring an account to Selftrade, in addition to their referral offer they will refund any charges your current broker makes for moving your shareholdings to them.

Regards
Sunil

smarmo

..and societe generale are owned by Boursourama.

They have a frequent trader discount of £6 per trade once you have done 100 trades per qtr.

The online system is simple and uncomplicated but about to change but the thing that is oustanding is their telephone service, which is priced same as online service. At the moment a lot of people are having difficulty trading online so this part of their service is invaluable [to me].

cepheus

I am in the process of moving from idealing to Selftrade. Unfortunately I tend to trade smallcap shares that often cannot be traded online due to small electronic normal market sizes.

I have just realised to deal on the phone you have to go through a menu then wait if busy. Does anyone have experience of telephoning selftrade during busy times? say 8-8.20am. I usually need quick fills.

smarmo

TD Waterhouse is faster but costs £16.75 a trade on phone.