Cheapest platform for newbie infrequent shares investor

buzzbuzz

Hi all,
I'm a rookie infrequent trader, I want to start with buying shares from a UK company i work for. I monitor those shares so i know what i'm doing to start with. If i want to buy and sell those shares approximately 3-4 buys and 3-4 sells per year and total investment less than 5k. ( could be less depending on fluctuation).
My question is which is the cheapest and best platform from the fee perspective ?
So far from i'm considering
- Halifax Share Dealing -
- AJ BEll - from MSE article
- TD direct investing
This question may be answered elsewhere, I found an old thread but couldn't find anything new. So apologies if this has been answered already

Ifts

You could use someone like X-O.co.uk share dealing services (£5.95 per trade) for a cheap method of buying and selling.

IWeb let you buy and sell for £5 per trade (£25 account opening charge).

ValiantSon

buzzbuzz wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm a rookie infrequent trader, I want to start with buying shares from a UK company i work for. I monitor those shares so i know what i'm doing to start with. If i want to buy and sell those shares approximately 3-4 buys and 3-4 sells per year and total investment less than 5k. ( could be less depending on fluctuation).
My question is which is the cheapest and best platform from the fee perspective ?
So far from i'm considering
- Halifax Share Dealing -
- AJ BEll - from MSE article
- TD direct investing
This question may be answered elsewhere, I found an old thread but couldn't find anything new. So apologies if this has been answered already

I assume you would do this in an ISA wrapper to avoid paying tax.

Your rough figures suggest 8 trades per year and a £5000 investment so the following is the cost:

Halifax Share Dealing = £112.50

AJ Bell Younivest = £12.50 (0.25% value of investment) + £79.60 (for trades) = £92.10

TD Direct - now Interactive Investor = £90 (take care feedback has been pretty dreadful.

+ Those suggested by Ifts:

X-O = £47.60

iWeb = £65 first year and £40 each subsequent year.

However, I would caution strongly against simply buying individual shares. It is about as high risk an investing strategy as you can imagine. Really, you should be thinking about investing in funds (OIECs or ETFs). Take some time to learn about these.

ivormonee

IG are currently free of all charges apart from dealing commission at either £8 or £5 depending. I saw a thread somewhere though that they may start charging a platform fee although nothing as yet has appeared on their website. They also have no exit fees which you would incur with other platforms should you wish to transfer your holdings at a later date.

ValiantSon

ivormonee wrote: »

IG are currently free of all charges apart from dealing commission at either £8 or £5 depending. I saw a thread somewhere though that they may start charging a platform fee although nothing as yet has appeared on their website. They also have no exit fees which you would incur with other platforms should you wish to transfer your holdings at a later date.

On the OP's criteria then they would pay the higher £8 fee as they wouldn't make enough trades for the reduced price.

IG = £64

Oh, and IG don't offer an ISA so you would pay tax on your dealing.

buzzbuzz

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful. With regards using ISA wrapper, Don't we all get upto £12k CGT allowance on share profits and won't we still be taxed for share transactions even under ISA wrapper. Should i be using shares ISA wrapper even for smaller investments like 5k ?

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Buying shares in the company you work for is high risk. I am not saying don't do it but it can go wrong. Shares in the world class company I worked for went from £21 to £0.30p![/FONT]

Linton

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Buying shares in the company you work for is high risk. I am not saying don't do it but it can go wrong. Shares in the world class company I worked for went from £21 to £0.30p![/FONT]

Agreed. If things turn out badly you don’t want to lose both your job and your life savings. So don’t make your employer more than a minor component of your investments even if you can buy the shares cheaply.

oz0707

Linton wrote: »

Agreed. If things turn out badly you don’t want to lose both your job and your life savings. So don’t make your employer more than a minor component of your investments even if you can buy the shares cheaply.

Some companies do a share save scheme. NXT for instance let employees put a certain amount away each month, for say 3 years with the buy price agreed at the start of the term. If SP higher after 3 years they hold/convert the shares, if SP lower then get the cash. No lose really I suppose you just effectively loaning the company money.

I'm not associated with them btw

cloud_dog

buzzbuzz wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful. With regards using ISA wrapper, Don't we all get upto £12k CGT allowance on share profits and won't we still be taxed for share transactions even under ISA wrapper. Should i be using shares ISA wrapper even for smaller investments like 5k ?

You don't need to but it will be dependent on the profit you make over and above the CGT threshold, as you mention.

You also no need to be aware of the rules for calculatibg CGT, i.e. the 30 day rule for selling (crystalising gains or losses) and then re-buying.

ColdIron

buzzbuzz wrote: »

With regards using ISA wrapper, Don't we all get upto £12k CGT allowance on share profits and won't we still be taxed for share transactions even under ISA wrapper. Should i be using shares ISA wrapper even for smaller investments like 5k ?

Up until very recently many people didn't believe there was any point in an ISA for their shares as dividends were not taxed if they were a basic rate taxpayer, until they were. Even with the £11,300 CGT allowance you will be required to keep a record of all transactions to prove you have not exceeded the threshold should you be challenged. It seems to me to be a no brainer to tax protect your investments if only for peace of mind