Advice whether to transfer saga shares to EQI or another provider

cherry76

I have a small portfolio of shares with saga share direct.  I received a letter to inform me that they will be automatically transferred to EQI by 15th June. Option to transfer to another provider free of charge by 1st June. Not much time to act.  I need some advice I only buy or sell shares infrequently and EQI seems to have a custody fee of £17.49 per quarter.  Currently have a nominee account with saga no annual fee. I have got an account with Hargreaves and Landsdown and was thinking whether I should transfer all my shares to them.  They do not seem to have an annual fee. Other option is to sell and close an account but am reluctant to do so as centrica is doing so badly and I will be losing a lot of money. Advice pl.  Thanks

ColdIron

A couple of recent treads may be of interest to you

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6139865/saga-share-account
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6136197/saga-stocks-isa-0-fees-on-holding-shares

cherry76

Thanks I have read the other threads.  Just to make sure  I understand correctly whether I trade or not I will have to pay a quarterly custody fee.

ColdIron

I am not familiar with EQi but looking at their charges page for an unwrapped account or ISA that seems to be the case if you do not trade. However they seem to offset the custody fee with dealing charges so you may not pay it as such. Either way it's not free. Whether it is worth it to you will depend on your trading frequency. I have an unwrapped six figure IT portfolio with HL and trade very infrequently so it effectively costs me £0

https://eqi.co.uk/info/how-it-works/pricing

I assume by 'Currently have a nominee account' you mean that it's unwrapped. I would seriously consider using an ISA to avoid any current or future tax liability, there is usually no or low extra charges to do so

cherry76

Thanks I currently have a nominee dealing account with saga.  I will transfer to H&L as already got a stocks and share account so will open a fund and share account.  Want to keep it simple as do not undertand really how it works.

ColdIron

Basically an ISA just means you will not be liable for tax. With an unwrapped (or Fund and Share) account you will be liable for tax even though you may not actually have to pay any. It saves record keeping and protects you from any future changes in legislation. I would re consider

Bumblebee57

If you read deep into the FAQS provided by EQi, there is a very small paragraph which states that you have the option to move your holdings into share certificates free of charge during the transfer period. To request this you need to send a secure message from your Saga Share Direct Account or call 0800 056 4827. I’ve requested this via Secure Message and have received confirmation that it will be actioned by the relevant team. If you have any cash in your account you will need to transfer this to your nominated bank account first so that they can close the share account. You can always trade share certificates fairly easily and cheaply via Shareview or similar.  This has actually been a wake up call to the stark reality that my Saga shares have lost me £££s big time. I’ve decided that I’d rather have them as worthless bits of paper in the form of share certificates than pay more exorbitant fees while they continue going South.