Trading Platform Recommendation

KeithOwen

Hi
I have accumulated some shares in the company I work for through an employee share scheme. The company has headquarters in Madrid and the shares are traded on Spanish stock markets. My shares are currently held in a company-specific platform managed by Global Equity.
I'm considering leaving the company, and at this point I am obliged to transfer the shares out of the company platform into a private account
Can anyone recommend a good trading platform that would let me set up an account to transfer these shares into, and then hold and trade them in future? It obviously must be able to support share tradings in EUR, but potentially I'm interested in trading also in GBP/USD shares
Thanks!

Notepad_Phil

Good luck with your search. Normally I would recommend x-o.co.uk and iweb-sharedealing.co.uk as potential places to hold your shares, unfortunately I don't believe they allow you to hold Spanish shares. AJ Bell does allow you to trade on the Spanish market (https://www.youinvest.co.uk/our-services/international-dealing) but I've no idea whether your company is included in the shares they would allow and they do charge a 0.25% platform fee every year. You would also have to check that they would allow you to transfer the shares in rather than purchasing them via themselves. I know they do allow UK shares to be transferred in, but they don't mention Spanish shares and so that would be an issue.

However, if you are you able to sell them before leaving then I have a potentially better idea than to just continue holding them. On the proviso that it did not cause you any tax issues, then if it were me I would sell them and invest the money into a more diverse fund for the long term, rather than hold a single share that I would probably quickly lose any 'inside' knowledge of.

If you can't find a suitable platform and you really do want to keep the shares and you are able to sell, then you could sell the shares and then buy them on somewhere like AJ Bell.

Thrugelmir

Have you looked to see if the company is traded on the LSE? 

Providing a company is listed on the LSE then doesn't matter what the currency is. 

KeithOwen

Notepad_Phil said:

Good luck with your search. Normally I would recommend x-o.co.uk and iweb-sharedealing.co.uk as potential places to hold your shares, unfortunately I don't believe they allow you to hold Spanish shares. AJ Bell does allow you to trade on the Spanish market (https://www.youinvest.co.uk/our-services/international-dealing) but I've no idea whether your company is included in the shares they would allow and they do charge a 0.25% platform fee every year. You would also have to check that they would allow you to transfer the shares in rather than purchasing them via themselves. I know they do allow UK shares to be transferred in, but they don't mention Spanish shares and so that would be an issue.

However, if you are you able to sell them before leaving then I have a potentially better idea than to just continue holding them. On the proviso that it did not cause you any tax issues, then if it were me I would sell them and invest the money into a more diverse fund for the long term, rather than hold a single share that I would probably quickly lose any 'inside' knowledge of.

If you can't find a suitable platform and you really do want to keep the shares and you are able to sell, then you could sell the shares and then buy them on somewhere like AJ Bell.

I would prefer not to sell. There are some restrictions on how long I must hold some of the shares for, but primarily I want to hold onto them because they are currently trading at half what they were 6 months ago, and I see no need to lose money when I'm not needing the cash right now.

KeithOwen

Thrugelmir said:

Have you looked to see if the company is traded on the LSE? 

Providing a company is listed on the LSE then doesn't matter what the currency is. 

Unfortunately they are not

adindas

If you are interested in comparing various trading platform especially the fees  than this guy is doing a great deskwork for you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHOeacf8GkY

Cheapest Investing App In the UK (Now That Trading 212 Is Not Free)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6pQ71nrJMY

Best Stocks & Shares ISA Accounts In 2021 (Which Is Cheapest?)

Thrugelmir

KeithOwen said:

Notepad_Phil said:

Good luck with your search. Normally I would recommend x-o.co.uk and iweb-sharedealing.co.uk as potential places to hold your shares, unfortunately I don't believe they allow you to hold Spanish shares. AJ Bell does allow you to trade on the Spanish market (https://www.youinvest.co.uk/our-services/international-dealing) but I've no idea whether your company is included in the shares they would allow and they do charge a 0.25% platform fee every year. You would also have to check that they would allow you to transfer the shares in rather than purchasing them via themselves. I know they do allow UK shares to be transferred in, but they don't mention Spanish shares and so that would be an issue.

However, if you are you able to sell them before leaving then I have a potentially better idea than to just continue holding them. On the proviso that it did not cause you any tax issues, then if it were me I would sell them and invest the money into a more diverse fund for the long term, rather than hold a single share that I would probably quickly lose any 'inside' knowledge of.

If you can't find a suitable platform and you really do want to keep the shares and you are able to sell, then you could sell the shares and then buy them on somewhere like AJ Bell.

primarily I want to hold onto them because they are currently trading at half what they were 6 months ago, and I see no need to lose money when I'm not needing the cash right now.

If the shares have lost 50%. There's a good reason why investors aren't attracted to buy the shares. Recovery is far from guaranteed in the short term. 

DireEmblem

KeithOwen said:

Hi
I have accumulated some shares in the company I work for through an employee share scheme. The company has headquarters in Madrid and the shares are traded on Spanish stock markets. My shares are currently held in a company-specific platform managed by Global Equity.

Do you have the details for Global Equity - perhaps best speaking to them, see if they have any suggestions?

I wouldn't recommend listening to any ZYouTubbers or Redditers.  Do your own research.  The main thing you need is a broker that has access to Spanish stocks, and will accept an 'in specie' transfer.  Its rather niche, and probably not something a blogger with their own referral links can help with.

maxsteam

KeithOwen said:

Hi
I have accumulated some shares in the company I work for through an employee share scheme. The company has headquarters in Madrid and the shares are traded on Spanish stock markets.

Without knowing the company, it's impossible to say which broker you should use. You need to find a broker who is already offering trading in the shares. Any Spanish broker will do this, but they may not accept you as a client, depending on your circumstances.

A couple of European-centric brokers who will accept UK clients are Degiro and Fineco. You may have more options, depending on your circumstances.

It's likely that Degiro will offer what you want. They charge €10 to transfer a holding to their platform but, without knowing the company, I can't check if they offer trading in your shares.