Do I need computershare?

Sapphirecruz

I need a little advise, I left a company and I had shares with them.  I'm not interested in trading in shares, I'd just like to keep them for now. However I seem to have an account with computershare and they want me to move to Interactive Investors, or make alternative arrangements.  I'm not sure what that means?  Do I need a broker, they have charges which I don't think I need.  Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks

eskbanker

You can either have a broker hold the shares for you (electronically) or you can have a paper certificate issued - the former is very much the norm now but does typically entail some cost (as does the paper option to be fair), so you'd need to evaluate the relative costs (and any other factors, such as risk of losing paperwork) and decide which route to go down.  II has a fixed monthly charge which is likely to make it uncompetitive for holding a small share portfolio, so other brokers may be better: https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/