Stocks and shares ISA with company shares?

gelato_cat

Hello, I'm confused about stocks and shares ISAs - specifically, what you can wrap in them.

I know I can go to a provider and invest money in one of their S&S products, they pick the portfolio etc.

However, I only want to buy shares in a specific company and wrap them in an S&S ISA.  Is that possible?  If so, how do I do it?  I am not sure what to Google.

I have another question, which may be invalid if the answer to the above question is "no"...

My other question is, the company I am looking at is not based in the UK.  I have share options that I am considering exercising, and to do this I need to buy the shares through a platform they use based in their home country.  So if I buy the shares using that platform, can I wrap them in an S&S ISA?

Thanks in advance!

Linton

Generally platforms that allow you to invest in funds will also allow you to buy individual UK shares within an ISA.  Some will also allow you to buy some foreign shares.   II have recently made US, and a number of other exchanges available - see https://www.ii.co.uk/investing-with-ii/international-investing.  AJBell also seem to offer a similar service. Check with your chosen platform.

Foreign shares can be held in ISAs as long as they are quoted on a recognised exchange.  I would expect any exchange you would want to buy shares from would be recognised,

PS on your second question: In general shares have to be bought within an ISA, you cannot transfer them in.  Some employee share scheme share I believe can be trasferred into ISAs but whether share options are incluided in this, especially foreign ones, I dont know.

GeoffTF

Suzey said:

Hello, I'm confused about stocks and shares ISAs - specifically, what you can wrap in them.

I know I can go to a provider and invest money in one of their S&S products, they pick the portfolio etc.

However, I only want to buy shares in a specific company and wrap them in an S&S ISA.  Is that possible?  If so, how do I do it?  I am not sure what to Google.

I have another question, which may be invalid if the answer to the above question is "no"...

My other question is, the company I am looking at is not based in the UK.  I have share options that I am considering exercising, and to do this I need to buy the shares through a platform they use based in their home country.  So if I buy the shares using that platform, can I wrap them in an S&S ISA?

Thanks in advance!

I expect that you would have to sell those shares, and rebuy them in an ISA. You cannot pay foreign currency into an ISA or hold foreign currency in an ISA. You would be better off buying a fund denominated in GBP within an ISA. A global tracker fund would give you a much greater spread of risk than shares in a single company.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

GeoffTF said:

I expect that you would have to sell those shares, and rebuy them in an ISA. You cannot pay foreign currency into an ISA or hold foreign currency in an ISA. You would be better off buying a fund denominated in GBP within an ISA. A global tracker fund would give you a much greater spread of risk than shares in a single company.

from the II link above,

Please note: HMRC rules don't allow you to hold foreign currency in an ISA, but you can still buy international shares. The currency conversion happens when you buy and sell, and any income from non-UK holdings is converted to sterling automatically.

gelato_cat

Thanks, both of you.

The company is a private one, so the shares aren't freely available on any stock exchange.  Does this affect the situation regarding my ISA questions?

gelato_cat

GeoffTF said:

I expect that you would have to sell those shares, and rebuy them in an ISA.

My options are:

- exercise the options to buy the shares
- don't exercise and lose the options and shares

I don't think I'm able to buy actual shares until such time as the company goes public.  So I can't buy the shares, sell and then rebuy.

wmb194

Suzey said:

GeoffTF said:

I expect that you would have to sell those shares, and rebuy them in an ISA.

My options are:

- exercise the options to buy the shares
- don't exercise and lose the options and shares

I don't think I'm able to buy actual shares until such time as the company goes public.  So I can't buy the shares, sell and then rebuy.

The timing of when you can exercise your options is going depend on the terms of your company's scheme but in principle an individual can own shares in an unlisted company. The problem is you won't be able to own unlisted foreign shares in an Isa as, let alone not being able to purchase them, HMRC requires that they are listed on a 'recognised' exchange.

Albermarle

I know I can go to a provider and invest money in one of their S&S products, they pick the portfolio etc.

Just to clarify this. With  S&S ISA providers, you have a choice of investments, but you have to pick which one(s) you want to invest in, not the provider.
Some providers, will try and guide you in a certain direction, based on your risk appetite etc, but they will never pick the investment for you. If you want that sort of input you need to pay for personal advice from a financial advisor.

gelato_cat

Albermarle said:

I know I can go to a provider and invest money in one of their S&S products, they pick the portfolio etc.

Just to clarify this. With  S&S ISA providers, you have a choice of investments, but you have to pick which one(s) you want to invest in, not the provider.
Some providers, will try and guide you in a certain direction, based on your risk appetite etc, but they will never pick the investment for you. If you want that sort of input you need to pay for personal advice from a financial advisor.

Thanks!  I think what I meant (I worded it badly, and could still be wrong lol) is that you don't get to see in minute detail (ie at a company level) what you're investing in.  Or do you?

gelato_cat

wmb194 said:

Suzey said:

GeoffTF said:

I expect that you would have to sell those shares, and rebuy them in an ISA.

My options are:

- exercise the options to buy the shares
- don't exercise and lose the options and shares

I don't think I'm able to buy actual shares until such time as the company goes public.  So I can't buy the shares, sell and then rebuy.

The timing of when you can exercise your options is going depend on the terms of your company's scheme but in principle an individual can own shares in an unlisted company. The problem is you won't be able to own unlisted foreign shares in an Isa as, let alone not being able to purchase them, HMRC requires that they are listed on a 'recognised' exchange.

OK, it sounds like what you're saying is: if the company was listed, I could buy and wrap the shares in an ISA even though it's not a UK company.  But since it's not listed anywhere, I can't buy and wrap the shares in an ISA.

This is really useful info and I had no idea where to look.  Whenever you Google stocks and shares ISAs, all you get is results showing ISA products or blog posts from ISA companies and they only talk about products.

wmb194

Suzey said:

Albermarle said:

I know I can go to a provider and invest money in one of their S&S products, they pick the portfolio etc.

Just to clarify this. With  S&S ISA providers, you have a choice of investments, but you have to pick which one(s) you want to invest in, not the provider.
Some providers, will try and guide you in a certain direction, based on your risk appetite etc, but they will never pick the investment for you. If you want that sort of input you need to pay for personal advice from a financial advisor.

Thanks!  I think what I meant (I worded it badly, and could still be wrong lol) is that you don't get to see in minute detail (ie at a company level) what you're investing in.  Or do you?

You can buy shares in individual companies within an Isa, if that's what you're asking, but it'll depend on what the stock broker or platform offers. For instance, some may only offer London and New York listed shares and even then not all of them.