Online Share Dealing

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Online Share Dealing

Buying and selling shares can be done through your bank or building society or through a stock-broker (who can also give you advice on which shares to buy).

This can be done in person or by telephone however many companies are increasingly able to offer an online service which is ideal for this type of investment as often, you will want to buy or sell shares quickly.

What are the costs? Stamp duty will always apply when buying shares however brokers' charges vary a great deal. If you are looking for advice rather to buy on an execution only basis, this will cost more. Generally charges will be:

• Stamp duty on share purchases at 0.5%
• A fixed transaction fee per trade
• Regular administration or account management charges

What are the risks?

Returns can be high however you do have the risk that you may lose part or even all of your investment - there are no guarantees that you will get your money back. Even companies with household names cannot be considered to be completely `safe' investments.

You can set automatic limits with your broker to buy or sell depending on what happens to the share price ie if prices reach or exceed or drop down to certain levels. These are known as limit orders or stop orders. This can save you time in monitoring prices as well as money.

Diversification is also the best way to keep risk to a minimum, by spreading your investment across a number of companies, rather than having all your eggs in one basket.

For more adventurous investments, see our pages on Hedge Funds.

Below are links relating to Online Share Dealing:

Spread Betting
CFDs
Gilts
Online Share Dealing