Buying Shares

kearnst2 wrote: »

Hi Guys,
I am looking to find out the best way to purchase shares on the Irish Stock Exchange.
I tried to find a platform online which allows me to do so myself without charges and found Plus500 but this does not list many of the Irish companies (eg: Bank of Ireland)
All other ways i looked into are expensive enough regarding fees. Does anyone know the best way to go about doing this?
Thanks

At the moment, the least expensive options offering trading on the Irish Stock Exchange are probably TD Direct Investing and Saxobank, nobody offers an online platform "without charges".
Expect to pay €12-20 per trade and €20-30 per month maintenance if you don't trade, plus a change if your account is less than their minimum requirement, not to mention the 1% Irish stamp duty.

beachyboy wrote: »

1% Irish stamp duty?? Does this also apply to td direct?

Doesn't matter where you buy them, Irish shares when bought are subject to 1% stamp duty imposed by the government/state, in the UK, they have a 0.5% stamp duty.

Hi,
The best way in my opinion to buy shares is with Allied Irish Banks service. They charge a once off fee of €100 per transaction. They charge the same when you sell and I'm not sure about the capital gains tax though.

You need an AIB account (I used my student acc) and you can trade online (you need a current acc though), which is really handy. They don't require you to have a set amount of money you need to invest. This was good for me because I was only 18 when I bought shares so I only had a few grand to invest.

I bought AIB and BOI back when AIB was .064c and BOI was .094 a few years ago. I spent a long time watching them and following their share prices. I have to say I'm quite happy with the share price growth so far. This is definitely a long term investment.

Best of luck finding a stock broker =]

JR1210 wrote: »

20/30 a month? What if you want to buy long term shares and leave them sit for 4-5 years?

Buy from a local Stock broker, once off typical fees 1.0-1.5% + Stamp Duty.

With the AIB share dealing, the minimum commission is the higher of €32 or 1.25%. So say you buy €1000 worth of an Irish/UK stock, then the commission is €32. If you buy €5000 worth of an Irish/UK stock, then your commission is €62.50 (1.25% of €5000.

This is along with your €26 annual account charge and the stamp duty (a stealth robber tax)

Stamp duty applicable on purchases of shares - 1% by the Irish govt on stocks whose primary listing is on the Irish stock exchange.
0.5 % by the UK govt on London primary listed stocks.
Irish listed stocks that moved their primary listing to the UK like CRH, Grafton – if you purchase their sterling quoted stock, since their primary listing is now the UK, the stamp duty is 0.5%. However you then have to deal with foreign exchange rates for €/£.
Generally with Irish/UK stocks, there are 3 ways to hold the stock (other European stocks outside Ire/UK do not issue paper certificates):

1. Nominee account – electronic holding, no paper cert, costs something like €20 per annum to hold each company in a nominee account. Stocks strictly not held in your name afaik, so if the broker went bust, there might be ownership issues of the shares (seemed to be a few years ago, but may have been resolved since).

2. Crest account – electronic holding, no paper certs. Costs €50 per annum to maintain. Crest account held by crest company, but shares are directly in your name, so ownership of shares is clear. Get direct communications from the companies you have invested in and dividends direct to you (can also re-invest the dividends as more stock if the company operates a scrip dividend scheme – re-investing dividends makes up a lot of your return over the long term).

3. Paper certificates – you get a paper share certificate. Shares are in your name. No annual account cost. Paper certs are probably the cheapest method if all you are doing is buying stocks and holding for a number of years as the yearly account charges can build up with the nominee/crest account charges. You get direct communications from the companies you have invested in and dividends direct to you. (Can also re-invest the dividends as more stock if the company operates a scrip dividend scheme – re-investing dividends makes up a lot of your return over the long term).
Only hassle with option 3 is if the share certificate gets lost – you have to pay for the replacement paper cert.

With AIB, if you want to have the shares in paper certificate charge, it appears that there is extra on this (€13 per stock, minimum of €40).
AIB look a tad expensive if you intend holding stocks long term. I’d suggest you look at other brokers for price competitiveness.
I deal with Campbell O'Connor, based in Dublin. For ISEQ, UK stocks, I just get the stock in paper certificate form. If you don't want the hassle of paper certs, then can set up a crest account, costs €50 per annum as I said above.
If only doing a few trades per year, then paper certs are more cost-effective.
Their minimum charge for execution only trades are €40 and you get the share certificate for no extra charge. (They can also provide you with an advisory service, but there is a yearly account charge on this, and if you are savvy enough, then do your own research).
Charges here: http://www.camocon.ie/charges.html


Price around the brokers by all means, but I think they are more cost effective than most if only operating a buy and hold strategy for a small number of stocks.

Thanks odd1 and LoveChanel. What I have learned is as follows:

1. During a bull market do not believe it is my genius that is the cause of my success.
2. Look at fundamentals of the company, debt, P/E ratio, forward P/E etc. Calculate the value of a company based on the S/P and compare to other companies.
3. Look at what I can see is happening around me; for example I see tweenies buying ipads, I see Bof I closing branches. I read the business sections of newspapers cover to cover. I see that as a consumer I am no longer buying the Indo as it's available free online.
4. Look at the macroeconomy and trends, sentiment.
5. Don't be greedy and if you can turn a 10% profit, take it.
6. Be contrarian; if the market believes something is crap, buy it at the bottom, having considered everything (for example AIB is considered worthless but in fact at current SP it IS worthless)
7. And this is the equivalent to the 7th commandment: Hold only about 20% of available liquid assets in stocks.
8. Keep away from the stock market.
9. Make sure you are exposed to the stock market.
10. Never be afraid to sell at a loss.

Commandment number 7 is the most important one for me. I've done very well in the last few months but I am well aware that I may lose a shirt. But I have several clean ones in my wardrobe if you'll forgive the metaphor!

odd1and LoveChanel, my beloved also loves Chanel. What have I learned since my last foray into the stock market 15 years ago? In a nutshell it's this:

DON'T LOSE MONEY.

saggart26 wrote: »

Did you invest in AIB before or after realising they were cr*p?

Yes I invested in AIB and sold at a profit. Yes I was stupid and a little trigger-happy. Yes I still hold BOI. I also bought and sold ptsb at a profit. So it's not just about fundamentals. It's about riding a roller coaster and putting your hands in the air when everyone else does the same. My background is in Business / Economics / Consumer psychology. I have reached the conclusion that markets are NOT about fundamentals. The market is about fashion. So I aim to buy crap and sell it at a profit when it comes back into vogue.

Thronegames wrote: »

Exactly. I agree. Every fool learns and I have been very foolish. I am only 20% exposed to this crazy market and will get out of the lot soon! well, ...soonish.
Any advice re website to provide real analysis?[/quote

http://wexboy.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/2014-the-great-irish-share-valuation-project-part-ii/] Not saying he is always right but this is a really interesting blog. He posts here from time to time and is always a good read.

Thanks I already had a look at Wexboy's blog and I believe he updates every month. Impressed with his research and analysis.