Need a New Broker

Thargor

I need a new broker, mostly for long term holds although I do like to make a couple of quick buys and sells every now and then, looking for someone cheap and reliable, online interface a must obviously, don't need shorts/spreads/T20s or anything like that but it would be nice if the option was there, who's the best these days please? US/UK shares mostly but lowest fees for an infrequent trader is my main criteria. Thanks.

Mort5000

Saxo gets my vote.

Pennystockwhiz

TD Ameritrade is one the better brokers for holding shares longterm

dealhunter1985

I second Saxo

Thargor

Thanks, what are the fees like on Saxo, they dont seem to want to tell you on their site, Classic Account that is, dont need the premium stuff...

green_bow

just checked out saxo,s site , their a lot more expensive than TD investing Ireland , saxo charge a percentage commission on share purchases in the same way the irish brokers do , TD only charge 20 euro regardless of the amount of shares purchased

gordongekko

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056844033/8/#post86046163

Have a read of this thread.

Thargor

They sound pretty bad alright, and transferring my holdings in a timely fashion is exactly what I want to do! Any other options?

green_bow

gordongekko wrote: »

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056844033/8/#post86046163

Have a read of this thread.

yeah ive read it a few times

they never lost any money of mine , their extremely slow answering the phone but other than that , I find them good due to their extremely low fees compared to rivals

Thargor

20 euro a trade on TD and whats their yearly maintenace fee or any other charges please? Why are they so obscure about the main question every new customer is going to have on their websites? I thought it was law that they had to spell out everything...

banie01

Thargor wrote: »

20 euro a trade on TD and whats their yearly maintenace fee or any other charges please? Why are they so obscure about the main question every new customer is going to have on their websites? I thought it was law that they had to spell out everything...

TD are fairly transparent WRT to their commission and maintenance fees.
Its linked on their landing page http://www.tddirectinvesting.ie/~/media/files/ratecardie0710204176.ashx hardly obscure?

That said, their FX charges are fairly punitive as are many of their other out of course charges.

That said, read the thread GordonGekko linked you to, and take my advice....
Avoid TD Direct like you would a syphilitic whore!
My own experience is that, yes while they are a cheap buy and hold option if your portfolio is worth more than 5k....
Should an issue arise, their customer service is woeful and only worsening(I have 4yrs experience as a customer to base that on) and their IT department makes Jen, Moss and Roy on the IT crowd look like ultra professional rapid response!

I ended up having to take TD to the Ombudsman, who found in my favour on all counts and I am currently awaiting a compensation settlement for this debacle to be finalised.

I transferred out to Saxo, no account maintenance charge, yes the dealing charge can work out higher as its a per share charge(Makes trading penny stocks not an option really)
But the fact you get dedicated account rep assigned to you(so you have a single point of contact) and their very high level of customer care more than offsets the potentially higher dealing charges.

Thargor

banie01 wrote: »

TD are fairly transparent WRT to their commission and maintenance fees.
Its linked on their landing page http://www.tddirectinvesting.ie/~/media/files/ratecardie0710204176.ashx hardly obscure?

That said, their FX charges are fairly punitive as are many of their other out of course charges.

That said, read the thread GordonGekko linked you to, and take my advice....
Avoid TD Direct like you would a syphilitic whore!
My own experience is that, yes while they are a cheap buy and hold option if your portfolio is worth more than 5k....
Should an issue arise, their customer service is woeful and only worsening(I have 4yrs experience as a customer to base that on) and their IT department makes Jen, Moss and Roy on the IT crowd look like ultra professional rapid response!

I ended up having to take TD to the Ombudsman, who found in my favour on all counts and I am currently awaiting a compensation settlement for this debacle to be finalised.

I transferred out to Saxo, no account maintenance charge, yes the dealing charge can work out higher as its a per share charge(Makes trading penny stocks not an option really)
But the fact you get dedicated account rep assigned to you(so you have a single point of contact) and their very high level of customer care more than offsets the potentially higher dealing charges.

Thats a dealbreaker for me. Im with Danske but Im sick of them now, cuts cuts cuts, they're cutting their phone banking next which is pretty funny because when they shut all their outlets and stopped accepting cash and cheques they were pushing their phone banking as the new normal so its pretty obvious the Irish operation is dead even though they deny it, only a matter of time.

I wouldnt even mind a place that was a bit pricey per trade as Im so infrequent but at the same time I plan on ramping up my trading activities when I finish in my current job so I do need a fairly functional platform.

banie01

Thargor wrote: »

Thats a dealbreaker for me. Im with Danske but Im sick of them now, cuts cuts cuts, they're cutting their phone banking next which is pretty funny because when they shut all their outlets and stopped accepting cash and cheques they were pushing their phone banking as the new normal so its pretty obvious the Irish operation is dead even though they deny it, only a matter of time.

I wouldnt even mind a place that was a bit pricey per trade as Im so infrequent but at the same time I plan on ramping up my trading activities when I finish in my current job so I do need a fairly functional platform.

Whats the dealbreaker?
The price? Or the functionality?
There really isn't a more functional platform currently available to normal retail traders than Saxo platform.
Its a multi award winning service/interface.
As I said the cost can take a jump on some shares, but in general the European markets are traded at a 0.1% commission with an in general @€;12euro min comm.
The North American Markets at a per share charge(Which is why I'd exclude penny stocks from there)?

Thargor

Ah right maybe I will join them so, AIM is where I buy all my penny shares, it has to be better than Danske anyway, thanks banie01.

banie01

Thargor wrote: »

Ah right maybe I will join them so, AIM is where I buy all my penny shares, it has to be better than Danske anyway, thanks banie01.

Best advice I can give is to give their Demo account a whirl and see how it suits you.
The exchange/markets available are way broader than TD and the functionality available is more than you will likely ever need.
They also have some great online training vids available and will organise a phone call to take you thru the platform too if thats what you prefer.
I'm not saying Saxo are the best available, but give the demo account a whirl and see how it suits your needs.

Pennystockwhiz

TD have terrible customer service but is a decent broker for trading small cap stocks. Some brokers like Etrade don't allow people from Ireland. At the end of the day brokers only want to deal with high net worth clients, they really couldn't give a **** about someone who has a few thousand in their account.

Thargor

banie01 wrote: »

Best advice I can give is to give their Demo account a whirl and see how it suits you.
The exchange/markets available are way broader than TD and the functionality available is more than you will likely ever need.
They also have some great online training vids available and will organise a phone call to take you thru the platform too if thats what you prefer.
I'm not saying Saxo are the best available, but give the demo account a whirl and see how it suits your needs.

Playing with the demo since this morning, a very impressive platform alright plus an Android app which is nice, hope it performs as well in the real world, love the way you have so much control over open orders and limits compared to what Im used to Danskes barely responsive JAVA based POS). I think Ill go with Saxo and see, thanks.

green_bow

Thargor wrote: »

20 euro a trade on TD and whats their yearly maintenace fee or any other charges please? Why are they so obscure about the main question every new customer is going to have on their websites? I thought it was law that they had to spell out everything...

50 euro per year maintanence fee

fergm

Just to confirm, is it Saxobank.com that people are using, as some other website called Sam.ie also comes up in google.

Also, it looks like they don't trade in Irish Shares, although that's probably a good thing.

Gman1987

Im not with saxo but was talking to one of their account managers about a year ago. he said then intend to add the ISE in the next few months