Research shows that online share dealing is now the most popular way to trade shares, with three in four active share-traders now managing their trading accounts online. Find out how to choose the perfect share dealing service for you.

Online Share Dealing - How to find the Best Online Share Dealing Service

Traders say online share dealing gets a better return on their investments, and the majority like the personal control over their investments that share-trading offers, according to a survey by Saga Share Direct.

The research shows that women are typically more savvy when it comes to their investments, with a third of women share-traders saying they have never made a loss on a trade, compared to just one in ten men who said the same.

When it comes to selecting which shares to invest in, almost two in three of those aged over 50 will pick up tips from the personal finance pages in newspapers, as well as specialist investment magazines, compared to 50% of those aged under 50.

“You have to take the risks of investing seriously but you shouldn’t forget that choosing a stock can be fun too,” says Claudia Philips, Managing Director of Investment Dealing at Alliance Trust. “Most of today’s online investors don’t want to spend hours reviewing and making individual tweaks to their investment portfolios when this could be done in minutes. If you believe in the performance potential of a stock, chances are you’ll want to include it in more than one of your long-term plans, and if you’re selling stock there’s a decent chance you’ll want to reinvest the proceeds of sale elsewhere.”

She added that a significant number of ordinary investors are choosing to manage their investment and pension portfolios online, simply because it is the most convenient, timely and cost-effective method of buying, selling and reviewing holdings.

“And, because you only pay for what you trade, it can give you outstanding value for money,” Philips adds.

Ultimately, with online share dealing, you can trade any time, in and out of market hours, services are faster than ever and you can have a sense of personal control over your investments. Of course, shares are not for everyone. They are risk investments that may fall as well as rise and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Use these guidelines make sure you to get the best option to suit your needs.

Finding the Best Online Share Dealing Service:

• Always check the dealing charges. These range from £7 to £20 per trade, and some providers offer reduced rates for regular traders, so look into the best option for you. Have a look at start up costs too and work these into the equation.

• Ease of use. Most stockbrokers now offer very easy to use sites and offer instant access via depositing funds using a debit card.

• Free market information and analysis – any good stockbroker should give its customers tools to help stock picking, including advice, research tools and equity research for major companies. “If you need to go to another site to find out about the shares then you might as well buy the shares through that site,” says private investor Jason Curry.

• Access to international as well as UK markets – it should be as easy to buy shares in a French or American company as it is to buy into a UK company, but not all services offer this.

• Access to all exchanges – many investors want to have access not only to the LSE but to all shares on Aim, Plus etc.

• Real-time quotes and trading is a must.

• Find out if you will be able to place stop orders, and what charges will be incurred.

• Look out for extra services offered, such as covered warrants, listed CFD’s, structured products and recommendations to buy, sell and hold online and by email.

• Look for added value extras, such as free transfer of cash between accounts.

• Do they allow debit management? This simple method enables you to top up your account by debit card, and to set up and manage direct debit and income reinvestment arrangements online.

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