Stocktrade is the execution-only division of Brewin Dolphin, a UK based company established in 1762 and one of the biggest private client investment managers in Britain. In May 205, the company was sold to Alliance Trust Savings. If you like to trade stocks, Stocktrade is an excellent choice. It offers investment advice, easy-to-understand share price charts, fast and reliable service, high level protection and security and responsive customer support. With Stocktrade you can trade how you like; over phone or online, the choice is yours. Here you also pay with excellent commission rates and clear pricing. The company is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Trading Offer
As mentioned in the introduction, Stocktrade mainly deals with online trading of stocks in a number of markets. Some offered stock markets are UK, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Hong Kong etc. The trading platform the company uses is Active Trader by Tdwaterhouse. Account currencies customers can use are Euros, American dollars, British pounds and Canadian dollars.
The assets offered by Stocktrade are shares, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and bonds. The types of accounts available are a Nominee account and a Certified account. The first account type is available to individuals as well as joint and entity applicants and is most appropriate for customers that wish to deal on a regular basis over phone or online. The second account type is available only to UK residents that want to deal by phone and hold their own share certificates. The company also offers an ISA and to find out more about this, read the ISA services guide. A minimum of £14.50 or 0.4% is required for a Nominee account, while for a Certified account, the minimum is £20 or 0.75%. Nominee account holders can trade in UK stocks, ETFs, foreign stocks, Unit Trust and OEICS, while the holders of Certified accounts can trade in all UK stocks including loan stock.
Trading can be done via phone or online. Online trading is possible in the following markets: USA, UK, Canada and certain big European markets, while phone trading is available in Australia, Belgium, Spain, Norway and several other markets. Furthermore, Stocktrade allows Limit Orders, but it doesn’t allow other types of Orders such as Stop Orders, Market Orders, Trailing Stop Orders and OCO Orders. The company also doesn’t have one click trading and a mobile trading app. Last but not least, Stocktrade offers a charting package and analyst research reports as part of its useful trading and investment tools.
Spreads, Fees, Margins
Stocktrade applies margins on foreign exchange rate which is also known as spot rate and they can be seen on its website. The margins apply to the following currencies EUR, USD, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, NZD, HKD, CZK, SGD, DKK, ZAR, NOK, SEK and CHF. The percentage of the margin rate for 25K is 0.75%. The company also charges a maintain fee which is £10. For broker assisted trades it pays a £50 overseas settlement charge for foreign stocks. The commission charged for online details is between 0.2 and 0.4% or a min of £14.5 and a max of £50. For telephone details, it ranges from 0.2 to 0.4% or £14.5 min and £50 max. Other fees and charges include inactivity fees. Inactive account holders get a quarterly charge of £12 plus VAT for a nominee account. There are no charges for holding stocks, dividend charges and charges for corporate action.
Bonus Information
There are no bonus offers and promotional deals at Stocktrade. However, shareholders can get a bonus in form of additional shares or other securities free of charge. There is no charge on the nominal value of shares. For more information about this, contact the customer support service.
Website
The Stocktrade website is easy to use and navigate. The most important categories are all on the main menu and these are Our Services, About Us, Research tools and Help. All important and necessary information is immediately displayed on the homepage. Such information includes guides on how to transfer your account to Alliance Trust Savings (the new owner of Stocktrade), how to open and activate your account, company information and so on. Traders sometimes may experience problems with the loading of the website, but they shouldn’t be concerned about trading as everything is fast and instant.
There is no download software platform available. Everything is done from a web browser. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the company doesn’t offer mobile stocks trading. There is no mobile app that enables trading on the move. Furthermore, Stocktrade makes sure that its customers get the latest news and keeps them updated by publishing all news articles on the website. The company also has a great research center which features in depth company news, charting package and reports from both UK based and international stocks. To help you make informed decisions, you can use the research tools such as performance tables and heatmaps.
In addition, Stocktrade has a separate department for Education. Here new traders and beginners can learn more about the basic concepts and processes that they need to be aware of as stock traders. They can also familiarize with the general glossary and terms used in this industry. Last but not least, the company doesn’t offer demo accounts, therefore, it is advisable to learn as much as you can about stock trading before you sign up for a real account with Stocktrade.
Banking and Payment Options
Buying shares can be conducted in one of the following ways: debit card and deposit account. A debit card transaction can be made via phone or online. When using it as a payment method, you will be asked to confirm that the debit card is yours and registered at the same address as your account with the company. The second option, deposit account, must have cleared money on deposit prior to dealing. Credit cards are not accepted. Types of debit card traders can use are Visa Delta, Visa Debit, Maestro, MasterCard Debit and Solo with a value of up to £99,999.
Interest of deposit account is paid gross, accumulated daily and credited twice a year. The payment of interest may be changed depending on the tax legalization. A tax voucher is given in December each tax year. Cashing out money is done via a trader’s online deposit account and the money is paid in the provided bank details. It is also possible to call the support at Stocktrade and request a cashout which will be paid to the account held on file. Cashouts via Euros and American dollars can only be requested via phone. Quarterly administration fees are paid via Direct Debit. To confirm your identity the company will ask you to provide certain documentation.
Additional Details of the Broker/Company
If you have any questions or are experiencing certain technical problems, you can get in touch with the customer support service at Stocktrade via e-mail. To help the support agents deal with your inquiry as quickly as possible, make sure you provide your full name, account details and contact information including your phone number. It is also possible to get in touch with the support representatives via telephone. The opening hours for dealing are from Monday to Friday 8am to 9pm, while the opening hours for inquires are from Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. There are several phone numbers available.
Stocktrade is a division of Brewin Dolphin Limited. This company is a member of the London Stock Exchange and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with a reference number 124444. Brewin Dolphin Limited is registered in England and Wales and the company number is 2135876. The VAT number is GB 690 8994 69. Furthermore, Stocktrade has good policies in place in order to manage conflicts of interest. They are all listed in detail in the Conflict of Interest summary published on the website.
Brewin Dolphin, the main company behind Stocktrade was established in 1762. Over the years it has grown to become one of the largest independently owned private client investment managers in the United Kingdom. It currently has offices all over the UK and Channel Islands as well as more than £28 billion under management. Starting from 1993, Stocktrade focused on setting new standards in stock broking as well as customer support and service. Thanks to its up to date technology and excellent stock broking heritage, the company can provide quality services for reasonable costs. In May 2015, Stocktrade was sold to the Alliance Trust Savings for £14 million.
Conclusion/Experiences/Comparison
All in all, Stocktrade is an online stocks trading broker offering a good all round service. It has a reasonable commission and the customer support agents are quick to respond. The company also provides excellent online web based and phone dealing services as well as real time prices via phone using a voice response system. Furthermore, the broker offers a very low commission compared to most brokers that offer similar services and products. Everything you need is instant. The site is easy to navigate and buying and selling shares is fuzz free and instant.