| Group description: |
This group nominally covers the whole of Scotland – although we are also open to members from wider afield. The focus of the group will be on ‘Technical Trading’ rather than Investing. Importantly, we understand that many people do both longer term investing and shorter term ‘technical trading’. Of that mix of styles this group will focus on ‘technical trading’ – so you might expect us to have conversations such as:
Swing Trading, Stop Losses and Position Sizing, Chart Patterns – Cup and Handle, Breakouts, Springs, Flags etc, Support & Resistance, Indicators, Price Targets, Positive Expectancy, Trade Management, Trading Systems, Trade Ideas and Evaluation, Trade Planning, Leading and Lagging Sectors, Leading and Lagging Participants within Sectors, Trade Journals, and the ‘Tools of the Trade’.
The majority of the group have both longer term investments and carry out shorter term trades, too. They would term themselves both ‘investors’ with a longer term outlook and ‘traders’ with a shorter term outlook. The group members have broad experience in the markets – including across all asset classes and vehicles (shares – companies, trusts, ETFs, funds; spread-bets, CFDs, Options, Crypto). However, most of the group are predominantly interested in equities within the context of a portfolio.
Although some members are highly experienced traders that is not true of all and experience level should not be seen as an impediment to joining. So, if you don’t know who Richard Wyckoff was, or why Fibonacci is even more relevant today than in the 11th Century – don’t worry! Every day is a ‘school day’ for us all – Mr Market makes sure of that! |
While they unfortunately don’t offer Personal Crest, that’s perhaps understandable given that their origin was SIPP provision, where it isn’t possible. It also isn’t possible in ISAs. They are one of the best brokers at providing Letters of Representation free of charge and efficiently, and allow holders to vote their shares with minimal effort, either via their corporate actions section, or via secure message. The main negatives I find with their service is their telephone dealing service is weak, and their website isn’t great – recent changes to upgrade the website have added complexity and fragmentation, without adding useful function.
Overall, in terms of value for money, if you don’t require a good telephone service, they’re difficult to beat.
I have also been a longstanding client of AJ Bell’s, for my SIPP and agree 100% with Brian’s comments: never a problem getting LoR’s or voting shares: simply request it via their secure messaging service. AFAICS the changes to their charging structure for equity investments won’t make any difference to me, as I already pay £25/qtr and under the new regime my charges will remain capped at £25. However, for any clients who hold OEICs or similar funds, the changes could be substantial, as there doesn’t appear to be cap any more so, for example £200,000 held in funds will now cost £500 p.a. (previously capped at £200 p.a.) – another reason to prefer investment trusts or ETFs to funds.
Mark Bentley
Yes but there is no automated system for collecting votes which means you have to manually instruct them and then tell them how you want to vote each resolution which is very tedious and not practical. Likewise they don’t tell you about upcoming AGMs, or notify you when annual reports are available or send you copies. This is not nearly as convenient as some other brokers and could be automated.
Roger Lawson
I am currently steaming about this. I have been building up a portfolio of shares which I bought when there was no custody charge. AJ Bell is now applying the charge to shares I bought years ago. For example if you spent £100 buying ten shares for £10,000 you did not have to pay anything to keep these. Now they say give us £30 a year or pay £250 to transfer them. I actually opened my account because there was no custody charge! They should not be allowed to levy this charge on shares bought when there was no charge. It’s outrageous.
It’s like buying a car for £10,000 then getting told years down the line that there is now a £2.50/month ownership charge which you don’t have to pay if you pay £250 to transfer your car to another dealer.