I’m in the UK and have held shares for a good many years and they all came complete with paper certificates.

In the past I’ve sold a few through a stockbroker, not on-line, but having sat on most holdings for a number of years I’m tempted to transfer into Crest in anticipation one day of further selling.

My understanding is that costs should be cheaper using Crest and perhaps it’s better than holding paper certificates.

Some time ago when I pursued this I didn’t get very far.

I read at length on a Crest web site a year or two back and ended up more confused than when I started.

One aspect I never go to the bottom of was if I use a stockbroker to ‘undertake’ the transfer would I be restricted to using that stockbroker in terms of future sales – that was the impression my stockbroker gave.

Any advice on the wisdom of moving over to Crest would be appreciated.

The next question would be how to do it.

Using dematerialised shares is easier, thats for sure. Your broker is wrong that you have to use him always, you can simply instruct him to transfer the shares out of your account if you want to use another broker.

One trick I did find for trading certs cheap and on a one off, is if the company you hold has Capita Registrars as the registrar of the company you can sell dircetly thorugh them. There are cheaper services elsewhere (it's £15) but you don't have to open an account etc..

Capita Share Dealing Services

I checked out Capita and it looks promising.

Am I right in thinking that with Crest you transfer your shares to something along the lines of a nominee account with a broker, which no doubt is a safe home, and if you want to deal over the phone or internet with another broker the holdings/account have to be transferred to a 'nominee' account with them.

I'll check with my stockbroker, if they can remember who I am and get confirmation of any costs involved, not least in potentially transferring my account to another broker at some future date.

I'll have to do some homework on the less expensive brokers.

Many thanks Interactive.

No Probs Jason.

Each broker will have their own nominee account in which your shares will be held, and yes, if you want to use another broker the shares need to be transferred. Easy though, as its all electronic it happens quick.

Depend what you are after with a broker, cheap isn't always best, but if you are just looking to liquidate cheap is the best way to go.

I've been learning to avoid brokers and to self trade instead - brokers can invite some nasty costs, such as 1.5% commission on each trade on top of stamp duty and basic fee, whereas when self trading you're usually looking at flat fees of £15 plus stamp duty. Plus you trade when you want, rather than having to call your broker to put a call through - these days markets are so volatile that even a 20 minute delay could cost you thousands.

Currently opening an account with self trade:
Share dealing accounts, self select ISAs, SIPPs, CTFs / Selftrade Investments

but there are plenty of alternatives.

Self trading is the way forward if you have the time and inclination to learn your trade. We are discretionary traders at Online Trading. (The link defaults to the title of the page..sorry)

For those clients who wish to self trade the downloadable system is backed up by FSA regulated Moneycorp Markets where clients can have a dedicated trader to help with trading ideas. We can negotiate rates for active traders.

Brian, feel free to delete this if you deem it advertising, I enjoy the forum and don't want to rock the boat, but as we were discusing alternatives I thought I would mention it.

It's okay - I think you're not showing the normal spammer mentality.