After investing for sometime in numerous managed funds and with a small amount of spare cash I decided to dip into the world of share trading. My initial requirement was to find a broker that could provide me with a cheap service on an execution only basis as I would be dealing in relatively small amounts for my own pleasure rather than in the expectation of making vast sums of money.
I spent some time trawling the internet for online brokers, as I find it much simpler to review market prices online and immediately place an order whilst online rather than having to arrange a trade by phone. I was somewhat surprised to see just how much some brokers were charging for execution only services, prices were as much as £15 a trade or more. Now as I was only going to be dealing in amounts of £300-500 per trade, this was a significant charge. Finally I came across Hoodless Brennan, who offer an execution only service at only £7 per trade with the first months dealing free of any transaction charges.
COMPANY DETAILS
Now before signing up I thought it prudent to do a bit of research on the company as I had never heard of them before. Unfortunately, there was precious little to discover and in the end I decided to take the plunge anyway and begin with a relatively small amount of money to limit my risk.
The Hoodless Brennan website does provide this information:
"Hoodless Brennan and Partners was established in January 1993, and is based in Docklands, London. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, and are members of the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Europe.
Over the last few years Hoodless Brennan has grown significantly. The company has expanded five fold in terms of employees, and is therefore providing a more comprehensive service to its clients."
APPLICATION
There site provides an online application form followed up by a money laundering form which is sent by post. My application was completed reasonably quickly and my account was setup within a week. Money can then be deposited or withdrawn from you broker account via the website or by telephone.
USING THE SITE
The site requires a username, password and account number to access the secure site and you are automatically logged off after a period of inactivity. The only problems I've had with the site are that occassionally it can be frustrating slow to use and can hang. Logging off and returning are often sufficient to resolve the problem.
The site stores a history of the transactions you have made so you can easily check exactly how much you paid for those Marconi shares 5 years ago! It also provides a up-to-date valuation of your portfolio and you can order statements covering the last 1, 3 or 6 months.
Trading can be on any share in the main London market, AIM and certain foreign securities. All of which can be dealt online or via a telephone dealing service. The site allows the setting of stop losses and limits for dealing, which can be put in place for upto 2 weeks.
EXTRA BENEFITS
Account holders have access to Hoodless Brennans market comment, reviewed each day, and to research they have done on particular companies (frequently the lesser known companies). This can occassionally reveal a hidden gem that you hadn't noticed during your own research.
Hoodless Brennan also offer an advisory telephone broker service which can be applied for through the website and an ISA dealing account for which the fees are slightly different.
CONCLUSION
All in all I would rate Hoodless Brennan as an excellent online execution only broker, at a bargain price. For those requiring full access to international markets then you may need to look elsewhere, but for those concerntrating on the UK I would recommend this broker.
More details
Service accessibility
Excellent
Staff courtesy/helpfulness
Excellent
Quality of advice
Not Applicable
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