I prefer share certificates as I hold for the long term
- There are no annual holding costs
- I deal directly with the company - very important for the banks where I attend their AGMs and get the AGM notices directly
- They are absolutely secure - I am not worried about the stockbroker I dealt with going bust.
But across the EU, people buy and hold shares in nominee accounts via stockbrokers without any worries.
Why is this such a worry here? Because the Morroughs liquidator (and Beaufort's in the UK) got their hands on the nominee accounts even though they were separate.
I have my long-term savings in shares so the Investor Compensation Scheme is of no use to me.
I have no idea if DeGiro or Davys is safe. I don't know who DeGiro is?
I sort of know who Davys is. But as someone pointed out once rock solid companies like AIB and BoI nearly went bust. I know it's different as Davys don't lend money. But I don't know if they do proprietary trading or not.
Brendan