Stockbroker for transfer of Employer Shares

[conastatu]

Hi. I hope that this isn't a post that I should tag to another thread & if it is I apologise, but I think my question is a little different to the other ones that I've read after searching the forum.

My employer is a US-multinational that has a share scheme. We're allowed to buy a certain amount of shares with our bonus each year, we leave it with the company-nominated trustee for 3 years & then we get the option to sell or to transfer to a broker account.

This year is my first year of having to do something with my shares. I don't think I want to sell, so I need a broker account. I don't have any other shares & I think that my attitude to selling the ones over the coming years will be to try to minimise CGT by selling only as many as I can can within the CGT threshold. So, I don't expect more than two or three transactions per year, including the annual transfer of shares from the company trustee.

So, what questions do I ask when looking for a stockbroker - is it just about cost? And if so, what is typical? I've seen some mention of quarterly charges, percentages of sale value & inactivity charges in the other threads. Should I expect all of these? Should I expect a set-up fee to initiate the account?

Thanks very much.

 

[rob oyle]

This year is my first year of having to do something with my shares. I don't think I want to sell, so I need a broker account.

Just a quick point, if you are receiving a share cert from your employer once the 3 year period is up, can't you just hold on to that and keep as you would any valuable document? Maybe you're not going to receive a physical cert but I used to and I was never going to sell so I held on to the certs. No cost involved!

 

[conastatu]

Thanks Rob. The only options they've given us are to sell immediately or to transfer to a nominated brokerage account. I'll ask though. Could it be something to do with shares vs. share options?