April 2021 will see significant changes in Halifax’s Share Dealing Service fee structure. As an accountholder myself, I’ll outline what they might mean for the future.
From the first of the month, the annual administration fee for its Stocks and Shares ISA will be removed. The £12.50 will still be taken in May as the charge for having an ISA for the 2020/21 tax year.
In its place, a customer administration fee of £36 will be introduced. Paid each year, Halifax has stated this will “cover the costs of running the Share Dealing Service, which includes our Share Dealing Account, ISA and ShareBuilder”.
However, the first payment will be collected in April next year (2022). Thus, accountholders “have over a year to decide if the account is right for you”.
On top of these changes to annual charges, Halifax is reducing its share-dealing fees for investing online. From 1st April 2021, both UK and International shares, as well as funds, will see their online dealing commissions lowered from £12.50 to £9.50.
Since I have both a Stocks and Shares ISA and a Share Dealing Account with Halifax, I’ll only have to pay the administration fee once rather than for each investing account I hold with them.
Running some quick back-of-a-beermat figures, my annual fees will rise by £23.50. But I ought to recoup that should I make more than 8 trades across both accounts in the coming tax year. Which, in my case, is very likely.
Of course, one should take a broader look at what S&S ISAs and share-dealing brokerages are available, to find what might suit one’s own investing strategy.
I consider myself to be an long-term focused investor rather than a trader. So I’d estimate I’m likely to trade online between 12 and maybe 20 times a year. As a result, I don’t believe I’d benefit from an account offering lower online dealing commissions for frequent traders.
