How it works

A Share Account gives you a straightforward way to buy and sell shares and other stock market investments. It's just like a bank account for your investments.

You pay in to make purchases, then dividends from investments and proceeds from sales are added to your balance. Shares you already hold elsewhere can also be added to your account, whether they are paper certificates or in another nominee account: having all your stock market investments in one place makes it easy for you to keep your eye on them.

Just like your bank account means you can see how much money you have, so your Share Account means you can always see at a glance what investments you have, and what they are worth. It's an easy way to keep right up-to-date.

Of course, share dealing isn't right for everyone. After all, share prices, and therefore their values, can go down as well as up and, when you come to sell them, you could get back less than you initially invested. The income you get from your investments can also go up or down. As an account holder you have direct access to plain-speaking experts for practical advice on choosing the investments that are right for you.

Your account also has various in-built features to help you monitor and manage your investments more easily:

• set up separate accounts for different purposes, perhaps even to mirror investments you hold elsewhere
• keep an eye on companies whose shares you might be thinking of buying, by adding them to a ShareWatch account
• seek the Advice team's view on different companies - where a view has been published on shares you hold in your account; there's a direct link to their assessment
• call the Advice team to speak direct with experts for everything from their latest views on individual shares to a complete review of all your stock market investments
• research shares direct from your account, with access to comprehensive information, news and opinion
• see how the value of your investments has changed since you bought them, with the profit/loss shown against each different investment
• buying and selling shares can give rise to a Capital Gains Tax liability and income from your investments may be subject to Income Tax, in line with your personal circumstances. So along with a handy half-yearly account statement we'll provide an annual tax certificate on your dividends and interest each April, to make it easier to complete your tax return. For detailed tax considerations we would encourage you to speak to your adviser as the basis and levels of taxation can change from time to time.

All your investments are held in a 'nominee' name that exists purely to act as 'trustee' for customers' holdings. Being in nominee name enables us to act on your instructions, whether that's to sell your shares quickly and easily, or to handle other events, such as those described in the 'Changes to your investments' section below.

You are always the beneficial owner; your investments are safe and secure and they are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, up to a maximum of £48,000.

Your account can be in joint names if you want; this might be a spouse or partner. You can have any number of individual Share Accounts and can add a different designation to each, perhaps where you've earmarked those investments for your child or for a particular purpose. That way it's easy for you to keep track of your different accounts.

You can pay money into your account in a number of ways:

• lump sum - over the phone by debit card, by sending us a cheque, or by direct transfer from your bank.
• regular investment - by direct debit. You can ask us to invest that money into specific shares or leave it as cash in your account to invest as and when you want.

Once you've paid in, you can use your money straightaway to buy shares or other investments. There's no need to wait for deposits of up to £25,000 at any one time to be 'cleared', though larger amounts will only be available after clearance, which normally takes 3 working days.

All the money paid into your account is shown on your half-yearly account statement, along with dividends received, the proceeds of sales, all withdrawals of cash and purchases of investments. You can also view your account statement and transactions online at any time.

Cheques you pay into your account must be drawn on your bank account as, due to anti-money laundering regulations, we are unable to accept cheques from third parties.

When you've sold shares and want to withdraw money from your account, we'll normally pay it straight to your bank account. That way it's faster, easier and more convenient as you don't have to wait for a cheque to turn up and then pay it in to your bank. And income from your investments can be automatically paid to your bank account each quarter.

If you've paid into your account by debit card, withdrawals will be made back to the account linked to that card, which will usually be your bank account anyway.

If you do need a cheque we can send you one. For your security, cheques will always be payable to the account holder. There is usually a small charge for this service, although withdrawing income on a quarterly basis by direct transfer to your nominated bank account is free of charge. You'll find full details in Costs.

When you choose to have income from your investments paid out each quarter; we'll add up all the dividends you receive in that period and credit them direct to your bank account. Alternatively, ask us to automatically re-invest that income to add to your existing investments; you'll find more details in the 'Managing your dividends' section below.

Give us your purchase instructions online, direct from your account, and your order will be dealt straightaway. Or you can give us your dealing instructions by phone, post, fax or email.

When you buy unit trusts the actual purchase will normally be made at noon. The dealers will let you know if a different timescale applies.

Online, you can place orders at any time for immediate dealing. You can also place an order outside market hours, to be dealt shortly after the market opens. And dedicated dealing lines are available from 08:00 to 18:00 each day to take your dealing instructions.

The dealers aren't able to advise you, but you can speak to the Advice team about your purchase. Also, bear in mind when placing your order that shares do go up and down in value and, when you later come to sell them, you may get back less than you originally invested. And unless you've chosen fixed interest investments, the income you get from your investments can also vary.

When you give us your purchase instructions we'll buy shares up to the amount of cash available in your account, including the value of any sales which have not yet settled.

The stock market opens at 08:00 and closes at 16:30 each market day, so dealing instructions received outside these hours will be dealt shortly after the market re-opens. If you place an order when the market is closed, it is generally a good idea to set a price limit as share prices can fluctuate quite widely when the market opens.

You can deal straightaway when you place your sale orders direct from your account online.  When you sell unit trusts the actual sale will normally be made at noon. Our dealers will let you know if a different timescale applies.

The dedicated dealing lines are available from 08:00 to 18:00 each day. The stock market opens at 08:00 and closes at 16:30 each market day so dealing instructions received outside these hours will be dealt shortly after the market re-opens.

The dealers aren't able to advise you on your sale, so do bear in mind when placing your order that the price may now be lower than you originally paid.

Apart from share certificates, we can only sell investments that are held in your account, so if you've investments elsewhere, you may want to consider transferring them to your account. That way you can control them all from one place. Do bear in mind that your existing service provider may charge you to transfer your shares to us.

We can sell share certificates for you through our Certificate Sales service, then pay the proceeds directly into your account. Check out the details here to ensure the service is suitable for you. We're on hand to answer any questions you may have, but if you're not sure whether the service is suitable for you we'd recommend you seek independent advice.

When you buy or sell shares you can choose to set a price limit. This ensures you only buy if the market price is no higher than the price you are prepared to pay, or you sell shares only if the market price is at least what you're prepared to sell them for.

You can set a buying or selling price limit at the same time as you give us your dealing instructions, whether you do this via our dealers or direct through your online account, and there's no charge for monitoring these limits for up to 30 days.

While sale or purchase price limits are the most popular type of limit used, there are more advanced limit types you can use, giving you tighter control over buying and selling shares.

The basic 'price limit' options ensure that, when buying or selling shares, you only trade when you can do so at the price you've set, or better. Advanced options give you even more control over buying and selling your investments.

• Stop-Loss limits - to limit potential losses on a share you've just bought, or to protect gains on shares you hold already.

Use a Stop-Loss limit to restrict potential losses on a share you've just bought, or to protect gains on shares you hold already. Rather than monitor the price continually, set a Stop-Loss trigger and your holding will be sold should the price fall to or through the level you set.

• Tracking Stop-Loss limits - gives you the added advantage of being able to lock-in profits should a share price start to fall back.

Add a Tracking Stop-Loss limit and you've even more control. Here you set the criteria and we track the price as it rises, locking-on to the peak price, and will automatically sell if it falls to or through the limit you set.

• Alerts - when a share price meets your target, we'll let you know by email, so you can decide whether or not to act. You can also choose to simply highlight the fact in your online account, or ask us to do both.
• Profit/Loss indicators - showing the current gain/loss compared to the purchase cost you provide
• Sector analysis - the quick way to check the spread of your investments across the different market sectors

If you're investing to build up the value of your capital you may want to choose to have dividends and other income automatically re-invested every quarter. Because we carry this out for all our customers at the same time, you benefit from reduced commission, as described in Costs. Alternatively, you can leave your income in the account ready for you to invest when and where you want.

However, if you are liable for Capital Gains Tax, or are investing for income, you may prefer to have your dividends paid out to you. Choose this option and we will automatically pay them into your bank account each quarter. If you're not sure which option is right for you we'd recommend you seek independent advice.

When you choose to reinvest your dividends, and any other income such as interest on any cash balance in your account, you can:

• Invest into any individual share, so long as you already hold some of those shares in the account. You can change your re-investment instructions at any time but please allow at least 3 days before the next re-investment is due to take place so we can act on your new instructions.
• Invest into the share of the highest value in the account.

particularly useful option if you're using investing for income. Set your choice when you open the account and if you want to make a change simply call the Customer Service team with your instructions.

From time to time events may take place that affect your investments. This could be a takeover of one company by another, a merger between two businesses, an opportunity to buy more shares at a special price (a rights issue) or any other change that affects your shareholding. Collectively these types of event are known as 'corporate actions' and we will handle them for you. We'll explain the event that is about to take place, ask for your instructions and then carry them out on your behalf.

In some cases you will be asked to vote - in the event of a take-over offer for instance. In other cases you'll be able to choose whether or not to take up an offer - as with a rights issue for instance. And on other occasions the change may be applied automatically to your shareholding, as in the case of a 'split' in the shares when the company is seeking to reduce the price of an individual share in order to make it more affordable for smaller shareholders.

Whatever the event our Corporate Actions team will let you know about it, explain your options and ask for your instructions. We'll then monitor the event and, when the time comes, carry out your instructions. For a rights issue you can choose to:

• take up the rights by buying more shares. You can use cash available in your account to do this, or pay in more money. Alternatively you could sell some of your shares to fund the purchase of the rights
• sell those rights and have the proceeds credited to your account

For a takeover you can accept the offer and have the proceeds paid into your account.

All this is handled at no additional cost, as part of the overall account service.