Standard Life - niggly aspects of share ownership

There's been some anxiety over whether Standard Life windfall shares can be transferred to another stock broking account once they are trading, without the loss of the extra bonus shares. These bonus shares are promised to policyholders at the rate of one free share for every 20 held continuously for 12 months.

Late last week Standard put out a statement about this which, for anyone interested, should clear things up.

You're allowed to move your entitlement to a nominee account - such as an online stock broking account - without their being an impact on the freeby shares.

But if you transfer the shares into someone else's name, the perk goes.

Also, importantly, you can't move the shares into an Isa or Sipp qualifying account without losing the entitlement, because doing so counts as a change of ownership.

Hope that helps anyone who's considering the issue.....

- Richard Dyson

Useful links

Standard Life - read our special round-up

Blog - Dad, sell your Standard Life shares

Comments

[John Brodie]

Have tried and failed several times to register with Computershare using their web site. Computershare were appointed by Standard Life and of course are holding my Standard life shares....
So 'managing my shares on line', is not yet an option for me...To add insult to injury, I will have to pay Computershare commission when I do sell them, called 'captive client' I think....

[Jane Tolliday]

I would echo John Brodie's comments regarding 'Computershare'. I have , like John , been totally unable to access their site to register my shares. So much for online share managing.

[Edward Brennan]

"Mamaging your shares" on Computershare's web-site is a snare and a delusion. Registering your shares is a joke. Try sending an e-mail inquiry and if you're lucky enough to get an answer its totally unresponsive to what you've asked. Using the toll free number may help if you don't mind waiting an hour for someone to answer.