Clients

Q. What is a Speirs & Jeffrey Nominee Account?

A. A Speirs & Jeffrey nominee account is simply a method by which investors can avoid the administrative inconvenience of owning shares in paper certificates or in different corporate nominees provided by the company. The advantages of holding securities in a Speirs & Jeffrey nominee account include anonymity (your name doesn't appear on the share register), simplified tax compliance (we provide an annual consolidated tax certificate), convenience (all your investments are "held under one roof" and we try to accommodate your preference as to when income is paid) and security (no more worrying about mislaid share certificates).

For most investors we consider that the benefits of holding securities via a Speirs & Jeffrey nominee account outweigh the modest costs. We are encouraging clients to move to holding securities in this way because it allows us to provide a more accurate valuation service and more focused advice. It also avoids delays to settlement of deals due to difficulties in delivering share certificates. Such delays can be both inconvenient and potentially very expensive to clients.

Q. What is a Corporate Nominee?

A. A corporate nominee is an electronic nominee service offered by a company to hold shares in that company on behalf of its shareholders. Here you receive a shareholder statement rather than a certificate. The corporate nominee therefore has custody of your shareholding rather than you. You may remain the beneficial owner of the shareholding but under this arrangement you have moved into a nominee environment (whether by design or otherwise). Each company that offers this service will report to you separately for each of your shareholdings. In addition, in order for us to sell your holding you must first transfer the holding out of the corporate nominee to us. This involves additional costs from the Corporate Nominee. Speirs & Jeffrey does not charge for this transfer at present. 

Our belief is that those who hold their shares in paper certificates will eventually be forced into individual Corporate Nominees, which we think is an inefficient form of administration and one that should be avoided. For this reason we believe transferring your holdings into our nominee service is the best route for all our clients.

Q. What is involved in moving my shares into your nominee?

A. When you decide that you wish to transfer into our nominee service we will ask you to send us your share certificates. We will then send you a nominee agreement form together with transfer forms for each of your holdings. These should each be signed and returned to us. Once these have been received we can proceed with the move into the nominee service. This can take a few weeks to come into effect and it is probable that you will continue to receive dividends directly for a short time after moving into the nominee service. There is no charge for transferring UK stocks into the nominee service and no stamp duty is payable on the transfers since there is no change in the beneficial ownership of the securities.

Q. I am considering the nominee service, what communications can I expect to receive?

A. Once your holdings have been transferred into our nominee, we will send you a confirmation of the transfer. Thereafter, each April you can expect to receive a nominee statement which will include a valuation at 5 April, details of cash and share transactions in the year and a consolidated tax voucher. In October you will be sent an interim cash statement covering the period to 5 October. In addition, in June and December you will receive half-year confirmations and in some cases a fee note in respect of safe custody of your assets. If we hold enough cash to cover your fees and you have not requested a fee note, you will not be sent one and your fee will be automatically deducted from your nominee account. We shall also communicate with you on corporate actions asking for your instructions and informing you of changes to your investments.  Finally, if you take income from the nominee, you will be sent income statements detailing the composition of the payment. 

Q. How do I get annual reports if I'm in the nominee?

A. We can arrange for you to be sent annual and interim reports if you wish. There is a charge of £5 per report. If, however, you have internet access then most companies now put their annual reports (and a wealth of other information) online. Alternatively, if you prefer to receive physical  copies of reports the Financial Times offers a free service at http://ftcom.ar.wilink.com/asp/P002_search_ENG.asp   or see a copy of the newspaper for details.

Q. Can I attend and/or vote at AGM's/EGM's of companies if I'm in the nominee?

A. Yes, we can arrange either for a proxy to be entered on your behalf to vote on any resolutions or we can provide you with a letter of representation to allow you to attend and vote at meetings in person. In order to arrange this we must receive a written request from you not less than 5 working days prior to the deadline for receipt of the proxy form or 7 working days prior to the meeting, whichever is the earlier. In the case of proxy requests please be sure that you inform us of how you wish the proxy to be voted in respect of each resolution.

Q. Can I have my nominee income paid into my bank on a regular basis?

A. Yes, we can arrange payment of income quarterly, half-yearly or yearly.    These can be simply the amount of income accumulated within the account or can be set fixed regular sums for smoothing.  

Q. What rate of interest is earned on nominee account cash balances?

A. Interest is calculated on the daily cleared balance at a rate equivalent to 0.625% below the Bank of Scotland Base Rate for UK deposits or 0.875% below Bank of Scotland Base Rate for Jersey deposits.

Q. How is interest calculated and when is it credited to my nominee account?

A. Interest is calculated on a daily basis and credited quarterly to your account (at the end of February, May, August and November).

Q. How often will I receive nominee cash statements?

A. You will receive nominee cash statements twice yearly in April and October (April statements are included in the April nominee statement).

Q. What are nominee charges?

A. UK Crest securities are charged at £10 per holding per annum (subject to a maximum of £150 p.a. for clients in the  nominee service). Non-Crest securities including unit trusts, OEICs and residual securities are subject to charges of £20 or £50 per holding per annum depending on their type and geography. Please speak to your adviser for more details. Here is a link to our charges and commissions sheet.

Q. How is my nominee fee calculated?

A. Fees are calculated on a half-yearly basis on the rates set out in the answer to the previous question.

Q. How often and when are nominee fees charged to my account?

A. Fees are based on holdings at 31 May and 30 November each year and debited to accounts shortly after.

Q. Is there VAT on nominee fees?

A. No, VAT is chargeable only on discretionary management fees currently at the rate of 17.5%. 

Q. Is there a fee charged for providing the April nominee statement?

A. One nominee statement per year is provided free of charge to each client. Extra statements can be supplied on request. There is a charge for this service which is currently £25 per statement.

Q. I take income from my nominee account.  When can I expect the payments to be credited to my bank account?

A. Normally on the agreed day if it is a weekday and not a bank holiday e.g. quarterly income will be in your account on the last banking day of March/June/September/December.

Q. Will I receive an income statement detailing the dividends and interest which are included in the nominee income payment?

A. Yes, you should receive this at the time each payment is made to you.

Q. I received a dividend in my nominee account just before the income payment was received.  Why was this not included in the income payment?

A. In order to be certain that we make income payments on the requested days we have to apply a cut-off point which may be up to 7 business days before the payment date depending on the incidence of public holidays. Dividends received after this cut-off point will normally be included in the following income payment. We can, however, arrange for ad-hoc payments to be made if required between normal payment dates.

Q. I would like to start/stop taking income from my nominee account.  How do I do this?

A. Simply write to us setting out your requirements.

Q. I would like to change my bank details for nominee income.  How do I do this?

A. We are very much aware of the increasing risk of identity fraud in the financial sector. All changes to account names, addresses or banking instructions must be made in writing. Where appropriate we will then contact you to confirm these details before amending our records. Whilst it may appear that we are resigned to needless form filling, we feel strongly that the benefits of you knowing that your information is secure outweigh this burden.

Q. When should I expect to receive my nominee confirmation statement?

A. Confirmation statements are sent out shortly after the end of May and November each year.

Q. When should I expect to receive my April nominee statement?

A. Nominee statements are sent out as soon as possible after the end of the fiscal year (April 5th). Because of the large volumes of reports this process can take some time but we aim to have sent out all statements before the end of April.

Q. Can you send a copy of my April nominee statement to a third party?

A. Yes, but if this is a duplicate there is a charge for this service. The charge is currently £25 per statement.

Q. Why do I get so many statements from you?

A. We try not to burden you with more statements than necessary but we are obliged to comply with certain regulatory requirements. You should regard these reports as a means of confirming that we have acted in accordance with your requirements and that we have accounted to you fully. If you do not understand any items on your reports or think that they may be incorrect in any respect you should contact us as soon as possible so that we can explain or investigate.

Q. I have received a confirmation of my nominee holdings.  Why is this and do I need to keep it?

A. This confirmation is to allow you to check that your nominee holdings are correct. We recommend that you always keep one statement to check the next one when received. If there are changes in your holdings that you do not understand please contact us immediately.