Whichever account you choose, you can deal in a wide range of individual investments. Some accounts, such as ISAs or Child Trust Funds (CTFs) have restrictions set by the HM Revenue & Customs but where that's the case we'll let you know.

There's a range of ways to deal with us - from over the web to over the desk. And from the odd deal now and then, to regular monthly investing and even daily trading. We don't mind how frequently, or infrequently, you trade - it's purely up to you.

You'll find more details below.

What can I invest in?

• Shares listed on the UK markets - London Stock Exchange, AIM, PLUS and ShareMark
• Overseas shares, including the EuroTop 300 and US shares. So companies like Nokia, BMW, Coca Cola, Daimler Chrysler, IBM, Microsoft, Novartis and Wal-Mart are all easily within your reach.

  You can deal in all overseas shares where they are settled in £ sterling through the CREST system. Our dealers will be pleased to confirm whether or not we can deal a particular share. Some shares cannot be dealt online but can be handled by our dealers. Call us on 01296 41 42 43 for more details or email us.

  US shares may be subject to a separate US Withholding Tax so we will ask you to complete a form W-8BEN relating to this.

• Investment Trusts - shares in companies whose business is to invest in other companies, UK unit trusts and Open-Ended Investment Companies (OEICs) - investments where you pool your money with other investors to have them managed on your behalf by a Fund Manager. These include The Share Centre's Preferred Funds and our Managed Funds.

  Dealing in unit trusts and OEICs is only available to UK residents.

  In many cases we are able to arrange a discount on the Fund Manager's normal Initial Charge and where this is the case we will use the whole of this saving to buy more Units for you.

  With our Preferred Funds we have already negotiated these savings up front, so your money will go further when you buy these funds through The Share Centre.

• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) - effectively a way of buying one share that tracks an Index such as the FTSE100
• UK Gilts - represents money you lend to the UK government.

  Because of the treatment of interest income from these investments, dealing in UK Gilts is only available to UK residents.

• UK Corporate Bonds - represents money you lend to companies

  Because of the treatment of interest income from these investments, dealing in UK Corporate Bonds is only available to UK residents.

• Covered Warrants - essentially where you buy the right, but not the obligation, to either buy (a call) or sell (a put) an individual stock, or an index, at a fixed price at a future date. Suited to more experienced investors, they are issued by independent third parties, usually international finance houses, not by the companies that the warrant covers.

  Because Covered Warrants are a specialised investment suited to more experienced investors you will first need to complete Risk Notice confirming you understand the implications of investing in them. Call us on 01296 41 41 41

• Warrants - similar to Covered Warrants in that they work in the same way, but they are issued directly by the company, rather than by a third party. So they are a liability to the shareholders. Warrants tend to have a longer shelf-life, typically from 3 to 10 years.

  Because Warrants are a specialised investment suited to more experienced investors you will first need to complete Risk Notice confirming you understand the implications of investing in them. Call us on 01296 41 41 41

There are certain investment restrictions you need to be aware of. For example, the HM Revenue & Customs' ISA and CTF regulations restrict the range of shares, unit trusts and investment trusts. For appropriate account types our systems handle this automatically.

How do I deal?

	Simply sign in and from your account page you can sell shares you already hold or buy new shares. You can place orders online for UK shares (including shares traded on AIM, PLUS and Sharemark) and a wide range of overseas shares too. Plus Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and investment trusts. When dealing online you can choose whether to deal straightaway or wait to have your order dealt alongside those of other customers in our batch dealing sessions. You'll find more about this in the next section, 'When can I deal?'. When you place an order online outside market hours (08:00 to 16:30) we'll deal your order when the market re-opens. Because prices can fluctuate quite widely for a short period after the market opens we'll ask if you want to set a price limit and will only deal your order from 08:15. We'll give you a reminder about this whenever you place an order outside market hours. If you hold shares already as share certificates you can add these to your account or ask us to sell the certificates directly using our Certificate Sales service.
	Call our dealers and they'll be pleased to take your dealing instructions. Our dedicated dealing lines are available from 08:00 to 18:00 each day. The UK 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. You can deal by phone in all the investment types that you can deal online plus unit trusts, a range of UK corporate bonds, gilts and warrants. Before dealing in warrants or covered warrants you will need to complete a Risk Warning Notice. Call us on 01296 41 41 41 You can deal in all overseas shares which are dealt in £ sterling and settled via CREST. Our dealers will be pleased to confirm which ones these are. 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. We'll buy shares up to the amount of cash available in your account, including the value of any sales yet to settle. If you've credited your account by cheque or debit card, you can use that money before your funds have cleared, up to a total of £25,000. 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. We can sell share certificates for you through our Certificate Sales service then either pay the proceeds directly into your Share Account or send you a cheque.
	Instructions to deal in any of these investments can also be sent to our dealers by email, fax or post When using the post do remember that it may take a little while for your instructions to reach us: you may wish to consider adding a price limit to all dealing instructions sent this way.

When can I deal?

You can give us your dealing instructions any time and, during market hours, you can choose when we carry them out for you.

Stock market trading hours are between 08:00 and 16:30, Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays. Outside these hours you can still give us your instructions, either online 24/7 or by phoning our dealers and we will carry them out when the market re-opens. If you do 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.

'Batch' dealing - good for smaller value deals where the price of the shares you are buying or selling is not likely to move significantly during the day.

'Real-time' dealing - best when you want to be certain of the price you will get for your shares when selling, or the price you will pay when buying. If you are investing less than £750 you might consider 'batch' dealing because our dealing commission is lower, but in making your choice you will want to balance any saving against the risk of the price changing in the time before your order is carried out.

What do I pay?

When it comes to dealing costs, what you pay to buy or sell investments depends on the value of that transaction. But if you are expecting to deal actively you might want to choose the Trader option instead, where you pay a fixed amount for each transaction in return for a quarterly subscription.

Which option is best for you is likely to depend on how often you will be buying or selling investments, and what the value of those deals will be. Use our dealing charges calculator to help you decide which suits you best.

We appreciate it can be difficult to see in advance what your dealing pattern might be, so if you later find it's different from what you anticipated, no problem. Simply ask us to switch you over to the more appropriate option.

Can I re-invest my income?

Companies will generally pay dividends twice a year, though some do pay them on a quarterly basis. With your account you have the option to have this income automatically re-invested for you.

If you choose this option we'll add together all your investment income, including any credit interest you've earned on cash balances in your account, and re-invest it every quarter.

You can choose to invest into either a nominated share or into the share of the highest value in your account. Because we carry this out for all our customers at the same time, you may benefit from reduced commission.

All-in-all, it can be a cost effective way to build up your investments.

Can I invest each month?

Investing on a regular basis can be a good way of building up your investments. And when you want to do that, our Regular Investment Service makes it easy. What's more, you only need £10 to get started

Tell us where you want to invest each month, how much and when, and we'll do the rest.

We'll collect your money by direct debit from your bank (you can choose from 3 convenient dates), pay it into your account and then make your purchase.