How shares work
Important information - the value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Direct shareholdings should generally form part of a well diversified portfolio of other investments. This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. Eligibility to invest in an ISA and tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.
What is a share?
When you buy a share in a company, you’re effectively becoming a part owner of that company. As a shareholder, with an equity stake in that business, the investment return you earn depends on the success or failure of the company itself. Companies may pay dividends to shareholders or may prefer to reinvest profits for further growth.
Benefits of investing in shares
What to consider when choosing stocks and shares
It often takes careful research and consideration to confidently build your own share portfolio. Here are a few things to consider before investing in shares:
- Diversification - If you’re considering investing in shares, ensure you have a good mix of other investment choices and assets in place already.
- Do your research - Use the investment factsheets to examine balance sheet and income statements and get a view of the company financials. Keep up to date with company regulatory news service (RNS) feeds and statements.
- Check the facts - Any important information will be available as part of financial statements and factsheets online.
- Tax efficient allowances - Have you made the most of any tax-efficient allowances available to you, by opening a Stocks and Shares ISA first? If you’ve already used your ISA allowance, you can still invest in shares through our Investment Account.
To answer this question, our Investment Director Tom Stevenson spoke with Alex Skrine, head of electronic trading at Winterflood Securities, one of London’s leading market makers.
He explains how we use market makers like Winterflood to find the best price for your deal, and discusses the way in which you can consider the price yourself and decide whether to proceed, or leave it to Fidelity to get the best price for you.
Risks of investing in shares
- Your investments may become too concentrated in one company, type of product or industry so be sure to stay diversified
- Not actively managed by an expert, so you will have to manage your portfolio yourself, and you may have to spend more time analysing your investment to understand the factors affecting it
- If the company under-performs or the market works against you, the value of your shares could go down, so you might get back less than you invested.
Our how-to guides can help you get started
Buying exchange-traded investments
This guide walks you through how to buy shares, investment trusts and exchange-traded funds.
Selling exchange-traded investments
This guide walks you through how to sell shares, investment trusts and exchange-traded funds.
Need more information? Read our share dealing FAQs
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Market & shares data
View detailed market data including current share prices, gainers and losers, performance charts and factsheets for companies in the FTSE All-Share.
We’re proud to have been awarded Best Execution-Only Broker at the Shares Awards - two years running.
