Transferring stock from Computershare
I've read other posts about this but I'd like to explain my situation and see if you all might have more advice. Soon I will have a lot of stock in a single publicly traded company at Computershare. It is going to be about $500,000 worth. A private company was bought by a public company. The stock transfer is happening through Computershare.
Once my stock is in Computershare I'd like to transfer it to Vanguard. I have an existing account at Vanguard. Is it best to initiate the process through Vanguard? What is the best way to get started and what should I do or avoid to try to ensure that it goes smoothly? Any extra precautions or concerns I should have because it is a lot of money?
I've heard more positive experiences with Fidelity, specifically that it is done faster and can be done all online whereas Vanguard may be hit or miss. I'm not opposed to opening a Fidelity account. Any experiences with Fidelity?
Top
- SeekingAPlan
- Posts: 214
- Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:03 pm
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby SeekingAPlan »
I transferred stock from Computershare to Fidelity a few weeks ago. I initiated the process online from Fidelity's website. The transfer happened the next day. Very easy. No issues. No fees.
Top
- lazynovice
- Posts: 2955
- Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:48 pm
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby lazynovice »
There are hundreds of posts comparing Vanguard to Fidelity. You will get opinions on both sides. The transfer can be originated online at both brokerages. I have done it at both and both handle it just fine.
Top
- HomeStretch
- Posts: 9568
- Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:06 pm
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby HomeStretch »
I have transferred Computershare accounts to both Vanguard and Fidelity within the last 3/4 years and both sets of transfers were fine.
Initiate the transfers online at either Vanguard or Fidelity. If the account registrations (i.e., name on the account) at Computershare and V/F accounts are identical and the Computershare account shares are in book entry, this should be sufficient to effect the transfer. If the names differ or if the shares are certificated (should not be the case as this is a recent transaction), you will be required to print forms, get a medallion guarantee and attach the paper stock certificates, if any. At Fidelity, the local office will give the guarantee and send the forms to Computershare. At Vanguard, you will need to get the guarantee from a bank, etc. and mail the forms yourself. At least this was how it worked in my cases 3-4 years ago.
Good move to transfer the shares from Computershare. It is a good transfer agent but it is expensive to sell shares through their affiliated brokerage. They also charge a fee for dividend reinvestment which fewer issuers are paying (that means you do). You can reinvest dividends at V/F without any fee.
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
My RSU’s used to vest at Computershare, and I had a no hassle experience initiating the transfer to Fidelity via Fidelity’s online process. Because I was also collecting that stock prior to automated cost basis tracking, I found it helpful (though tedious) to print out and calculate all of the reinvestment transactions so that I could correctly identify my cost basis and fill in that value in the Fidelity brokerage account prior to selling. That may/may not be an issue for you.
Top
- Faith20879
- Posts: 1140
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:16 am
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby Faith20879 »
HomeStretch wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:18 pm...
It is a good transfer agent but it is expensive to sell shares through their affiliated brokerage. They also charge a fee for dividend reinvestment which fewer issuers are paying (that means you do). You can reinvest dividends at V/F without any fee.
Yeah, tell me about it.
I just consolidated my last batch from Computershare to Vanguard last week. Because Vanguard doesn't hold fractional shares, I had to sell those first and the service fee/commission was quite eye-opening.
Top
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
About three months ago I closed my Computer share account (600K) and transferred all assets to Ameritrade (even though I have accounts at Vanguard & Fidelity). They paid me a transfer bonus of 1K. All transactions were initiated fom my Ameritrade account. Best.
Top
- LadyGeek
- Site Admin
- Posts: 89348
- Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
- Location: Philadelphia
- Contact:
Contact LadyGeek
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
vicstalam, Welcome!
FYI - We have an ongoing thread for transfer bonuses: The Final, Definitive Thread on Brokerage Transfer Bonuses
To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Top
- backpacker61
- Posts: 1260
- Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 6:36 am
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby backpacker61 »
I transferred some shares from Computershare to Vanguard a couple years ago, following the death of a family member. I was responsible the deceased's trust accounts. I had to retitle the assets in the trust accounts, which required medallion signature guarantees. The transfer to Vanguard went smoothly, and I was pleased with their service.
“Now shall I walk or shall I ride? | 'Ride,' Pleasure said; | 'Walk,' Joy replied.” | | ― W.H. Davies
Top
- illumination
- Posts: 2383
- Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:13 pm
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby illumination »
Make sure you carefully record all your cost basis data.
I personally found Computershare difficult to work with, I got some company stock transferred over, but zero cost basis data. Even for proceeding years with reinvested dividends through them where I thought they legally had to. WAY easier to say transfer shares from a major brokerage to another. Computershare seems like a company that's still in the stone age. I would never want to have any sort of ongoing relationship with the company. Everything just took longer and seemed more tedious. Maybe just luck of the draw?
Top
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Tip -- If you have done all the work and are expecting Computershare to transfer the shares to Vanguard and they aren't moving, get in touch with Computershare directly and tell them to move the shares to Vanguard. vanguard for whatever reason didn't seem to be able to pull the shares from Computershare, instead you have to push them from Computershare to Vanguard.
Top
- jaxinvestor
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Tue May 14, 2019 7:43 pm
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Postby jaxinvestor »
If you already have an account with Fidelity, it is very easy. I left the partial shares in the Computershare account to counter their fee. With partial shares, do not reinvest the dividends as their fees would suck up the account.
I get checks for .32 for the dividends on the partial shares but there are a few humorous moments each quarter when I open the envelope and tell my wife we are rich and then show her the checks. I will never close those accounts since the fees to close the account cost more than the worth of the account so I'll gladly let Computershare keep paying postage to send me the money. I consider it my way of recouping the fees I paid them to reinvest the dividends in the DRIP for 30 plus years.
Top
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
I recently transferred a large stock position from computer share to Schwab. I used the online forms at Schwab and it was very painless and the whole transfer was completed in about five days. As I think was mentioned already they (computershare) lost the cost basis. So I recommend to keep track of it yourself.
Remember when you wanted what you currently have?
Top
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
I transferred stock from Computershare to Vanguard a few weeks ago. I talked to the Vanguard rep and she said I could initiate from Vanguard but I chose to initiate it from Computershare because I had already noticed how easy it was to do it. They said it would take up to 3 business days but I believe I initiated on a Friday and I could see it the next Monday. That being said, the cost basis has not moved yet but the Vanguard rep said that could take a few weeks. I think I have the option to tell Vanguard what the basis is from my records if for some reason that never moves over. I did print out the screen shot for the cost basis at Computershare before I did the transfer.
Top
Re: Transferring stock from Computershare
Thanks for all the replies. I am just posting an update in case it can help anyone else. I started the transfer process online at Vanguard. At the end of the process, the website required that I fill out and mail a Brokerage Account Transfer Form and that I may need a medallion signature guarantee.
I decided to call Vanguard. The associate told me that I did not need to fill out any forms and he started the transfer process on his end. He told me the transfer would take 7-10 days and Vanguard would call me if they needed anything else. That was yesterday, so I'm waiting now and we'll see how it goes.
Top
Return to “Personal Investments”
Jump to
- US Investors
- ↳ Personal Investments
- ↳ Investing - Theory, News & General
- ↳ Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Non-US investors
- ↳ Non-US Investing
- ↳ Canada - Financial Wisdom Forum
- ↳ Spain - Bogleheads® España
- ↳ Spain
- ↳ United Arab Emirates
- Wiki
- ↳ The Bogleheads® Wiki: a collaborative work of the Bogleheads community
- ↳ Canada - finiki (wiki)
- Community
- ↳ Personal Consumer Issues
- ↳ Local Chapters and Bogleheads Community
- ↳ US Chapters
- ↳ Wiki and Reference Library
- ↳ Non-US Chapters
- ↳ Calendar of Events
- ↳ Forum Issues and Administration