[Closed] Should I sell my shares?

Shares are a long term investment, so you shouldn't buy them unless you intend to keep for several years.

The benefits for share incentive plan come after five years, when you're no longer liable for income tax. I agree with footflaps, forget about them and leave them be.

Shares are a long term investment, so you shouldn't buy them unless you intend to keep for several years.

Unless you can buy them at a subsidy and turn them around for a quick profit. Odd that you can sell them straight away though.

Question for me is - would I buy them at full price now? If not, sell. I have no idea what Shlumbergers prospects are - as you work for them, you might be in a good place to consider what their short-medium term fortunes are looking like.

You probably have a minimum holding period e.g. 3 years before you can sell them without incurring tax - check the terms of your agreement. My employer has been running a similar scheme, each employee typically getting £500 of free shares / year plus a share save / buy scheme. 15 years ago, shares were £1 and now over £6 so that £500 is worth £3k tax free. Unless you're a Carillion employee, worth saving the max up to the limit if you're planning on working there a while.

I have already paid income tax on the money used to buy the shares. If I sell before five years would I have to pay income tax on the profit?

IMO keep them, I did this when with a former employer who offered a 15% discount. Pays a healthy dividend which is reinvested and I've now got a 6 figure sum invested 😯

Whats the dividend like for Schlum? I work for am operator and our dividend is ~5% which makes leaving a reinvesting the dividends a no brainer. As is said after 5 years you are free of any tax burden so definitely long term forget.

We have two types of share plans.

Fixed 3 or 5 year - Buy shares at the share price on a given day with a 25% discount (you won't lose and can get your investment returned)
Monthly purchase maxed at X on a buy 1 get 2 free

Compound growth is a wonderful thing.

With Schlumberger I wouldn't be too quick to sell.

Healthy company from what I can see.

I have similar scheme with another company in the area.

I'm pretty much taking the money and running as I see a growth over what we bought them at- they rise and fall quite dramatically due to news snippets and getting taxed on the 10% the company gave me. No dividends for us.....

I do have shares in juankings mob and another lot which have much better outlook and stable prospects .That's where I divert the money once I've got a small growth it out of our share scheme.

Speaking of juanking - how are things fella ? Still on the up and up ?

as long as - over time - it's not your only investment (balanced my cash, savings, house whatever).
Cautionary tales abound - I have a met who was looking very pretty with a savings plan that consisted only of H-P (Hewlett Packard) shares. Then they tanked and he was rather less well off.. All eggs in one basket and all that.

I'd think that Schlumberger and the like's prospects are decent to be honest, major player in general oil services and will remain so. We did some work for them many years ago after a chance meeting between our MD and their MD (also a Scot at that time) outside Microsoft HQ - they'd asked MS to write / adapt / port an analysis package to run on Windows 1.03 , MS refused, we did so...!

Keep them. Unless you need the cash in which case sell them.

Up to now you've not 'missed' the money but do have a few shares that'll earn you dividends (which you can opt to re-invest or not) and capital gains. You'll also still have a pot of fairly readily available cash if you need to access it.

Check with whoever runs your scheme regarding tax, SIP schemes have holding periods but I'm unsure if SPP ones do.

Sounds like they are foreign shares, there's a form to fill in to reduce the withholding tax, can't remember which one - google will probably know if you don't get sent one automatically.

Whats the dividend like for Schlum?

I have no idea, I don't really know what a dividend is!
I only started this as it seemed like a good idea and would help me save some cash. But I am totally clueless when it comes to this sort of thing as you can tell.

I'd sell personally - as long as the share price continues to rise you're still purchasing subsidised shares in future so get the benefit. Unless you have a huge amount of shares then you're not going to lose out much even if the shares climb rapidly. If you do sell a lot of shares beware of capital gains tax liability to.

Sounds a complicated scheme to me, where I work the company just matches the first 3.5% of shares purchased. Some people sell it off every month so you're getting 3.5%+ return (assuming the share price holds or rises ofc). Personally I buy 10% and then just sell from time to time when I need a lump sum (I just spend any money in my current account so it's nice to have a small amount elsewhere :p ). What I don't understand is the people in the company that don't join the scheme, it's about as close to free money as you can get...

Good thanks Terry. Just slowly trying to build up stamina again going for walks and pootles aboot. Could do with meeting up with some of Aberdeen folk either for a walk or a pootle. Anyone up for it?

BTW Dave, SLB dividend is 3.2% which is basically 3.2% of the combined value of your shares - compare that with what you get in the bank...

One of the first rules of share investing is diversification

You are employed by this company and therefore have more than enough already invested into it.

Sell them.

This is not to say don't use the scheme in the future... these type of share plans are normally a very good way of saving... Just be aware... if the company hits hard times there's a chance you'll lose you job and savings.... rather ironically this happen to loads of Investment bankers in the financial crisis ... they really should have know better... but I guess that was part of the problem.

Good luck

But like others have said be sure of the Tax implications.... including capital gains.

Ro5ey +1

What I do is sell up once any enhanced benefits from my employment have expired, put the proceeds in a stock & shares ISA, and diversify into something else. I never hold on to shares in my employer, unless your title begins with a C you can't tell what's coming down the pipe - the more you know, the more you realise how little you actually know 😉

If you sell you may be liable for CGT on >£11k profit (I think), but if income tax has already been paid then they can't hit you twice for that.

My brother works for Schlumberger and was considering selling his shares recently as he suspects the share price might be under some pressure in the future. Not sure what his final decision is though. I'm not aware of him taking delivery of a brand new Lamborghini just yet. They're heavily exposed to the turbulence of the oil and gas industry and there are some turbulent times coming apparently. But still a safe bet as a company overall. as with all share advice - it's speculation and guess work so I wouldn't necessarily make a decision on that alone.

I have shares in the company I work for and I see the shares as a long term investment and only sell when I need the cash, usually for some home improvements to save me dipping further into my mortgage or getting a loan or something. I wouldn't consider selling for the sake of it unless I thought the shares were going to take a dive for some reason, or unless I needed the cash.

You only make money on shares if the share price is on the move...i.e. upwards. If the share price is pretty stable then you need to weigh up the benefits of keeping them in shares vs. alternative savings or investment schemes vs. paying down debt if you have any vs. blowing it on cocaine and hookers.

I bought all my shares in my company over the past 20 years via a monthly tax efficient scheme, over which time the share price has increased ten-fold. They've now plateau'd so I've stopped my purchase scheme as I'm not going to be making as much on shares I buy today compared with shares I bought 20 years ago - apart form the tax benefit, which on the volume of shares I'm talking about is not alot. The cash is more useful in my pocket.

(not aimed at any post in particular)... bear in mind that financial advice received on a bike forum is worth exactly what you paid for it!

2nd what people are saying about diversification.
I’ve done quite nicely out of my companies share schemes over the years (not as well as I could have done, mind) but I’m always mindful of how much of a holding I’m growing in a single company (relative to my other assets). So my plan is to sell a tranche of shares every couple of years (as I gain new ones). I may miss out on future gains, but I’m already gaining on any upside with each tranche that comes along.

Ask yourself, if you didn’t work for them, would you expose yourself to a single company in such a way?

I do know of people who had healthy 6 figure holdings in bank shares (that they worked for) paying lovely fat dividends pre crash. Those share holdings now worth a fraction of what they were.

Thanks folks, not sure its helped me make up my mind! Part of me is tempted to sell as I have maid a decent sum on what I have paid in and that removes the risk but carry on with the scheme as its basically free money.

My original plan was to leave it in for 5 years (4 to go) then pay off a chunk of mortgage when the fixed deal comes to an end. Could still do this but with the cash in a savings account instead.

I have already paid income tax on the money used to buy the shares. If I sell before five years would I have to pay income tax on the profit?

I'm with the diversifiers. Take the money in chunks when you can without loosing any of the tax or matching shares benefits. I used to be in the E.ON scheme, and their shares have slowly, (and sometimes not so slowly) dwindled away. There are people who have been in it from the start who are thousands in debit to it. I'm about evens because I always banked the dividend rather than re-invest and sold batches when the price was OK.

With my former employers scheme I had to pay tax (benefit in kind) on the difference between the market price and the price I was buying at due to the employers discount.

I would keep.

On the discussion of tax implications people are (rightly) assuming you're based in the UK but lots of Schlumberger people are expats to some extent.

It's 15 years since I worked for Schlumberger but I was IM and my payment and tax arrangements were "interesting" due to being based abroad / offshore.

I'm personally in the don't keep shares in the company you work for camp especially in a volatile industry such as O&G (which I work in as well).

Holding shares in your own employer is really risky. Sell them and buy shares in everything but oil.

Medium term it's probably a safe bet with a good divvy, but oil shares long term? Hmm, You'd be a mug to bet against the mass electrification of transport in the next 10-20 years. It's not unreasonable to think they will eventually only go one way. Diversification for the win.

Double post.

Shares are a long term investment, so you shouldn't buy them unless you intend to keep for several years.

Normally I'd agree with this statement but given how these shares are purchased I'd be inclined to simply sell as soon after they are bought. Should you decide to buy the shares you are getting them at a minimum of 7.5% discount so that is in effect your minimum return. What I'd do after than is invest that money somewhere else to diversify your overall portfolio.

I'm assuming that there are no compulsory holding periods like a regular share incentive scheme.

Slight hijack but we're in a similar position with a company share certficate but finding that having a paper certificate is proving a real ball ache now we want to sell. What's the easiest and cheapest way to shift them?

Dematerialisation into a standard nominee scheme is probably free (some may charge). It was for first direct, then the sale fee is about 10 quid.

Cheers, I'm with first direct so I'll try and look into that (although you've used some big words I don't understand in this context).

I would tend to stick. Schlum are a diversified global company, eggs in lots of baskets and they're quoted in dollars! Amongst many other things, they have some very interesting farmee gas drills and seismic in eastern Morocco and Sidi Moktar.

I used to be in one of these. After a while I stopped trying to be clever and just sold at the end of each period.

You then avoid the heartache when the stock price tumbles for reasons beyond your control.

You're not like an ordinary investor who can sell if the stock price falls: as an employee you are probably locked out except during brief trading periods just after the quarterly results come out.

I used to work in oil and gas so accumulated loads of company shares. Once i shared the lift the with md so thought i d use the chance to ask him if i should sell the company shares. Anyway, in my 2 minute interaction he said they basically track crude prices, so if i thought crude was toppy sell them.

I ve still got them, bit of a rollercoster but a tasty 6% dividend paid quarterly and tax free. Diversification i know and i understand the risk, so reinvest the divis in non oil stocks.

I work in the Oil and Gas industry. SLB is one of my Key Accounts. My opinion is keep. Barrel price is rising and the market is picking up, for how long is anyone’s guess.

I would review on a 6 monthly cycle to see how the market is operating.

To the op

If you are new to the scheme you need to remember that the dspp comes out before tax. So if you sell within 2 years you pay the tax on the original investment. If you hold them for 2 years this is not required.

Depending on where you are you may pay taxes on the sale. You will be below the threshold in the uk as the total amount you can buy will generally be capped well below that. If memory serves you can only buy around $12.5k each period so you would get caught in the second half of the year.

One good thing about the schlumberger system is you get fee free selling and you can also chose which shares you sell so if you end up with a lot of shares you can sell a range of values to optimise tax costs.

Oh and make sure you have the correct tax paperwork in the system. If you do not declare your location correctly you will pay us tax and then need to reclaim...