Personal finance: Internet investor - Radar for the stockmarket

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST private client stockbroker took a step closer to unveiling its Internet dealing service this week. Barclays Stockbrokers has been running trials of its online trading system internally for months. And now members of the MoneyWorld Club are being offered the opportunity to help pilot the system.

Barclays Stockbrokers, unlike many other services - whether online or phone-based - is not insisting that you establish a nominee account to use the service. It is specifically designed for those of us who still like to hold shares in our own names and hold on to our share certificates. The service allows you to trade by simply inputting what stocks you are interested in, and in what quantity.

Based in Glasgow, the service receives this information and offers a price, which you have 15 seconds to decide on. It offers firm prices, immediate execution and confirmation of orders online.

Phillip Bungey, the research and development director, says: "We also run our quotes through an improvement system, which has proved to get a better price 50 per cent of the time." This "price improver" system is exclusive to Barclays Stockbrokers. Through direct links to the major market makers, in addition to the Stock Exchange, it is designed to identify the most competitive price available. Tom Sheridan, the managing director of Barclays Stockbrokers, describes the service as "like a new radar for the stockmarket".

MoneyWorld, one of the UK's top personal finance websites, also relaunched itself with a new look this week. The design is more graphics-heavy than the old look and, thus, a little slower to access, although I am told this problem is being addressed. The site has 155,000 regular users and 40,000 club members. Only club members may access the Barclays service. However, since club membership is free and registration for the share- dealing service is also free, this is no great barrier. The pilot scheme is scheduled to run for around three months before Barclays Stockbrokers takes it fully public.

So what does it cost? Internet dealing in the UK is not yet as price- sensitive as online broking in the US. Barclays is charging a minimum of pounds 17.50 and 1.5 per cent on the first pounds 5,000, with stamp duty on top. This is not the cheapest way to deal, but dealing online does make personal portfolio management an easier task.

Moving on, let us note a couple of other signs of the times. In the US this week, Delta Airlines introduced a surcharge of $2 per ticket on all air tickets that are not purchased through the Internet. Delta thus appears to have served notice not only on travel agents at large but also on call centre staff.

And if you have always fancied bidding at auction for an Old Master but have not got round to making it to the auction rooms in London and New York, you won't have that excuse for much longer. Sotheby's is investing pounds 15 million over the next 12 months in developing Internet-based auctions. So rampant has Internet fever become on the New York Stock Exchange that, on the day of the announcement, the auction house's share price jumped by 16 per cent. Sotheby's first online auction is due to take place early in the summer.

Finally, thank you to everyone who e-mailed me to point out the gremlin in last week's copy. Directline is not a subsidiary of HSBC. The bank's online facility is, of course, based on its First Direct brand. This was not a competition and there are no prizes!

Moneyworld: www.moneyworld.co.uk

Sotheby's: www.sothebys.com

Robin can be reached at RobinAmlot@aol.com