Shares, also known as equities, refer to the units of ownership interest that are acquired by the shareholders or owners of a company. In simple terms, buying a share is like buying a portion of a company and becoming an owner of that business. In South Africa, companies list their shares on the JSE Limited.
As owners, shareholders have certain rights and responsibilities. These include the right to share in profits, attend, vote and appoint a proxy at a general meeting, and approve certain key corporate actions, such as share
buy-backs and acquisitions.

Despite its advantages, investing in shares can be risky. It’s important to first familiarise yourself with the
share-investing world before you start trading. Once you start, make sure you stay up-to-date with knowledge and research to ensure greater odds of success.

Investing in shares for the long term is a solid way to create wealth. Investing carries risk, however there is the potential for reward. Although there is no such thing as a safe investment, one’s share portfolio can be structured in a way that helps to reduce as much risk as possible.

The specific benefits of investing in shares over any other asset class include:

• Good potential returns
• The ability to manage risk by diversifying your portfolio across sectors and companies
• Receiving dividends
• The potential to create long-term investments
• The ability to invest small or large amounts

Face-to-face courses
Standard Online Share Trading offers a number of courses to help you master the trading of shares. We cover the basics of share investing right through to technical analysis, fundamental analysis and derivative trading.

Existing clients can log into the platform to check course topics and details, upcoming dates in your city, and to make a booking.

New clients can phone our call centre for further information.

New clients: Click here to register now with Standard Online Share Trading.
Existing account holders: To trade shares, please:

1. Log-on
2. Click on the other products menu
3. Select shares registration.

Brochure
Download the brochure which explains in detail how shares work and how to get started trading them

CFDs provide investors with the ability to gear (leverage) their investment, while avoiding many of the costs of trading in the underlying instrument. Long or short trades can be executed easily and cost-effectively.