What is Computershare?
In an age of digitized, lightning-fast stock trades that make the quick day traders of the 2000s look slow by comparison, buying shares directly from public companies through an intermediary can seem outdated. The process is known for moving slowly, and the secondary markets are highly liquid – so why risk getting a poor price or missing a move by waiting up to 24 hours for a stock purchase to settle?
This is called direct stock ownership, and a certain group of investors still keeps the business alive. One of the best-known names in that space is Computershare.
Is Computershare a broker?
Computershare is not a brokerage firm that provides access to trading on secondary markets; instead,
Computershare is a stock transfer agent that makes the direct stock ownership we discussed possible. At its
most basic level, a stock transfer agent is the middleman between investors and companies issuing public equity or stocks.
Companies must use Computershare as a transfer agent or sponsor a plan through it, so stock availability
depends on the issuer.
Computershare also offers other investor/company services, such as maintaining records, distributing dividends, handling voting matters, and keeping communication open between investors and companies.
How does Computershare work?
In simple terms, you enroll in or submit a purchase request through a company plan administered by Computershare. From there, Computershare processes your request and carries out the purchase. Keep in mind that it will not be instantaneous since you’re not buying shares in the same way you would through a standard brokerage transaction on a secondary market.
Constant back-and-forth between an investor and a company would take time and cost money, especially for many small orders. If an order is small, it may be grouped with several others and submitted as a single transaction.
Computershare, as a transfer agent, also acts on behalf of dividend-paying companies. This means that if a company sends cash back to shareholders as a dividend, Computershare can distribute the money to you. Computershare also supports a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). A DRIP takes dividend payments from companies and uses them to buy more shares of the same company. Computershare can also credit
fractional shares through direct stock purchase plans, including through dividend reinvestment and, in some plans, optional cash purchases.
How does Computershare make money?
Computershare earns money through relationships with publicly traded companies, but its investor-based revenue also comes from plan fees. This surprises many investors in an era when brokerages often offer low-cost or no-fee trades.
But because Computershare acts as an intermediary between investor and company rather than as a typical brokerage, its fee structure can look very different from a broker’s.
The full fee breakdown can be extensive, and it depends on the specific company plan, but many investors can expect to see:
Purchase fees and, in some plans, per-share charges.
Sale fees that may also include per-share charges.
Optional service fees that depend on the company plan.
The fees also make active trading nearly impossible, so Computershare is generally better for long-term investors who want to buy and hold individual stocks over a long period.
Why use Computershare?
Computershare is, frankly, only useful for a certain type of investor. If you want to buy a specific stock, hold shares directly in your own name, receive dividends, and possibly reinvest them over time, then Computershare may be a good fit. If you have a small account, want to trade actively, or want access to the full range of investments like ETFs and options, then Computershare is probably not the best choice for you.
Another common use of Computershare is dealing with accounts held by deceased shareholders. The process of selling or transferring those shares can be long and document-heavy, so some people choose to transfer ownership instead of selling right away.
Best Computershare alternatives
What companies use Computershare?
Many companies use Computershare’s services. Computershare offers direct stock ownership plans for some companies and also provides a range of support services to help firms handle the recordkeeping and other requirements that come with being publicly traded.
Remember, you can only trade stock directly through Computershare for companies that use it as a transfer agent or sponsor a plan through it, but you can check
a client list on Computershare’s site. This information is available without creating an account.
You can also find out if the company you’re interested in uses Computershare by contacting its investor relations department. Many firms also post that information directly on their investor relations pages. This removes the need to call or email a company just to find out whether you can buy its stock directly through Computershare.
Updated on 4/14/2026.
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