Is it possible you, or a loved one, once purchased shares with AMP Ltd once upon a time – only to forget all about it?
AMP Ltd has launched a campaign to find 43,000 shareholders it says are “lost” to the organisation and reconnect them with both their holdings and $13 million worth of unclaimed dividends.
According to AMP, lost shareholders still own their AMP shares but the company has exhausted all means to contact them or pay dividends.
A statement said that in many cases, investors – most of whom are likely to be retirees – provided AMP with a postal address, bank account or email address that is no longer valid.
Commenting on the campaign, AMP head of shareholder services Marnie Reid said the company has the third-largest shareholder base in Australia.
She outlined that many of AMP’s circa-730,000 shareholders “are mum-and-dad policyholders who were given shares when AMP and National Mutual (which later became AXA) demutualised in the ’90s”.
AMP has indicated that 22,000 lost shareholders have unclaimed dividends waiting for them to collect, with an average dividend windfall of $600.
One shareholder has $25,000 in dividends waiting for them in the wings.
It has reported that the lost holdings represent 22 million shares in total, and the average holding is 523 shares, although one lost shareholder has 68,000 shares under their name.
A further 3,200 shareholdings are jointly held, while around 4,400 of the lost shareholders have passed away, which means that 3.4 million shares are waiting to be transferred to beneficiaries along with associated dividends.
Ms Reid commented that “some people have forgotten they own shares. Sometimes we lose track of shareholders when they divorce or move home and don’t update their contact details with us”.
According to AMP, the average lost shareholder is a 63-year-old male.
There are 352 lost Johns, 322 lost Peters and 100 lost shareholders called Margaret.
“We have date of birth details for approximately 37,000 of our lost shareholders, which should make reconnection simple,” Ms Reid said.
“As many of these shareholders are older, we’re encouraging family members to check on behalf of their relatives who may not have internet access.”
She also encouraged financial advisers, solicitors and tax agents to check with the financial service provider’s list on behalf of their clients.
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