AMP website to help track down lost super.

AMP Limited has launched a campaign to find 43,000 ‘lost’ shareholders and connect them with their holdings and A$13 million worth of unclaimed dividends.

Lost shareholders own AMP shares but the company has exhausted all means to contact them or pay their dividends. In many cases, investors – most of whom are likely to now be retirees – provided AMP with a postal address, bank account or email address that is no longer valid.

The average lost shareholder is a 63-year-old male. There are 352 lost Johns, 322 lost Peters and 100 lost shareholders called Margaret. Thirty-seven thousand lost shareholders are Australian while 4,600 are New Zealanders. Most either live – or have lived – in New South Wales (12,000), Victoria (10,000) and Queensland (6,700).

Twenty-two thousand lost shareholders have unclaimed dividends waiting for them to collect, with an average dividend windfall of A$600. One shareholder hasn’t claimed $25,000 in dividends.

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. More than 3,200 shareholdings are jointly held. Some 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.

AMP Head of Shareholder Services Marnie Reid said “AMP has the third-largest shareholder base in Australia. Many of our approximately 730,000 shareholders are mum-and-dad policy holders who were given shares when AMP and National Mutual (which later became AXA) demutualised in the 90s.

“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. Physical addresses have changed over the years; for example, some roadside mailboxes in rural areas are no longer valid postal addresses. We also have many servicemen and women on our register whose only point of contact was their former base.

“AMP is one of the few companies that regularly helps people to connect with their lost shareholding. Despite our best efforts, however, we haven’t been able to track down these 43,000 shareholders to reunite them with an asset – their shares – and any dividends they’re owed.”

findmyampshares.com.au

AMP has launched findmyampshares.com.au that allows people to use their date of birth to see if they, a family member or client (in the case of financial advisers, solicitors and tax agents) own a stake in AMP. The website also helps people to then claim their shares and any dividends they’re owed.

Ms Reid said: “We have date of birth details for approximately 37,000 of our lost shareholders, which should make reconnection simple. People can enter a date of birth into findmyampshares.com.au to find out if they’re on the list and then start the process of reconnection. 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. Financial advisers, solicitors and tax agents should also check the list on behalf of their clients.”

Unclaimed dividends:

• NSW: A$4.9m
• VIC: A$3.6m
• QLD: A$2.1m
• WA: A$1.1m
• SA: A$1m
• TAS: A$250,000
• ACT: A$200,000
• NT: A$150,000

TOTAL: A$13m

The post AMP to unite ‘lost’ shareholders with A$13 million in unclaimed dividends: is your client one of them? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

AMP is the first Australian listed company to offer this service outside of Computershare, which developed and pioneered the system at its own AGM in November 2011.

Voting closed yesterday (Tuesday 8 May) for AMP’s AGM which takes place on Thursday 10 May in Melbourne. More than 7,000 AMP shareholders lodged their proxy votes online – with over 500 lodging via a smartphone. AMP, with more than 900,000 shareholders, has one of Australia’s largest shareholder bases, and approximately 90 per cent of these shareholders are retail investors.

“While it’s early days, this is about keeping AMP’s AGM contemporary and relevant as shareholders change the way they view and use information, and communicate with us. The site is easy to read and designed to suit smartphones rather than desktop computers,” said AMP Head of Shareholder Services Marnie Reid.

“Computershare is leading our industry in the use of technology channels that work for our clients and their shareholders. Smartphone voting meets a growing need for Australian shareholders to conveniently participate in AGMs,” said Greg Dooley, Managing Director Computershare Investor Services.

AMP shareholders could access the specially designed site via an email link or by going straight to www.investorvote.com.au from their smartphones.

They were able to lodge their proxy votes, view the annual report, notice of meeting, shareholder review, Chairman’s video message, and send questions to AMP or the auditor, as well as get directions and maps to the AGM site.

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