Expert: Steven Taylor - 8/12/2010

Question
Greetings!

I found an old share certificate (1967) held in my name and purchased when I was a minor.  First I wrote to the Trust company listed on the certificate and found it had retired, as had the Manager at a later date.  After 2+ years of further research the original fund was located and still exists, now held under a new fund name with a well-known investment company.  That company has told me that I do not have an account number with them despite the fact that my share certificate is an original, with coupons attached and my family confirm that it was never redeemed.  Is it possible that, due to my naivety, this last investment company does have my 'holding' but is not required to disclose any details?  Perhaps due to it being 'off-book'?  Should I turn up in person at this last investment company with the certificate in hand as it states on the reverse of the certificate?  Please advise!  Thank you so much for your help!  Meg

Answer
Meg, from what you describe, there are at least a couple of possible explanations. The first is that the shares were actually redeemed. A lot of times certificates are declared lost, are cancelled on the books of the fund or company, and are reissued. The original is later found, but it is no longer valid. However, if this is the case, the fund should be able to tell you what their records show for that certificate.

The other is actually more likely. Certain investment managers are required by law to to go through their shareholder lists at least once in a specified period (the period varies by province and regulator) and inform the government of all owners which they cannot find. They try to contact these "lost" owners (many even hire an outside search firm which specializes in such searches) but if contact is unable to be regained, the assets in the name of the lost owners are then turned over to the government for safekeeping. Each Province has different regulations, including how long they will keep these unclaimed assets in safekeeping before they absorb them themselves.

What you need to do is check the missing property office of every State or Province in which you lived from the time the investment was purchased until today. You can search some of them online for free at www.missingmoney.com and www.naupa.org (check both, as they each have different participants). If you can't find the money there, I think turning up in person at the last investment company is a fine idea - hopefully if you do that they can't ignore you and will work a little harder to provide you with the answers you need.