- You could be one of 43,000 Australians owed money in “lost” AMP shares
- Australia’s largest financial conglomerate says over 22 million options in the company are lost in circulation — representing A$13 million in unclaimed dividend payouts
- AMP says the average unclaimed shareholder is a 63-year old man that could claim up to A$600
- AMP also says it lost track of shareholders after deaths, divorce, changed contact details, or even moving house
- Those seeking to clarify if they can claim lost shares in AMP can access this site: findmyampshares.com.au
- Shares in AMP have dipped under a $2 valuation today, after falling 1.98 per cent to trade for $1.98 each.
Up to $13 million in AMP dividend payouts are “lost” in circulation, owed to reportedly 43,000 shareholders.
These lost shareholders represent over 22 million options in Australia’s largest financial conglomerate.
The average volume of unclaimed shares is expected to hold up to 520 — although some cases are showing up to 68,000 in shares. Reportedly, about 22,000 shareholders are owed anywhere between $600 and $25,000.
AMP claims it lost track of the shareholders as they died, divorced, changed contact details, or moved house. Most of the shareholders are understood to be living in Sydney, Melbourne, and New Zealand.
At least 4400 of the shareholders are understood to have died, representing up to 3.4 million in shares that could be transferred onto estates.
Earlier this month, ABC broke a story claiming the financial conglomerate was still charging fees to a deceased Melbourne man’s account.
According to the report, AMP continued to charge the fees with the knowledge he had passed away in October of 2018.
AMP said this week that the myriad of “lost” shareholders in circulation are mostly ‘mum-and-dad policyholders’ that were gifted AMP shares from a merger with National Mutual years ago.
“Some people have forgotten they own shares,” AMP head of shareholder services, Marnie Reid, said.
AMP says the average lost shareholder is a 63-year old man that could claim up to $600.
“Physical addresses have also changed over the years,” Marnie added.
“We have also seen servicemen and women on our register whose only point of contact was their former base.”
Marnie explained that hundreds of people have come forward this week alone to claim their unclaimed shares.
“We’ve had about 500 people come forward since yesterday, so we’re hoping that number will grow,” she said.
“We have over 4000 deceased estates that own shares and we haven’t been told what the families want to do with those shares.”
According to the Australian Shareholders Association, more than $1.1 billion in unclaimed money from listed options are currently in circulation.
Those seeking to clarify if they can claim lost shares in AMP can access this site: findmyampshares.com.au
Shares in AMP have dipped under a $2 valuation today, after falling 1.98 per cent to trade for $1.98 each.