Owning shares in a company is all well and good, but if the time comes for selling and you can't seem to locate them, it can be a challenging process. The question 'how do i find my shares?' is so often expressed by both amateur and knowledgeable shareholders alike, and can sometimes be tricky to answer in a simple way.
Let's take a look at the different ways you can find your shares, and work out the best and most efficient process for you.
Finding Your Shares By Yourself
If you do believe you are a shareholder in a specific company, you can begin to find your shares by actually contacting the company directly. From there, a company will usually have a third-party share registry or an investor centre that you can access to see your share portfolio with that one company.
With a third-party registry, they will usually conduct a search to find what shares you do own and will give you the relevant SRN once found. They may send this information through in a number of ways, but most commonly will send you a holding statement or dividend statement that contains your SRN on it.
Conducting An Electronic Search For Your SRN
If you lose touch with the company you may have shares in, or do not have the ability to contact them for information about your share portfolio, the next best option for finding the shares under a specific SRN is to conduct an electronic search.
At Share Sales Direct, we can conduct an electronic search across the stock exchange to work out what shares are held under your personal information. We can find lost shares quickly and efficiently, without the hassle of contacting companies or tracing back through your history of what you invested in.
The results of our online SRN search should be available to you within one business day and there will be a small fee for the search service.
Identification Needed For An Electronic Search
At Share Sales Direct, we can search for your SRN electronically provided that you are able to identify yourself with sufficient details and personal information. You must:
- Be the shareholder, or authorised signatory for the shareholder in question.
- Have primary proof of identity- this can either be an Australian Drivers Licence OR Australian passport.
- Have a credit card (VISA, MasterCard or AMEX) in the name of the shareholder, or signatory.
- Have access to online banking that is linked to the same credit card.
- Be confident that you know the exact name and address that the shares are registered to. This includes knowing if the shares are registered in your full name or just your first and last name.
If you are able to meet these proof of identity requirements, we can search for your SRN and find your lost shares.
Finding Your Shares With An Online Service
Finding your shares with an online service can be extremely beneficial for a number of reasons. Not only does it save the time and effort that you would use trying to find forgotten shares yourself, but it can also result in finding unclaimed monies.
On top of locating a specific SRN under your name, these electronic searches can work out whether you have unclaimed monies as a result of:
- compulsory acquisition of shares
- the distribution of dividends
- previous superannuation contributions
- an inoperative bank
- the building society or credit union accounts
- a bequest or other distribution from an estate
Sell Shares with Share Sales Direct
Of course, after locating lost shares, you may wish to sell your shares in a company. At Share Sales Direct, we specialise in selling shares one-off quickly and without any hassle. For shareholders in big companies or a small business, selling shares with Share Sales Direct can get you paid and ready to re-invest as soon as you like!
Contact us today for more information on how to sell your shares online.
SUBSCRIBE
Get share insights and company news direct to your inbox.
