Tracking down a lost unit trust

weeble501

Help!
A unit trust was taken out 32 years ago by my father in law for for husband who has since passed away. The actual certificate came to light about 8 years ago and we tried to track it down but the company (now Invensco) had changed hands 8 times and they no longer had any records (old paperwork went to a bank who have also disposed of records).
It was worth quite a bit, but I have gone everywhere including the Ombudsman, Invesco and the Bank and have hit a brick wall.
Any suggestions please? I would be very grateful as I don't know where else to go.

Mersey_2

You could try: www.mylostaccount.org.uk (mainly for bank accounts)


Or: [EMAIL="enquiries@theia.org"]enquiries@theia.org[/EMAIL] (Unit trusts)


[EMAIL="enquiries@theaic.co.uk"]enquiries@theaic.co.uk[/EMAIL] (Investment trusts)


Unclaimed Assets Register www.uar.co.uk


It's well worth pursuing. My Grandad passed away last year and a leading bank said they couldn't locate his - substantial - fixed rate bond acc, until we pursued it by way of email.

dunstonh

Unit Trust have not used certificates for anything but show for about 30 years or more. I recall back back in the early 90s you could get a certificate upon request but it wasnt for proof of ownership like a share certificate. Unit Trusts were account based. You got an annual statement. If there was a value/holding on an account it would remain open until the fund was sold. These things do not go dormant. They stay in place and send annual statements until they are closed by the investor. 10-20-30-40 years doesnt matter.

Once the fund is sold, the provider would hold on to records for a period but that period is not infinite. It will drop off the systems over time. Especially if the company is bought by another one. The new company will get the data on open accounts but little or nothing on closed accounts. And as data is moved from old systems on to new ones, closed account data doesn't go with it.

So, you may have a show certificate but do you have anything showing an annual statement?
The fact they cant find any records suggest the holding was sold.