abrdn & ProSearch

Albermarle

Linton said:

Standard Life was a mutual company owned by its policy holders.  In 2006 it de-mutualised  and was floated on the stock market.  The previous owners were given free shares.

I had a SL pension in 2006 ( still have it in fact ) but I do not remember getting any free shares. Maybe only some classes of client got them ?
I had an 'opted out of SERPS' personal pension.

EthicsGradient

plumb1_2 said:

wmb194 said:

plumb1_2 said:

I have close to 3000 of these shares, as I opted for a drip reinvest instead of taking dividend’s.
Question, would I have to declare all the profit I make when I sell them, as basically they are all free shares?

They weren't free. You received a dividend i.e. should be declared as dividend income in your tax return if necessary and then you bought new shares with the dividend. Therefore they become part of a pooled section 104 holding as they normally would whenever you buy new shares in a company you already own. 

You need to work put work out what they cost to buy and include that in your calculation of capital gain or loss.

Shares were free, yes though their dividend reinvestment plan, they automatically bought new shares with the yearly dividends. Sadly don’t have the paperwork going back to 2006.

So I would need to find out the yearly dividends from 2006 and add them up ?
Surly if I sold them all tomorrow for £6500, then wouldn’t that be my profit for cgt?

If their total value now is about £6,500, and you haven't sold anything else for capital gain this year, then you know your capital gain is something under £6,500, so that's well within this year's £12,300 allowance, and you wouldn't need to do any more. From April 6th, however, the allowance is £6,000, so if you sell after that, you'll be liable for some tax, unless you can find some paperwork (or if you've made gains or £5,800 or more this year with other investments).

wmb194

plumb1_2 said:

wmb194 said:

plumb1_2 said:

I have close to 3000 of these shares, as I opted for a drip reinvest instead of taking dividend’s.
Question, would I have to declare all the profit I make when I sell them, as basically they are all free shares?

They weren't free. You received a dividend i.e. should be declared as dividend income in your tax return if necessary and then you bought new shares with the dividend. Therefore they become part of a pooled section 104 holding as they normally would whenever you buy new shares in a company you already own. 

You need to work put work out what they cost to buy and include that in your calculation of capital gain or loss.

Shares were free, yes though their dividend reinvestment plan, they automatically bought new shares with the yearly dividends. Sadly don’t have the paperwork going back to 2006.

So I would need to find out the yearly dividends from 2006 and add them up ?
Surly if I sold them all tomorrow for £6500, then wouldn’t that be my profit for cgt?

No, technically you bought them with your dividend. Free in the sense that you received a dividend for free but that came out of the company's capital and concomitantly reduced its share price...

If that's all you own and you have no other CGT gains this year then yes, you could sell and not worry about it as it would be within your personal allowance. As Ethics Gradient says though, if you wait to the next tax year it would be more important to get the calculation correct.

eamon

wmb194 said:

eamon said:

Linton said:

Standard Life was a mutual company owned by its policy holders.  In 2006 it de-mutualised  and was floated on the stock market.  The previous owners were given free shares.

Now it makes sense. 2006 was a busy year for me. House move, trip to OZ and breaking up with long term GF and sorting the legal bits of that.  Tomorrow I will get the paperwork sorted and sent.

Thanks to everybody that has responded.

Wait, wait, wait! Is ProSearch going to charge a fee? Either way, you don't need to use its service: just call Abrdn's registrar yourself and talk to it directly.

Update. I took wmb194's advice. Phoned up Equiniti and they sent me the appropriate forms to complete and send back. That is now done. There may be some fees once they sort out the cash bit. But nothing like what ProSearch wanted to charge, 12.5% plus VAT@20% that is a lot of money.

 

[Deleted User]

Hi,

eamon said:

Assuming that I have shares & cash does anybody out there know if ProSearch are genuine?

Update. I took wmb194's advice. Phoned up Equiniti and they sent me the appropriate forms to complete and send back. That is now done. There may be some fees once they sort out the cash bit. But nothing like what ProSearch wanted to charge, 12.5% plus VAT@20% that is a lot of money.

so if ProSearch hadn't made contact you wouldn't have known about your 'windfall', would you say they are genuine as it may help others who get a similar letter and are dubious?

eamon

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

eamon said:

Assuming that I have shares & cash does anybody out there know if ProSearch are genuine?

Update. I took wmb194's advice. Phoned up Equiniti and they sent me the appropriate forms to complete and send back. That is now done. There may be some fees once they sort out the cash bit. But nothing like what ProSearch wanted to charge, 12.5% plus VAT@20% that is a lot of money.

so if ProSearch hadn't made contact you wouldn't have known about your 'windfall', would you say they are genuine as it may help others who get a similar letter and are dubious?

Yes I would say that ProSearch are genuine. But their fees I think are steep and many will just accept. However going back in time I don't think that those responsible for merging Standard Life into Aberdeen tried hard to match SL customers and shares. SL have had my current address for going on 17 years and before the acquisition date. Databases and SQL have been around for years.

wmb194

eamon said:

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

eamon said:

Assuming that I have shares & cash does anybody out there know if ProSearch are genuine?

Update. I took wmb194's advice. Phoned up Equiniti and they sent me the appropriate forms to complete and send back. That is now done. There may be some fees once they sort out the cash bit. But nothing like what ProSearch wanted to charge, 12.5% plus VAT@20% that is a lot of money.

so if ProSearch hadn't made contact you wouldn't have known about your 'windfall', would you say they are genuine as it may help others who get a similar letter and are dubious?

Yes I would say that ProSearch are genuine. But their fees I think are steep and many will just accept. However going back in time I don't think that those responsible for merging Standard Life into Aberdeen tried hard to match SL customers and shares. SL have had my current address for going on 17 years and before the acquisition date. Databases and SQL have been around for years.

The problem is that individual companies don't manage their own share registers, they outsource the task to share registrars. So if you moved without telling the registrar your new address you'll lose contact. SL demutualised in 2006 so you must have had the shares a long time.

SkyyeBlue

@wmb194 Sorry to jump on someone else's thread, but I just want to say thank you.
I also received forms from Prosearch regarding Abrdn (SL)/Equitini and sat on them (not literally) as I didn't know how to proceed.

Long story short, I followed your advice and called Equitini direct and they are going to transfer my dividends for a fixed £15 fee into my current account.
(Prosearch fees would have been £166)

Advice much appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

any company that claims to get 'lost' money back for you, dividends, tax, PPI, whatever, will obviously take a good cut, cheaper doing legwork yourself.

plumb1_2

Hi I am trying to trim down my investments, I have over 3000 of these shares, and they are in the drip method of paying the dividends. Over £500 p/y in dividends reinvested.

Would it be possible that if I opened a ss isa for this current tax year, with fidelity or ii. Would I be able to transfer them into the isa ? Thus keeping the shares and receiving the dividends.
would any platforms do this ?