How to sell 30 year old shares.

sib227

Hi,

I was having a clear out and I found an old certificate for 24 shares of the following.

'HYPO FOREIGN & COLONIAL U.S. SMALLER COMPANIES FUND'

The date on the certificate is 1995.

They were bought for me by a family member, and swiftly forgotten about, till now.

I would like to sell, but I have no idea how.

All searches indicate ownership of the fund managers has changed hands quite a few times.

All advice and guidance is welcomed.

Thank you

Hoenir

You'll need first to put the shares into nominee form. After that you can sell them. X-O  will perform this service. To sell will incur a £5.95 fee. 

Link below

How do I transfer in stock that I hold in the form of certificates?

https://www.x-o.co.uk/how-to.html

The stock you hold is now called the F&C US Smaller Share Companies - (FSC)

wmb194

sib227 said:

Hi,

I was having a clear out and I found an old certificate for 24 shares of the following.

'HYPO FOREIGN & COLONIAL U.S. SMALLER COMPANIES FUND'

The date on the certificate is 1995.

They were bought for me by a family member, and swiftly forgotten about, till now.

I would like to sell, but I have no idea how.

All searches indicate ownership of the fund managers has changed hands quite a few times.

All advice and guidance is welcomed.

Thank you

So what do you think it is called now? Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies plc (LSE:BASC)? I cannot see the 'Hypo' name but it started out as F&C US Smaller Companies as 25p shares and they're still shown on the LSE as 25p shares so it could still be a valid certificate as they're often not replaced if the only thing that changes is the name; I'd call the registrar - Computershare, see link below - to check. 

If it is BASC its shares are selling for 1300p (£13.00) each, so 24 would total £312.

Has your address ever changed? The danger is that if the registrar loses contact with you e.g., returned dividend
 cheques and it is unable to trace you the shares could have been forfeited beck to the company but it doesn't look like it pays dividends so perhaps the registrar has never noticed...

https://www.brownadvisory.com/intl/investment-trusts/brown-advisory-us-smaller-companies-plc

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/BASC/brown-advisory-us-smaller-companies-plc/company-page

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02781968