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Once an investor buys shares, he / she automatically becomes the owner of those shares and the proportionate dividends that may accrue to those shares. Lack of awareness could have partly resulted in the current unclaimed shares on the market. Shares or dividends become unclaimed when an investor:

Relocates to the diaspora, changes house or changes bank account details or changes contact details like email address, phone number or name and forgets to update their contact details with the market intermediary (Securities Dealer, Custodian, etc.) they dealt with.

Passes on and the respective intermediary is not informed

Be a responsible investor and always ensure that you update your investment account details and keep in touch with the market intermediary you are dealing with.

Remember a ‘share’ is a unit of ownership interest in a company invested in hence the right to own that share accrues to the investor the moment the share is registered in his or her name. An investor can relinquish ownership on sale of the share.

A dividend is a payment made by a company to its shareholders, usually as a distribution of profits at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Currently, the market is saddled with over US$20 million worth of unclaimed shares and about US$15 million worth in unclaimed dividends. In this regard, every rightful owner of these unclaimed assets can still claim and recover shares due to him / her as well as any dividends that could have accrued over the years.

Stay tuned until next week for the process to follow in claiming your shares and / or dividends. Who knows you could be sitting on some idle money that you can use for other commitments or reinvest onto the stock market to further grow your investment portfolio.

Upcoming AGMs/EGMs

ZECO, NIAG House Board room, 160 Enterprise Road, Highlands, Harare, 10:00 hours, Friday, September 7, 2018