Investors and shareholders who may have lost hope of recovering their shares and their stake in the N130 billion unclaimed dividend in Nigeria’s capital market can now heave a sigh of relief as an investment company, Integrated Trust, has introduced a Securities & Exchange Commission-approved product to address these challenges.
The product, Integrated Shares Finder (ISF), is a financial advisory product designed to help the Nigerian investors to locate and recover their missing shares, loan stock and other capital market assets so that they can enjoy the benefit due to them on their investments.
Unclaimed dividends in Nigeria’s capital market rose to N130 billion as at December 2019, from N103.1 billion in December 2016, according to market sources.
Despite the best efforts of SEC in reducing the amount of unclaimed dividends through the introduction and enforcement of e-dividends payment system, the amount of unclaimed dividends has continued to increase.
But with the new product, it is hoped that the suffering of investors over missing or lost investments will be alleviated and incidence of missing shares and unclaimed dividends will be reduced. This will restore and enhance investor confidence and bring investors back into the Nigerian capital market.
Dele Lawore, group managing director/CEO, Integrated Trust & Investment Limited, said over 200 clients have already subscribed to the Integrated Shares Finder and have been able to recover their missing shares and dividends.
Nigeria has a population of about 180 million out of which only 3 million or about 3 percent of the adult population invest in the stock market.
A recent study of the Nigerian stock market by Integrated Trust revealed that many shareholders are not aware of the true status of their shareholding in many of the companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and NASD OTC market. Many don’t know the location of their shares, the quantity of their shares, the value of the shares, the benefit accrued in terms of unclaimed dividends or bonus shares. Some shareholders do not receive any information from their companies in form of annual reports, chairman’s letters, scheme of arrangement documents, notices, among others.
“Inadequate investor information is a major challenge which has contributed greatly to low investor confidence and low participation of Nigerians in the stock market in recent times,” Lawore said at the official launch of the product in Lagos on Thursday.
Investor confidence in the Nigerian stock market history rose to its peak during the banking industry recapitalisation of 2004/5 when many banks had to offer their shares to the Nigerian public for the first time. Superior marketing skills and financial resources of the banks were deployed, with unprecedented public interest in shares investment.
Biodun Fawonmi, former director and shareholder, Integrated Trust, urged Nigerians to see the new product as an asset.
“It is like mining gold or whatever. As you go, you strongly believe that it is there but you need to find it and you have the capability to find it because of the dearth of information in this environment,” Biodun Fawonmi, former director and shareholder, Integrated Trust, said.
“But if you have an organisation that is committed to finding it – that has the resources, the relationship and the professional competence to find it – I think it is a no brainer for anybody to look for such a solution and use it,” he said.
