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Received a letter from "EQ Unify" re your stock? (Oct 10, 2024) Question? Email: info@hpalumni.org
You must take action. Letter is unclear and doesn't cover all choices.
Background:
Under HP's original employee stock purchase program, shares were registered at HP's stock transfer agent, which changed several times over the decades. (You may have old paperwork from Harris, Computershare, Chase, BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo, or the current transfer agent -- Equiniti.) Under recent programs, shares are held in a stock plan managed by a plan administrator -- such as the NetBenefits division of Fidelity or the MyBenefits division of Merrill Lynch.
Financial accounts that have been inactive for a certain period of time become "unclaimed property." Each state has a law that specifies when a specific type of asset must be "escheated" -- turned over to the state for safekeeping. Holders of potential unclaimed property are required to attempt to re-establish contact with the owner, such as via this letter. If unsuccessful, the property is transferred to the custody of the state.
As with bank accounts, the only sure way to avoid a stock account being declared "dormant" or treated as unclaimed property, is to make direct contact by phone or postal mail with each broker and administrator at least once a year. Otherwise, depending on state laws and the broker or administrator's policies, members report that your stock may be "escheated" -- turned over to a state as unclaimed property -- which can be very difficult to retrieve.
With stock, depending on the state, you may only recover what the state sold it for -- but not the actual shares or subsequent stock spinoffs or payouts. For Delaware, where most HP-related stocks are escheated, "...within 18 months of the date notice was mailed to you by the State Escheator, you may be eligible to receive the replacement of the security..." Instructions: https://unclaimedproperty.delaware.gov/app/faq-claim#see-value
Even though the name and address on the account are current and you are receiving stockholder notices, members report that neither cashing dividend checks, receiving direct deposits, accessing your stock accounts online, nor being in possession of paper certificates prevents escheatment. You may or may not be sent a postal notice of pending dormancy or escheatment.
Action:
The confusing letter is from EQ Unify, a subsidiary of HP's current transfer agent, Equiniti Trust Company. It is focused on paying them to sell the shares in question -- for a 10% fee.
It turns out that you actually have four choices:
1. Leave the stock at the transfer agent and
restart the clock, which costs nothing. Call the stock transfer agent -- EQ (the parent
company) not EQ Unify -- per the instructions buried in the middle of
the letter. Members who have called were told how often
to call in future.
"If you do not elect to use EQ Unify and only need to establish
shareholder-initiated contact, you may do so at no charge by calling EQ
at 1-833-914-2121. To expedite this process, please have your account
number ready. Your account number can be found on a previous account
statement, dividend check or tax form sent by EQ."
2. Move the stock to a personal stock brokerage account. Contact your brokerage for instructions.
3. Move the stock and sell via a stock brokerage. If you don't have an account, it is easy to open one at a discount brokerage.
4. Sell the stock via EQ Unify for a 10% "Processing Fee" -- as promoted in the letter. May make sense if you have only a couple of shares.
Every few years, it is a good idea run an "unclaimed property" search. Companies -- including financial institutions -- are required to turn over unclaimed property to the state after a specific time period, which varies from state to state, as little as two years in some states. Easy to do: https://www.hpalumni.org/Unclaimed
Stock spinoffs and payouts. Due to the breakup of HP, you may now have shares in HPInc, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Agilent, Keysight, and DXC – held in multiple accounts – and may not have received cash payouts for Micro Focus or Perspecta. Your current cost basis depends on when you acquired stock as companies were spun out. HPAA members have developed a step-by-step process to find all of your HP/HPE-related stock – and estimate cost basis: https://www.hpalumni.org/stock
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