Expert explains how one saver found £230k of missing cash – and you can too

Two savers have been reunited with investments worth six-figures after using a tracing service. The investors, who had bought share-based accounts decades ago, had no idea their cash had grown to such a large sum.

One saver found they had amassed £168,000, while another discovered £230,000.

The money, which had been lying in accounts which invested in shares and stockmarket based assets, was found after using a tracing service.

Gretel was set up nearly three years ago and is a free service which helps people trace lost savings and investments.

This week Gretel announced it had partnered with investment companies J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Rathbones Asset Management in a deal that will allow thousands more investors to find their share of £2.8n of lost and dormant investment accounts

Duncan Stevens, chief executive at Gretel said the missing cash was sitting in forgotten unit trusts, ISAs and OEICs.

He added across the fund management industry in the UK, Gretel has calculated that at least one million people have become disconnected with their investments.

The total sum of lost cash in the UK, from all types of financial products including pensions, child trust funds and insurance-based savings such as annuities and endowments, has now surpassed £89 billion of which there is £2.8 billion in lost investments and wealth funds, with the average account valued at £2,800.

Over the last two weeks, Gretel said it had matched £2.5m clients of J.P. Morgan Asset Management with money they had forgotten about.

Stevens added: “With £2.8 billion in dormant investment funds across the UK, this issue affects thousands of investors, particularly as investments are often seen as long-term and they can easily become overlooked and harder to trace over time.”

Patrick Thomson, EMEA CEO at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said: “At J.P. Morgan Asset Management, we are dedicated to reconnecting clients with their assets, and this service serves as an extension of our commitment to delivering positive client outcomes. By expanding our options to reconnect with clients, this further strengthens our ability to maintain strong, ongoing client relationships.”

Craig Santangeli, head of transfer agency oversight at Rathbones Asset Management said: “Rathbones Asset Management is pleased to partner with Gretel to help individuals recover lost or forgotten investment assets. This not only enables them to be re-united with their rightful owners, but by doing so, supports their financial well-being and future choices. We believe Gretel to be a user-friendly service, which is leading the pack in tackling the broader issue of dormant assets, whilst assisting companies to continue to act in the best interest of their clients.”

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