THE 360 NEWSLETTER

As you may know, the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have enacted regulations pertaining to unclaimed property, and in January 2023, New Brunswick will follow suit. As a result, Investia must implement policies and procedures to locate clients for whom we are holding unclaimed property, when applicable, if their last known address we have on file is in one of these three provinces.

What Is Unclaimed Property

Unclaimed property could include mutual funds, GICs, ETFs, cash available or any other types of assets held by the client. The client’s account is flagged as having an incorrect address in Univeris when:

• A written client communication is returned to Investia as “undeliverable” or due to an “incorrect address” or a similar reason; or
• The assets have not been claimed by the client, or instructed on, for the period of time prescribed by the provincial legislation.

Note that as soon as the client’s address status is changed to “Incorrect Address” in Univeris, the time limit begins and Investia will proceed to turn over the unclaimed property to the proper authorities once the time limit has been reached.

Means to Contact Clients

Investia, through its Representatives, is required to contact individual clients for whom we are holding unclaimed property. Efforts to locate such individuals may include, but are not limited to the following:

• A letter to the last address on file;
• A phone call to the last phone number on file;
• A telephone/address search (Canada 411, etc.);
• An attempt to contact the support person listed on the most recent KYC Update Form on file;
• An address search on the Web;
• An attempt to contact a relative, heir, successor/beneficiary, proxy, etc.
• An email if the client is e-delivery registered.

List of Clients with Incorrect Addresses

As a reminder, a list of clients with incorrect addresses can be found in the Dashboard on the Investia Advisor Centre, under the “My Actions” tab.

This list is updated daily:

Action Required by the Representative

We remind you that it is your responsibility to validate with your client whenever a change of address has taken place and to make that change in Univeris, while ensuring to uncheck the “Incorrect Address” box, when applicable.

For more information about client address changes, click here to read Administrative Procedure # 24 – Address Addition or Change, which can be found on the Advisor Centre under Procedures & Forms / Administrative Procedures.

It is very important to make reasonable efforts to locate owners of unclaimed property. To meet this requirement, if you are unable to contact the client by any of the means listed above, you should add a note under the “Communications “tab in Univeris, which includes the dates and means by which you attempted to contact the client.

Coming Suspension of AWDs

Effective January 2023, please be advised that for all Investia nominee accounts with incorrect account addresses and systematic withdrawals (“AWD”) in place, AWDs will be suspended until the client comes forward. This will allow the client’s address to be updated while removing the notion of an incorrect address from the system.