IBM Shares
I published some information in the April 2011 Newsletter regarding the handling of IBM shares in response to a request from a member who was unsure of the procedure. The information which follows is a collation of the input received as a result of a request I sent to our membership - many thanks to them. If anybody has any further comment, please feel free to send it to me.
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IBM employee program shares can be:-
ESPP+
ESPP
ESPP+ (managed by Computershare UK)
Contact details (see also back page of IBM Pensions Trust information booklet:-
The Pavilions, PO Box 82, Bridgwater Road, BRISTOL, BS99 6AP.
Telephone:- 0870 703 6267 Email:- ibm@computershare.co.uk
ESPP (managed by Computershare US)
Dividends paid in US dollars and there is a choice of taking the dividend or re-investing. If taking the dividend, there are charges for cashing the dollar cheque which could be more than the dividend is worth and there is also the issue of US taxation and UK foreign income taxation. Faced with this, one member decided to sell his holdings and was sent two cheques (!) which then cost £25 each to pass through the bank, taking several weeks to do so. Other members have reported that online transaction have gone very smoothly.
Contact details (see also back page of IBM Pensions Trust information booklet:-
Computershare Trust Company, N.A., 250 Royall Street, Canton, Massachusetts 02021.
Telephone:- +1 781 575 2727 Email:- ibm@computershare.com Web:- www.computershare.com
To access your account:-
Go to www.computershare.com
When presented with a map of the world you will see the option 'select country'. From the drop-down menu select US-english - this is the country where the shares are held, not your contry of residence.
Go to 'Employee Plans'
Enter 'IBM'
From the drop-down menu, select 'Computershare Account' then Userid and Password. If you have forgotten your password, there is a standard retrieval facility but if you don't have your userid, then you might have to email to get that. Perhaps worth noting is that when the administration of the shares scheme was transferred from UK to US, you should have received details of how to access your IBM Stockholder account on the internet along with an access password.
You can also go via www.ibm.com/investor/services and select 'Registered Stockholder Access' - this will take you to the Computershare login page.
Brian Wilson