One of the benefits of investing with Six Park is that your investments (ETFs) are legally and beneficially owned in your name to provide you with security and peace of mind. With this security comes the responsibility of completing certain activities with the share registries, Link Market Services and Computershare.
When you first invest with Six Park, we send you an email suggesting you ‘Do these 4 things now’. This blog article explains what those 4 things are, why they’re important, and where to get the information you need.
The 4 important things to do
- Register a new share registry account (or add your ETF holdings if you already have an account with the share registries)
- Register for electronic communications (if you wish)
- Register for dividend reinvestment (if appropriate for you)
- Self-certify your tax residency (when required)
Why you should do these things now
1. Register a new share registry account
A share registry helps the managers of your ETF investments maintain records of transactions and manage dividend payments, communications and reporting to you. Your Six Park ETFs are managed by two registries, Link Market Services and Computershare. Depending on the ETFs in your portfolio, you may need to register an account with one or both registries.
Setting up your account/s ensures you can access and receive all the important communications related to your investment transactions. These communications include dividend payment statements, holding statements and annual reports.
You will need to know your email address linked to your Six Park account and:
- Your HIN (holder identification number) – which you can find in your Six Park dashboard by clicking to select your account and then clicking on Account, Settings. Your HIN covers all of your Six Park holdings. When entering the HIN with the registries, you must add an X at the front of the 10-digit number, e.g. X1234567890.
- Your postcode – as registered for your holdings
- The issuer code – a 3 or 4-digit code unique to each ETF holding, e.g. VGE, VGAD
The welcome letters you receive when you make your initial investment contain the above information. If you can’t locate those letters, let us know, and we’ll help you find what you need.
2. Register for electronic communications
Once you have set up your share registry account, you can set your communication preferences. This preference relates to communications managed by the share registry on behalf of the ETF managers.
Registering for electronic communications reduces paper usage and filing time and ensures you receive instant communications.
3. Register for dividend reinvestment
A dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) enables you to reinvest all or part of any dividends paid by the ETFs in your Six Park portfolio in additional shares rather than taking the dividends in cash. By participating in a DRP, you increase the number of units you hold in your ETF investments, which can help your account balance grow more quickly.
If you don’t register for a DRP, any dividends paid by your ETF investments will, by default, be deposited into your Macquarie cash management account as cash.
Participating in a DRP is optional. Everyone’s circumstances are unique, and there may be situations where you do not want your dividends reinvested.
If you do wish to reinvest dividends, then registering this choice now means that the DRP applies for all future dividend payments without any further action from you (unless, in the future, you wish to revert to cash dividends).
There are no fees or administrative costs to participate in a DRP.
4. Register your tax residency certification
Share registries (as well as other financial institutions) are required to undertake due diligence to determine an account holder’s tax residency jurisdiction. This requirement results from the Australian government’s participation in the exchange of information with other jurisdictions under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
You must complete a certification form to confirm your tax residence jurisdiction when requested by the registries.
If you don’t complete the certification, the share registries may be required to report your name, address, amounts paid and value of securities to the Australian Taxation Office, and the Taxation Office may report this information to international tax authorities.
If you need help
We know that investment jargon can make an easy thing seem more difficult, so here’s a practical PDF guide to help you navigate the share registries (and conquer that jargon in the process!).
This article may contain general financial product information but should not be relied upon or construed as a recommendation of any financial product. This information has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.
For further details on our service please see our Financial Services Guide at http://www.sixpark.com.au. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.