Computershare is a financial services company that provides stock transfer services to various companies. It was founded in Australia in 1978 and currently operates in many other countries, including the U.S. If you own stock in companies that use Computershare, your 1099-DIVs display their name.
One of Computershare’s corporate clients is Brighthouse Financial (BHF). Brighthouse was a spin-off from MetLife, another Computershare client. Back in September 2019, Brighthouse announced a new, voluntary program:
Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (“Brighthouse Financial” or the “company”) (Nasdaq: BHF) announced today that it will offer a voluntary program through which stockholders owning fewer than 100 shares of Brighthouse Financial’s common stock, as of September 9, 2019, may sell all of their shares. This program allows eligible stockholders to sell their shares in a convenient and efficient manner, and helps the company reduce administrative costs.
Brighthouse Financial’s program will be independently administered by Georgeson LLC, a Computershare, Inc. company. Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the company’s transfer agent, will serve as paying agent for the program.
Stockholders participating in this program will be assessed a processing fee by Georgeson of $3.50 per share sold, with a maximum fee of $60 per account, to defray the costs of the program. Eligible stockholders will be informed of the program by mail starting September 26, 2019, and will have until December 6, 2019, to participate, unless the program is terminated or extended by the company. Shares held in the company’s employee benefit plans are excluded from this program.
That all sounds quite reasonable, right?
My wife, who inherited 16 BHF shares, received their offer. Since that stock has been going nowhere (but down), we decided it would be a good time to sell. At $3.50 per share, Georgeson’s fee would be $56.
But I knew that we always had the ability to sell those shares through Computershare’s investor portal. So I contacted Computershare’s investor support team and asked how much it would cost to sell her shares that way. The answer:
We charge a $15 processing fee plus .12 cents a share.
That works out to $16.92.
I asked the agent (in more polite language) why the company developed the Georgeson rip-off when they could have and should have simply directed people to the Computershare portal to sell their shares. She had no direct answer and just repeated that the program was voluntary.
If you search the web for Georgeson, you’ll find several reports of people complaining about their business practices. Back in 2017, the firm paid $4.5 million to settle a federal complaint. Caveat emptor. The same goes for the parent company, Computershare.