Sainsbury's bid to free 'lost' £15bn

SAINSBURY's pension scheme is to become the first to link up with the Unclaimed Assets Register to allow members who have lost touch with the £3bn fund to claim their entitlements.

The supermarket giant's move is likely to encourage other occupational schemes to join UAR, which plans a big push on banks, building societies and company share registers as well as the pensions industry. It estimates that about £15 billion in financial assets remains unclaimed. Recovery rates are poor, partly because the financial services industry resists data-pooling.

'From the consumer's point of view, it makes sense to pool data in one place while simultaneously offering independent search services,' said Keith Hollender, chief executive of UAR, a subsidiary of insurer Aon. About £5bn of the £15bn is thought to be held by banks and building societies, perhaps £500m of it in windfall shares issued when building societies converted.

UAR's estimate includes £3bn each for pensions, shares/ dividends and National Savings, £1bn for life policies and £300m for the National Lottery and others. UAR says 70% of the life and pensions industry pools data with it, as do five unit trust groups and eight FTSE 100 companies.