Tom Simmonds
Gretel co-founder
23/10/2024 @ 11:57:00
In today’s fast-paced world, managing your finances can feel overwhelming. With bills to pay, investments to track and savings to grow, it’s easy to lose sight of potential assets. Many of us have forgotten accounts, overlooked investments or unclaimed funds that could significantly impact our financial health. The importance of identifying these disconnected financial resources and how a digital vault can protect and manage them effectively moving forwards cannot be overstated.
Gretel: Finding Disconnected Money and Investments
Over time, people often forget about old bank accounts, retirement plans or insurance policies. These can accumulate interest or dividends or there may be redemption proceeds that you may be entitled to but are unaware of. A thorough review of your financial history, including statements and paperwork, may be able to reveal some of these hidden assets but with 63% of the population not knowing where to start, the demand for technology to simplify the process is increasing.
Gretel was designed and built by veterans of the dormant assets industry to solve the problem with minimal inputs from users. By creating a membership account in a process that takes just 3 minutes, members only need to recall a few personal details along with former addresses to get searching. The information provided by users enables Gretel to search across millions of records shared by some of the largest providers in financial services, who are keen to make data more accessible and asset discovery and reconnection more streamlined as a process.
Critically, Gretel’s technology also addresses vulnerable customers and the bereaved with unique features to support searches by Personal Representatives and legally appointed deputies.
There’s lots of ground still to cover, but with more and more companies coming on board and Gretel’s “always on” searching, the process of asset reconnection is getting easier.
Keylu: Safeguarding Your Financial Future
Once you've uncovered these hidden financial resources, the next step is to ensure their safety and accessibility. This is where a digital vault comes into play.
A digital vault like Keylu allows you to consolidate all your financial information in one secure location. Whether it’s bank statements, investment records, or personal identification documents, having everything in one place simplifies management and with rising concerns about data breaches and identity theft, a digital vault offers encrypted storage solutions that protect sensitive information from unauthorised access.
Keeping your finances organised is crucial. A digital vault enables you to categorise your assets, making it easier to track and manage them. You can quickly retrieve information when making investment decisions or during tax season. Life can get hectic, and the last thing you want is to struggle to find important financial documents when you need them most. A digital vault provides easy access to your information anytime, anywhere.
Moving Forward with Confidence
Finding disconnected money and investments is an essential step towards a secure financial future. By leveraging the power of a digital vault, you can safeguard these assets and ensure they contribute positively to your financial well-being.
As you embark on this journey, take the time to review your financial records, connect with family about potential inheritances and explore resources like Gretel for locating unclaimed funds. Then, invest in a reliable digital vault to store and protect your newfound wealth. By doing so, you’ll not only reclaim what’s yours but also build a solid foundation for future financial stability. In the end, financial empowerment begins with awareness and ends with security.
For more information about Gretel, visit: www.gretel.co.uk
For more information about Keylu, visit: www.keylu.com
About the writer:
Tom Simmonds, Gretel co-founder and COO has held both executive and non-executive roles with SMEs, Private Equity and FTSE 250 companies for more than 20 years. Tom has substantial experience of running and developing businesses with a particular focus on leveraging data and technology for innovation and creating great customer experiences.
Prior to founding Gretel, Tom was Managing Director of one of the first tracing and asset reunification companies in the UK. Following its merger with Equiniti Group plc in 2008, Tom led some of the largest asset reunification programmes ever undertaken by UK public companies, returning over £1 billion to investors during his 9-year tenure.