So I was one of the few that started the process against Mainstar late 2021 early 2022. I had done everything I could think of and was 100% assured that Mainstar was going to keep up their custodial agreements. I had paid the fees and made sure they were made in a timely manner along with making sure the accounts were validated between Mainstar and Computershare.
Best believe… The customer service Mainstar has already knew the shares I was giving them were to be registered, and would NEVER be sold. So there was no intention of ever dealing with the selling “problems” they stated from my perspective.
I’ve logged into both Mainstar and Computershare to validate each account was consistent and nothing changed. It worked for the good year and some change…
Getting that letter (which I received personally yesterday) was not anywhere near what I had discussed and validated with the customer service representative. There was no “delay” of information being sent. There isn’t any “issues” with registering. There weren’t any “problems” with the Computershare side…
But you know the problems that did exist?
The brokers transferring to Mainstar…
Fidelity took 3 weeks… Vanguard took 4 months… Multiple calls, multiple validations, several representatives with both brokers couldn’t figure out why the transfers took forever. For reference, Mainstar DRSed the shares, I created my login and got that login pin within 3 days, beginning to end. Everything was great.
I don’t blame Mainstar for their current predicament. They were likely forced and many insiders probably paid off on it, but the Mainstar business was as legit as possible up until this recent fiasco.
They worked with me to get them out of Fidelity and Vanguard correctly. These same shares will travel once again to their new home in my well built LLC then…
See you fellow Mainstar Apes with your well built LLCs if you plan to journey that way yourselves. If not, you each should know what is best for you to do in your situations.
As always, I’m not suggesting anything, nor am I giving any financial advice. You are your own best judge of character in your own finances. You should not listen to me or anyone else you do not trust.
What a hell of an adventure this is…
I’m the same as you. Bananyabangarang and I tried to get the word out about Mainstar and kept getting suppressed. I was always able to get someone on the phone at Mainstar if I had a question. They were very fast to do everything to get my account set up.
I’m considering IRA Financial Trust now. They’re pricey, but seems to be about the only show in town now. I have several thousand shares in my IRA so it probably makes sense to pay the fees and get an LLC so I can keep those shares safe. Mainstar is no better than holding at a broker now IMO.
Hey I finally made it to lemmy! I’m also considering doing a distribution at this point but will need to plan for the taxes. I’m glad the topic of IRA shares is getting attention again now on reddit at least