WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
In remarks before the National Press Club this morning, the chief
executive of the nation’s largest shareholder communications company
called on all CEOs to encourage individual shareholders, including
employee shareholders, to vote their proxies.
“In 2010, just one in 20 individual retail investors voiced their
opinions about the companies they invested in by exercising their
fundamental shareholder right. That compares to recent historical levels
four to five times as high. Public companies need to understand the
seriousness of this issue and act to reverse this troubling decline to
get each of their individual investors --- and all individual investors
generally --- engaged with their companies,” said Richard J. Daly, Chief
Executive Officer of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR).
Broadridge is the market leader in enabling the secure and accurate
processing of information for communications and securities transactions
among issuers, investors and financial intermediaries. Broadridge
provides the infrastructure that underpins proxy services for over 90%
of public companies and mutual funds in North America.
Mr. Daly explained that as the initial step in an overall strategy to
increase individual shareholder voting, he is calling on chief
executives of American businesses to “join with us in launching a
nationwide effort to encourage their employees --- numbering in the tens
of millions --- to exercise a fundamental shareholder right --- and need
--- to vote their proxy ballots, whether it be proxies relating to their
employer or proxies relating to other companies in which they invest,”
he said.
As part of the effort, Mr. Daly said he is contacting the chief
executives of America’s top 1,000 public companies to encourage them to
motivate their employee shareholders to vote their shares.
In addition, he is helping companies realize efficiencies in engaging
their shareholders. In every investor communications distribution
Broadridge makes, where the investor is not receiving communications
through digital channels, Broadridge will inform them ---- within the
constraints of regulatory boundaries ---- that they have the ability to
take action online, eliminate the paper, have all information stored in
any format they want, have access to it anywhere they want and vote at
any time they want, even on such new devices as Android™ phones and the
iPad®.
“A relatively small increase in voting participation by employees could
meaningfully increase individual investor voting participation from 5%
per year to 20% or more per year,” Mr. Daly stated.
“Companies that can distinguish their investors’ opinions from others’
will more easily have the strength and confidence to stay on course and
create value. There is no greater show of support than the ballot, or in
this case, the proxy,” Mr. Daly concluded.
According to the company, the number of shares voted has no effect on
Broadridge’s revenue.
About Broadridge
Broadridge is a technology services company focused on global capital
markets. Broadridge is the market leader enabling secure and accurate
processing of information for communications and securities transactions
among issuers, investors and financial intermediaries. Broadridge builds
the infrastructure that underpins proxy services for over 90% of public
companies and mutual funds in North America; processes more than $3
trillion in fixed income and equity trades per day; and saves companies
billions annually through its technology solutions. For more information
about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.
Source: Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.