Investors Want a Voice
Investors Want A Voice, But Don’t Take the Steps to Be Heard
Broadridge Survey Finds
Investors value voting their proxies but want less complicated materials and more education from financial advisors
NEW YORK, N.Y., July 31, 2019 — New data released today by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global Fintech leader and part of the S&P 500® Index, revealed a startling disconnect between investors’ beliefs in the importance of voicing their opinions and their taking steps to actually cast their votes. In a survey of individual shareholders’ attitudes on corporate governance and proxy voting behaviors, 71% of respondents said they believe their opinion or vote matters. Yet, Broadridge’s operational data on actual voting rates shows that individual investors as a group vote less than a third of the shares they own unless they are heavily solicited. The survey further explored what areas of corporate governance are of most interest and found that mergers and acquisitions (26%), elections of directors (24%), and environmental proposals (23%) topped the list. Investors Crave Simplicity and Convenience
When asked why they don’t vote, most stated that proxy statements are too complicated. Three-quarters of these “non-voters” said they’re willing to commit only 10 minutes or less to voting their proxies. And two-thirds said they’d be more likely to cast votes if they could vote through an app on their mobile phone. Not surprisingly, the number of those likely to use a voting app skewed higher for millennials (77%) than for baby boomers (49%), according to the survey.
“Engaging all investors is fundamental to corporate governance and has grown increasingly important to directors and management,” said Martin Koopman, President of Broadridge’s Bank Broker-Dealer unit. “Recent technology innovations enable investors to see that their votes have impact and that their voices are heard.”
Broadridge’s ProxyVote App released in April, offers streamlined voting, new tools, and educational resources to help individual investors exercise their voices on issues that matter to them. The app is available for both Apple and Google devices.
Investors to Advisors – Please Email, Text or Call
Three-quarters of all investors agreed that voting on issues associated with their investments contributes to their financial well-being, a sentiment that 83% of millennials echoed.
Overall, survey respondents indicated that their financial advisor can play an important role in educating them on proxy and corporate governance issues (65%). Moreover, 76% said they would like their financial advisor to remind them to vote either by email (50%), text message (32%) or a phone call (23%).
For more information on proxy voting and how to vote visit, broadridge.com/yourvoice.
Methodology
Responses were obtained from May 24-30, 2019 through Engine's Online CARAVAN® Omnibus Survey tool from a national sample of 1,002 investors over the age of 18.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a $4 billion global Fintech leader and a part of the S&P 500® Index, is a leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions to banks, broker-dealers, asset managers and corporate issuers globally. Broadridge’s investor communications, securities processing and managed services solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on core business activities. With over 50 years of experience, Broadridge’s infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 50 percent of public companies and mutual funds globally, and processes on average more than US $5 trillion in fixed income and equity trades per day. Broadridge employs over 10,000 full-time associates in 18 countries.
For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.
Contact Information
Investors:
W. Edings Thibault
Investor Relations
(516) 472-5129
Edings.thibault@broadridge.com
Media:
Gregg Rosenberg
Corporate Communications
(212) 918-6966