NEW YORK, March 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With U.S.
corporations and investors preparing for the start of the annual
shareholder meeting season, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
(NYSE:BR), a global Fintech leader, in conjunction with Q4
Inc. (Q4), a leading capital markets, investor relations and
virtual events solution provider, announce a strategic partnership
to deliver the next generation of the Broadridge Virtual
Shareholder Meeting (VSM). Combining the technology and expertise
of Broadridge's decade-plus leadership in VSMs with
Q4's latest virtual events capabilities, provides issuers
and investors with a stress-free, intuitive and enriched
experience.
![](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1457308/BroadRidge_shareholder_meeting.jpg)
"VSMs are a critical tool, revolutionizing how companies conduct
their annual meetings and speak to shareholders, and Broadridge and
Q4 are re-defining and enhancing the VSM experience. This enhanced
VSM will drive increased shareholder engagement by providing an
experience that has many advantages over a physical meeting," said
Cathy Conlon, Vice President,
Broadridge Corporate Issuer Product Strategy & Business
Development. "Companies will experience the latest virtual events
technology platform, which will benefit their management team
holding the event and the shareholders who attend."
New features of this fully integrated VSM
offering include state-of-the-art video and audio
collaboration, role-based meeting views, comprehensive meeting
management tools and improved Q&A functionality. The platform
is aligned with VSM best practices recently outlined by
Rutgers University Law School. It
provides "one-click" secure shareholder authentication and seamless
proxy voting accessed directly from the VSM meeting.
Broadridge pioneered the first commercial VSM platform in 2009
and is the leading provider of VSMs to public companies in
North America. In 2020, Broadridge
hosted nearly 2,000 VSMs for public company annual meetings and led
the industry in how to conduct virtual meetings. This strategic
partnership between Broadridge and Q4 builds on the collaborative
launch of the Digital Proxy with the goal of increasing retail
shareholder participation in corporate governance.
Benefits for Shareholders and Companies
For shareholders, the platform allows for a highly engaging and
modern virtual experience, starting with a seamless meeting
authentication, a "Zoom-like" meeting experience, integrated
Q&A, live voting, speaker profiles and easily accessible
meeting materials.
For issuers, the platform provides an integrated console to
manage all aspects of the VSM experience, including seamless
management of high-quality video and audio streamed from multiple
presenters, screen sharing, meeting materials management and
voting. Innovative Q&A management has been designed for
administrators to review shareholder questions and queue for
presenters, while corporate executives and board members benefit
from integrated private chat tools for unparalleled collaboration
and communication throughout the meeting.
"We are incredibly excited about our strategic partnership with
Broadridge and to bring this next generation VSM platform to the
market," said Darrell Heaps, CEO of
Q4. "Since the beginning of the pandemic we have been working
closely with the experts at Broadridge at extending our new virtual
events platform to serve the needs of shareholders and issuers in
this new virtual world. We are proud to deliver this platform and
set the standard by which all VSMs will be measured against as we
lead the market to how much more effective VSMs can be."
Broadridge and Q4 provide this VSM platform with a dedicated
team of capital markets events experts for guided, premium support
throughout meeting planning, dry runs, live broadcast and meeting
choreography to deliver a flawless experience for companies to help
meet meeting requirements.
VSMs generate significantly lower carbon emissions than
in-person meetings and create an opportunity for companies to
reduce their overall carbon footprint. Broadridge data shows that,
compared with in-person events, VSMs can help companies virtually
eliminate their AGM-related carbon footprint.
In 2020, Q4 hosted more than 4,000 capital markets virtual
events, including earnings events, investor days and investor
conferences. Moving forward, Broadridge and Q4 plan to partner on
extending Q4's suite of impactful virtual events solutions to
issuers, asset managers and other capital markets participants.
These enhancements are currently only available in the U.S. and
will be rolled out to markets outside the U.S. in the
future.
About Broadridge Financial Solutions
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader
with over $4.5 billion in revenues,
provides the critical infrastructure that powers investing,
corporate governance, and communications to enable better financial
lives. We deliver technology-driven solutions to banks,
broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and public companies.
Broadridge's infrastructure serves as a global communications hub
enabling corporate governance by linking thousands of public
companies and mutual funds to tens of millions of individual and
institutional investors around the world. In addition, Broadridge's
technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of
on average more than U.S. $10
trillion of equities, fixed income and other securities
globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is a part of
the S&P 500® Index, employing over 12,000 associates in 17
countries. For more information about us and what we can do for
you, please visit www.broadridge.com
For more information about Broadridge's virtual shareholder
meeting solution:
About Q4, Inc.
Q4 Inc. (Q4), is a leading capital markets, investor relations
and virtual events solution provider. Through Q4's proven
technology platform and best-in-class customer experience, the firm
is a trusted partner to over 2,400 of the world's most successful
public companies and institutions. Q4's comprehensive portfolio of
communications and intelligence solutions empowers customers to
build impactful and strategic programs. Q4 has offices in
New York, Toronto and London.
To learn more, visit: www.q4inc.com.
Investors:
W. Edings Thibault
Investor Relations
+ 1 516-472-5129
Edings.thibault@broadridge.com
Media:
Gregg Rosenberg
Corporate Communications
+1 212-918-6966
Gregg.rosenberg@broadridge.com
Lisa Edwards
VP Marketing
Lisa.Edwards@q4inc.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.