NEW YORK,
Feb. 24, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- An active proxy voting season for U.S. public
companies is expected this year, according to global Fintech
leader, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BR). With the
majority of corporations holding annual meetings between now and
June 30, proposals regarding
environmental, social and governance matters (ESG) will receive
investor attention.
"Over the past five years there's been increasing support for
shareholder proposals, but it's largely from institutional
investors," notes Chuck Callan, SVP,
Regulatory Affairs at Broadridge. "Retail investors as a
group are half as likely to support them. And for environmental and
social proposals, the gap in support is even wider, with retail at
18% and institutions at 40%."
The ProxyPulse Report, features voting trends covering 4,125
public company annual shareholder meetings held between
January 1, and June 30, 2021. The report highlights voting
trends over the past five proxy seasons. Download the full report
here.
Key Takeaways and Trends from the 2021 Proxy Season:
Shareholder proposal support
- Support for shareholder proposals has grown steadily over the
past five years to 40% of the votes cast.
Environmental and Social, and Political Spending
- Retail investor support for environmental and social proposals
at 18% in 2021 was half that of institutional investors at
40%.
- Retail support for political spending proposals declined from
23% in 2020 to 19% in 2021, while institutional support rose from
40% in 2020 to 45% in 2021.
Directors
- 23,009 directors stood for election in the 2021 proxy season.
Average support levels remain high at 94% of the voted shares.
However, 541 directors failed to attain majority support.
Virtual shareholder meetings (VSMs)
- For the full year 2021, meetings held virtually rose to 2,377
up from 1,957 in 2020, and up from 326 in 2019.
- Companies have garnered increased investor attendance and
decreased venue, security, and transportation costs of hosting in
person meetings.
- Investors can easily attend, ask questions, vote, and also
avoid the costs of attending meetings in person.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader
with $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 that drive business
transformation for 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. Our
technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of
more than U.S. $9 trillion of
equities, fixed income and other securities globally. A certified
Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P
500® Index, employing over 13,000 associates in 21
countries. For more information, please
visit broadridge.com.
Broadridge Media contacts:
Gregg Rosenberg
+1 212-918-6966
Gregg.rosenberg@broadridge.com
Tatjana Kulkami
+1 203-285-0766
Tatjana.kulkami@broadridge.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.