Broadridge and PwC Announce New
Data on 2013 Proxy Voting Trends
Report provides insight on
key voting patterns to help companies benchmark shareholder meeting
outcomes
NEW YORK, June 4, 2013
/PRNewswire/ --
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:
BR) and
PwC's Center for Board Governance today announced the launch of the
first edition of
ProxyPulse™, which provides data and analysis on key voting trends and
shareholder behavior. This first edition of ProxyPulse covers the 549
annual meetings held between January 1, 2013
and April 23, 2013 — representing 11% of the
total number of meetings held during the proxy season. ProxyPulse is the
product of a collaboration between Broadridge, the leading provider of
investor communication solutions for financial services firms, mutual
funds and corporate issuers globally, and PwC's Center for Board
Governance, a group within PwC whose mission is to help directors
effectively meet the challenges of their critical roles.
"ProxyPulse assesses
important shareholder behaviors and the potential impact of those patterns
on voting results," said
Mary Ann Cloyd , leader of PwC's
Center for Board Governance. "By using ProxyPulse to stay informed of
shareholder sentiment, companies can better benchmark and more proactively
manage their communications with all of their shareholders."
"It's axiomatic that
broader engagement can help companies develop a more complete view of
shareholder sentiment," said
Chuck Callan , Senior Vice President
of Regulatory Affairs, Broadridge. "While some companies have ramped up
their shareholder engagement programs over the last few years, many of
these efforts focus largely on communicating with institutional
shareholders. The data shows that retail shareholders hold one-third of
the shares, and that opportunities exist for companies to better connect
with these potentially influential voters."
Key findings of the
research include:
-
Rates of voting vary substantially
between institutional and retail shareholders. On average,
institutions owned approximately 67% and retail shareholders owned 33%
of street name shares. While 70% of the street name shares were voted —
60 percentage points by institutions and 10 percentage points by retail
shareholders - low rates of retail shareholder participation left 70% of
retail shares un-voted.
-
Electronic distribution of proxy
materials continues to grow — and it impacts shareholder participation.
Virtually all institutional shareholders received proxy materials
electronically. As for retail shareholders, 60% received materials in
full paper format, 32% by electronic delivery and 8% through a mailed
Notice directing them to the proxy materials posted online by the issuer
(compared to 68%, 20% and 12%, respectively, in 2008). Only about 17% of
the retail shares receiving a Notice mailing were voted over the last
six years, compared to 36% of shares that received full paper proxy
materials packages.
-
Broader engagement with all
shareholders could be the difference in achieving important voting
benchmarks. As one example, proxy advisory firms more closely
scrutinize executive compensation programs at companies that receive
less than 70% approval of their prior year's executive compensation
program. In situations where support levels are on the cusp of this
benchmark, retail shareholder participation could move the needle. About
5% of companies that completed their annual meetings this season had Say
on Pay proposal approval rates between 60% and 69% - a range where
greater retail shareholder turnout could have made the difference in
achieving important voting benchmarks.
The analysis is
based upon Broadridge's processing of shares held in street name, which
accounts for over 80% of all shares outstanding of publicly listed
companies in the U.S.
Visit
proxypulse.com to access the full version of the ProxyPulse report.
For more insight and
expert analysis on the latest proxy season voting updates, please join
PwC's special webcast on Monday, June 10, 2013
from 3:30-4:30pm ET, presented in
conjunction with Broadridge and the Society of Corporate Secretaries and
Governance Professionals. To register, please
click here.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial
Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:
BR) is the leading provider of investor communications and
technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and
corporate issuers globally. Broadridge's investor communications,
securities processing and operations outsourcing solutions help clients
reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing
them to increase their focus on core business activities. With 50 years
of experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting services
for over 90% of public companies and mutual funds in
North America, and processes more than
$4.5 trillion in fixed income and equity
trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 6,200 full-time
associates in 13 countries.
For more information
about Broadridge, please visit
www.broadridge.com.
About PwC's
Center for Board Governance
PwC's Center for
Board Governance assists corporate boards to more effectively meet the
challenges of their oversight role. The Center provides information on
significant corporate governance and financial reporting developments
through a series of publications, available on our
Center for Board Governance website. The Center also engages with
directors and executives to share insights through seminars, roundtables,
webcasts, and one-on-one meetings.
Media Contact:
Jenna J. Focarino
The Torrenzano Group
+1-212-681-1700/1-845-893-7586
jfocarino@torrenzano.com
SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
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