More On Virtual Forums: Maybe The Best Good Governance Idea Ever
While Virtual Meetings have been getting lots of notice of late, we think that Virtual Investor Forums have the potential to transform the corporate governance landscape in an even bigger and better way
Transfer Agents Are Facing Multi-Million Dollar Investments To Be Ready For Cost-Basis Reporting… And Perhaps, For More Backup Withholding By Money-Starved State Governments
An Interim Rreport On Virtual Annual Meetings A reader emailed us after our last issue to ask why we haven’t been covering the Cost-Basis Reporting scene…after lots of earlier coverage, where we correctly predicted that there was absolutely no way it could be enforced...
And… As If Those Poor T-As Don’t Have Troubles Enough, How About State-Mandated Backup Withholding From Dividend And Interest Checks?
Thanks to reader Tom Montrone, the President of Registrar & Transfer Company, for reminding us of yet another issue that’s flown beneath the usual radar screens but which, we predict, may well burst from the blue to harass T-As and their clients. So far, only two...
Time To Take A Look At Your Bylaws, We Say… To Make Sure They Do Not Have Conflicting Voting Provisions
And Maybe To Consider Moving To A “Simple Majority Vote” To Pass All But The Most Economically Important Proposals A lot of speculation went on last year and this about the potential effect of the “broker may NOT vote rule”…which turned out to be mainly a non-issue...
Some Notes On The Much-Bashed Symantec Virtual Meeting
s mentioned elsewhere in this issue, activist investors, the press, and assorted other “noisemakers” sure piled onto Symantec Corporation, following their first-ever totally virtual annual meeting. We were kind of glad they did…first because it proved the point we...
Optimizer To Activists And Noisemakers Re: Virtual Meetings: You Folks Are Really Missing The Boat Here!
Despite the many good things your editor, and other managers and consumers of Virtual Meetings have to say about them, they’ve been coming under heavy fire of late. Activist Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management has presented Intel, Broadridge Financial Solutions and...
Reaching Out To Directors
REACHING OUT TO DIRECTORS WITH SOME GOOD DIRECTOR EDUCATION PROGRAMS: Those gosh-darned university off-sites aimed at Directors seem to be proliferating like flies on a warm mincemeat pie – although lately, a bit of much needed consolidation seems to be afoot. The...
Tales From The Crypt
Horror Stories About The Perils Of Holding Abandoned Property From The Optimizer’s Story Vault… All Of Them Absolutely True.
From States “Reaching Out” To Shareowner “Out Reach”
“To reverse the detrimental effects of these state ‘reach out’ initiatives, issuers and transfer agents must be proactive in maintaining shareowner contact to curtail securities escheatment.”
Wells Fargo Shareowner Services
An Interview With Todd May
Podcast Alert: Annual Meeting Season 2026 — Expert Advice from Carl & Peder Hagberg
Carl and Peder Hagberg of The Shareholder Service OPTIMIZER join Meredith Ervine from TheCorporateCounsel.net to discuss proxy season risks, virtual meetings, and shareholder engagement for 2026.
Listen to hear their insights on this year’s annual meeting season.