Covid Boosts “Virtual Inspections Of Elections” A Big Potential Money-Saver… Our Tips On Acting Smartly
In 2021 - thanks largely to sensible Covid-era precautions - U.S. companies overwhelmingly relied on “Virtual” attendance of Inspectors of Election - and auditor representatives too - at their shareholder meetings. Our sister-company, CT Hagberg LLC, logged fewer than...In 2022 Issuers Will Have To Fight Harder Than Ever For The More-Important-Than-Ever Retail Vote
This year, The OPTIMIZER believes that the battle for the management-friendly retail investor vote will be harder to win than ever before - even while the retail vote will be a bigger decider than ever before. Here’s why: Over the past 18 months more than 22 million...The Outlook – And Our Advice – For In-Person, VSM And Hybrid Meetings In 2022… Straight From The Frontlines
The number-one question we’re being asked as readers gear up for the 2022 Meeting Season, and as Covid cases began rising again, is “What are most companies planning to do this year?” So far, as our sister-company, that will provide Inspectors of Election at over 500...A Better Way To Conduct a Proxy Fight: Save Time and Money… and Get The Results Right the First Time
An open letter to issuers, proxy solicitors and advisors and their legal counsel: Dear friends and colleagues; We are pleased and excited to announce that CT Hagberg LLC is now prepared to offer an outstanding roster of Independent Inspectors of Election who stand...ESG Voting Far Exceeds Our Own High Expectations For 2021
Our 2021 Special Supplement, available only at OptimizerOnline.com, featured nearly a dozen interviews with prominent shareholder meeting observers - all of whom - including us - predicted record-breaking success for ESG proposals this season - although we’re not sure...Huge News – Number-Two Transfer Agent EQ Sells To VC Buyer: Number Three Quickly Follows: The ‘End Game’ For The Overcrowded T-A Biz At Long Last?
In something of a bombshell announcement, Equiniti Group PLC - the UK-based owner of US Transfer Agent EQ - announced on May 27 that it has agreed to sell its entire portfolio of business to Earth Private Holdings, LTD - a newly-formed company owned by funds managed...The Best, Worst and a few So-So VSMs of 2021 to Learn From
To get a good idea of how to run a well-run, shareholder-friendly and useful VSM, start, we say, with our run-throughs of this year’s VSMs of last year’s winners - UnitedHealth Group and UPS… UNITEDHEALTH GROUP’s Board Secretary Dannette Smith once again guided us...VSMs – At A Tipping Point We Say – Our Predictions For 2022
Now that the U.S. economy is ready to open up for public meetings once again - and with plans for the 2022 Shareholder Meeting Season already needing to be considered - there has been a lot of speculation on the ultimate fate of Virtual Shareholder Meetings. Here are...VSM Service Providers Enhance Platforms To Improve Access For Street-Name Holders
Good news: The top-four VSM service providers - Broadridge, Computershare, EQ and Mediant - worked together as a sub-committee of the “End-to-End Vote Confirmation Committee” - and, as we’d predicted they would, they have come up with ways to make it easier and surer...VSMs Come On Strong As Preferred 2021 Meeting Venues
As the Covid pandemic continues to make in-person shareholder meetings a poor choice for most widely-held companies, most of last year’s VSM users - and a large number of companies that used “strong keep-away rules” last year instead - have been lining up extra early,...Here’s Another Useful Development To Smooth The Way At Your VSM: IROs Finally Get A Prime Seat At The AGM Table
One of the most interesting - and encouraging - and useful developments with regard to VSMs - has been the fast-growing importance of the corporate Investor Relations staff - both in terms of preparing for the Meeting, and often, in playing a significant on-air role...The Biggest VSM Blooper To Avoid: Lost Connectivity Here’s How To Get Set For 2021 – And To Prepare For The Worst Things That Can Happen With Your Meeting Technology
We have had many decidedly up and down experiences listening to the all-too-numerous webinars on VSMs of late where the guidance was flatly wrong, or important facts were omitted: Most notably on what to do if you lose “connectivity” during the course of your...Several Serious “Bloopers” In The 2020 Q&A And Voting Periods That Are Very Easy To Fix For 2021
Our good-friend and fellow VSM-reporter Doug Chia recently posted the following, from widely-followed shareholder proponent Jim McRitchie: “Here’s one for you. I just got off the virtual meeting of [XYZ company - name redacted by the OPTIMIZER since they were far from...Issuers: Big Investors Are Raising The Bar On Their Expectations For VSMs Big-time: We Predict A Potential Shortage Of Top-quality VSM Providers Vs. Expected Demand… Start Your Engines Now!
Glass Lewis’s late November release of its 2021 policy guidelines pretty much summed up what every major investor says they will be looking for in Shareholder Meetings in 2021: We look for robust disclosure in a company’s proxy statement which assures shareholders...Inspectors Of Election: More Important Than Ever With VSMs
Since the very first VSM hit the airwaves the OPTIMIZER has been advising that the Inspector of Elections should be playing a key role - mainly because, with everything taking place in cyberspace, investors really need some added assurances that all of the voting is...Information Agents: Everything You Need To Know… Except For The Really Important Stuff?
The OPTIMIZER editors - and other professional “Wall-Street-Watchers” too - are always avid watchers of the “tombstones” that describe the terms of newly proposed Mergers and Acquisitions - and especially those “Offers to Purchase for Cash” - in newspapers of record...SEC Fines Transfer Agent VStock Transfer LLC For Numerous Violations; Sets Conditions For A Compliance Consultant To Audit, Report, Recommend And Followup On Remedial Actions
The SEC’s August 27th Release institutes a Cease and Desist Order on a virtual kitchen-sink of violations, including failure to transfer and turn securities around within required time frames, failure to report their failures to do so, failures to properly safeguard...A Few Notes On The Second Proxy Contest Conducted As A Virtual-Only Event… And On The Use Of A “Universal Ballot”
The OPTIMIZER’s sister-company, CT Hagberg LLC, provided the Independent Inspector of Election in September at what we believe was the second Virtual-Only proxy contest to date, at a small bank in the Midwest. Three of the bank’s investors, with roughly 30% of the...The Five Best VSMs To Review – And To Learn From… The Most Noteworthy Feature Of The Very Best VSMs? Women!
A month or so ago we suddenly realized that a feature that made the best VSMs so special had gone totally unremarked. So we emailed a little preview of the article we intended to write in this issue to our great friends at TheCorporateCounsel.net. “Here’s another...Real-Time Voting At AGMs – The Peskiest – And The Stupidest Issue At VSMs – Plus… Our Own Suggested Workaround
As public companies have learned to their dismay and consternation this year, a “Virtual-Only” Meeting of Shareholders requires issuers - and the service suppliers they utilize - to give both registered and street-name holders the ability to cast their votes in...Plan For A VSM – Or – For A “Stringently Limited In-Person Meeting” In 2021… Now
It’s October 2020, and the chances that public companies will be able to responsibly host in-person Shareholder Meetings any time before October 2021 are virtually ZERO - unless in-person attendance can be strictly rationed to include only the most essential...More Fascinating Materials for the Evelyn Y. Davis File
Following the article for our History File on the notorious EYD, a good friend and former colleague, Stan Siekierski of AST - who is, we believe, the longest-serving person in the Stock Transfer business ever - sent us a rare copy of Evelyn’s HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS...The Virtual Shareholder Meeting Q&A – and How to Tackle It
The most troublesome issues at 2020 VSMs - by far - have revolved around the Question and Answer Period: Just as we had warned, many activist investors took pains to submit questions - both in advance, via an e-mail to the company’s Investor-Page - or by typing into a...The Long and Sometimes Checkered Past of the Proxy Solicitation Business… An Article for Our History File, with Several Lessons Worth Learning
Following the announcement that EQ, the relatively new owners of Wells Fargo Shareholder Services was entering the proxy solicitation business, our good friend, loyal reader and fellow history lover Michael Mackey, President of Alliance Advisors, sent us an outline of the many comings and goings there have been in this fascinating and hotly contested space.
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.