Stock Transfer Agents – Coping With a Shrinking Universe of Providers
Transfer agents take a lot of heat – from shareholders – and sometimes from their clients too, although, after all, that’s what you really pay them to do.
Q&A With Abby Cowart
New Executive Director of the Shareholder Services Association
The Return Of The Telephone
An Interview with Ellen Philip & Cal Donly Of Ellen Philip Associates
The Optimizer Interviews Jay McHale & Bill Jackson Of Computershare/Georgeson
“Gentleman: 2015 set an all-time record for mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs. With a truly astonishing $4.7 trillion in deals announced, and with so many of the deals involving “mega-cap companies”, we imagine that the impacts on Computershare and on Georgeson Were significant ones. So… for starters….”
The World Of Shareholder Meetings
An Interview With Michael Mackey, President, Alliance Advisors, LLC
The SSA Announced This Year’s James R. Smith Scholarship Winner – Its 12th!
An 18-year-old Connecticut high-school senior with his sights set on a career in nursing has been named the winner of the 2016 award under the James R. Smith Scholarship Program of the Shareholder Services Association.
Here’s The Optimizer’s Roadmap for Better Governance of the Corporate Cash Register – and Share Buyback Programs in Particular
This exercise requires deep thinking – and some somewhat elaborate math that needs to be ‘made simple’ for readers who are not professional economists.
Beefs On Buybacks Finally Gain Some Traction
At long last, the problems and perils of poorly-conceived and poorly executed share-buyback programs are starting to get the attention they deserve.
The Auditor “Blooper Of The Year”?
In mid-February our good buddy Broc Romanek, editor of The CorporateCounsel.net forwarded a question he got from one of his many avid readers, as follows:
Berkshire Hathaway Will Stream Its Annual Meeting Via Yahoo…YAHOO! We Say… But Add a Tiny Boo or Two Too
In last year’s wrap-up of the 2015 shareholder meeting season we predicted that more and more companies would go back to actually trying to make the meetings more inviting – and more useful to shareholders.
Some Tips for Choosing a Proxy Solicitor/Advisor
“Do not try this at home” – even if you think you have a good safety net: You will almost certainly find yourself “in over your head” one day, you will likely leave a lot of votes ‘on the table’ as unvoted…and, worst of all, your tabulation will have virtually no credibility if challenged.
Checklist of “BEST PRACTICES” in Evaluating and Selecting a TRANSFER AGENT
We first published this article in 2003 and, believe it or not, it didn’t need much updating until recently, other than to note that there has been a very good market for buyers of TA services and a very difficult one for sellers throughout this long period of industry contraction.
The Original “Shareholder Activists” and the Founders of the Modern Corporate Governance Movement
Your editor-in-chief was fortunate to have been a witness to dozens and dozens of ‘performances’ by the Gilbert brothers at shareholder meetings, where he came to know them both.
“RFP-LITE”
Goodbye and Good Riddance We Say, To Those 20+ Page RFPs with their 200-Page Responses
Why Companies & Investors Are Embracing Real Online Annual Reports
Will U.S. Companies Take a Cue from Their European Counterparts & Jump on This Rising Trend? By Erwin Groenendal of Tangelo Software Annual reports serve a vital function. Aside from fulfilling the SEC’s requirements with the Form 10-K, substantial annual reports...ADRmageddon…SEC Enforcement Subpoenas Hit The Top-4 ADR Banks: Mega-Scandals Threaten ADR Bankers – And Maybe ADRs Themselves
The SEC’s Enforcement Division has issued wide-ranging subpoenas to the four largest ADR banks - and to many of their top officials, we are told - demanding detailed information going all the way back to 1997, according to our source - the chief whistleblower, who,...Remember Our Prediction That Board “Diversity” Will Have a Big Breakaway Year in 2017?
Just as we began this issue, we discovered, in a September 30 article on TheStreet.com by reporter Robert Orol that Diversity Measures on Corporate Boards had already had a “Breakout Year” – and that yes, 2017 will be a “Breakaway Year” for sure. And it sure looks to...Audits & Opportunities
Unclaimed Property Compliance Update. A review of the current unclaimed property enforcement environment and recent legislative developments.
Huge News On The Abandoned Property Front
As we just learned at the SSA conference in July, a sweeping re-draft of the so-called Uniform Abandoned Property Act has been approved, that would, among other things, call for state treasurers to wait at least three years before selling any “underlying securities” deemed abandoned…
Insights on some of the most important tools and skill-sets that public companies need to have at the ready as we head into the 2017 proxy season…
Interview with Bruce Goldfarb, President & CEO of Okapi Partners
Improve Your Retail Vote
Interview with Ellen Philip, ELLEN PHILIP Associates The Optimizer’s Editor In Chief Interviews Ellen Philip of Ellen Philip Associates “Among the first things that issuers need to do this year, is to step back a bit, take a hard, fresh, numbers-oriented look at...Yikes – They’re Back, As Warned: Last-Minute Proxy Fights… And Supposedly “Irrevocable” Proxies
And Those Dangerous “Floor Votes” Too… Very Badly Advised!
Proxy Statements Transitioning From Compliance To Communications-Focused Documents
By Ron Schneider, Director, Corporate Governance Services, RR Donnelley
Another Proxy Voting Scam – And The Scamsters – Revealed
SCAMSTERS MASQUERADING AS INVESTORS MANUFACTURE PROXY VOTES IN A FAILED AT EMPT TO SEAL A DEAL…THE BIG SURPRISE? NOTHING REALLY NEW HERE: WHO’S WATCHING THE PROXY BIZ ANYWAY?
Our Top Takeaways From The Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Season
The biggest takeaway, by far, is how much smooth sailing those proxy access proposals with 3% ownership and 3-year holding periods encountered… pretty much as we predicted.
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.