Attending AGMs Using AJ Bell’s Voting Service

How their service works in practice

Relatively recently, AJ Bell introduced an electronic voting service for clients, which can be accessed from the Account menu (Voting Instructions) when viewing your portfolio. The technology used for this (Broadridge) is the same as that which interactive investor (ii) use for their service. It also offers the option of requesting attendance at a general meeting, which can be found at the top of the form for completing voting instructions.

When I use that option with ii, they send me a letter of representation (LoR), by post, authorising me to attend, vote and speak as representative of their nominee in respect of my holding. The voting/attendance feature on ii’s website can be accessed from the “Manage” option on the “Portfolio menu” and then select “Voting Mailbox”.

I recently requested attendance at two AGMs through AJ Bell’s service and was surprised and disappointed not to receive LoRs from them. Ahead of the AGMs, I queried this with AJ Bell. They advised me that Broadridge communicates the authorisation directly to the registrars of the company concerned and that I would be permitted to attend, speak and vote if I simply presented my ID at the registration desk.

I did this at the AGM of FTSE100 mining company Endeavour Mining and am delighted to report that it worked. I just showed up at the registration desk for the AGM and was duly handed a poll card showing the correct number of shares that I held with AJ Bell.

However, I wish to attend the AGM of Digital 9 (DGI9), which may be controversial. To be certain of gaining admission, I requested a physical LoR using AJ Bell’s secure messaging service and duly received it in the post.

I hope that other clients of AJ Bell find this information helpful.

Mark Bentley, Director, ShareSoc

DISCLOSURE: The author holds shares in Endeavour Mining and DGI9

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