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Tagged: shareholder rights
- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 5 months ago by
Mark Bentley.
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24th May 2020 at 10:53 pm #13393
The table below show what services the major investment platforms offer clients for information and voting rights on their holdings.
Platform Name: Can you ask the platform to notify you of upcoming general meetings for your shareholdings, or does the platform do this anyway? Is there a charge for this service? Can you ask the platform to automatically send you electronic copies of annual and interim reports, and circulars for your shareholdings? Is there a charge for this service? Can you ask the platform to automatically send you paper copies of annual and interim reports, and circulars for your shareholdings? Is there a charge for this service? Can you instruct the platform to vote on resolutions put to general meetings on your behalf? Is there a charge for this service? If voting is offered, is this through a simple electronic form, or is it more cumbersome to do so, e.g. by having to send a message with detailed voting instructions? Will the platform issue letters of representation so that you can attend, speak and vote at general meetings? Does the platform provide a standard electronic mechanism for requesting LoRs, or do specific messages have to be sent? Is there a charge for providing a LoR? AJ Bell YouInvest no – sometimes notified no no na no na yes no Unless you wish to vote for all resolutions in the same manner, a message has to be sent. yes a message must be sent no Hargreaves Lansdown no na no no no no yes no send an email -but it works fine. And for capital raises etc, there is a specific form to be filled out with detailed explanation Yes, and they are (now) quite efficient about it in the email system, it is one of the dropdown choices no charge HSBC no na no na no na Don’t know Don’t know no no na IG stockbrokers (direct client) no na no na no na yes, with difficulty no message and begging yes no £100 i-dealing no na no na no na no na no no na Interactive Brokers no na no na no na no na no no na Interactive Investors yes no yes no no no yes no electronic form yes yes, standard mechanism no Natwest Stockbrokers no na no na no na by special request only possibly special request yes no – special request possibly The Share Centre not reliably no no na yes no yes no electronic form yes yes – but may not cover AIM companies no 25th May 2020 at 11:24 am #13395Thanks Mark
The table looks good but the text is hard to read on the headers. Is it poss to change the contrast by lightening the background or making the text white rather than black.
Thanks
Mike25th May 2020 at 12:07 pm #13399Hi Mike,
I’ve improved the backgrouond colour for the header row.
Best,
Mark24th November 2020 at 5:38 pm #15622Thanks Mark, this table is brilliant.
This is Patrick from Leicester Square Signet. I have been with Share Centre. They have been very good at getting the registrars to send paper copies of annual reports etc. I even recently received the massive offer document for Shaftesbury’s open offer.
As you know they are being taken over by Interactive. The information I received was that interactive do not provide this service, although your table indicates that they do. Do you have any updated information?I will try to get them on the telephone, although this is increasingly difficult. Paper copies of contract notes would be good, although I dont’ think they do this either. You get an email after about 48 hours telling you to log in to the website to download your contract note. To me that is very “clunky”. I would like to be looked after with a more automatic follow up.
Finally do you know the details of what section of the Companies Act the information rights are set out in?
29th November 2020 at 4:56 pm #15719In reply to reply #15622Hi Patrick,
ii used to provide this service, but sadly it appears that they no longer do. I will update the table accordingly.
Part 9 of the Companies Act contains the provisions that enable (but do not require) nominee operators to nominate persons to receive information rights.
See this article for the latest on ShareSoc’s efforts to address these issues.
Best,
Mark
30th November 2020 at 11:53 am #15729In reply to reply #15719Mark
Many thanks for getting back to me on the Reports issue.Actually I was told on Friday that they do still offer this service. I had to speak to a person while trying to deal in a foreign stock and he told me how to opt into paper communications. In fact he said that he had changed the option for me, also including paper contract notes.
I am waiting to see if I receive any material following the stated change. . . .
Unfortunately I cannot remember where on the website he directed me to to achieve this.Patrick
23rd February 2021 at 8:43 am #17021The Telegraph wrote a useful article about AGMs and voting. see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/investing/shares/use-broker-hold-investments-account/
It was headed
How to use your broker to hold your investments to account
But the real story was in the byline – Stockbrokers require investors to jump through lots of hoops to register their vote.
It also explained the problems and quoted ShareSoc:
However, new investors might not know that owning company shares comes with part ownership of a company – and with it the right to vote on issues at their annual general meetings, or AGMs.
Investors can make their voice heard on far-ranging topics, from how much company leadership gets paid, to whether it pays a dividend or donates to a political party.
But fewer than 1pc of people actually take up their votes, according to ShareSoc, a non-profit organisation which represents the interests of shareholders in Britain.
Cliff Weight, of ShareSoc, said this was due to stockbrokers making it challenging for DIY investors to use their vote. Each broker has a different process for submitting votes.
The Telegraph article also included its guide on how to navigate the different broker processes.
23rd June 2021 at 4:47 pm #18782Hi, like Patrick, I enjoyed the excellent customer service provided by Sharecentre for many years. Unfortunately, ii service does not match up – due I suspect to the enormous influx of new customers from Sharecentre and elsewhere. I am currently doing battle with ii customer service over the provision of physical Annual and interim reports. I was led to believe they did facilitate them but now I am told they do not. Why is it that ii platform cannot provide this most important of services ? Because of the virus situation I have not yet broached the issuance of proxy letters to enable me to attend AGM’s. Any advice/assistance that members could offer would be appreciated. Regards, Robin Powell
23rd June 2021 at 5:02 pm #18783Hi Robin,
Regarding Letters of Representation, ii are very good with this. Under account > personal details & preferences > your account information, make sure to subscribe to the “voting and information service”. You will then be able to vote electronically and/request to attend a meeting in person. When a meeting is announced, you will then receive a message advising you about it and directing you to your “voting mailbox”. From there you can submit your vote or press a button to request attendance. If you press the button, a letter of representation will be sent to you automatically, after you’ve completed personal details.
Best,
Mark -
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