Mail on Sunday, 25 July 2021, Do shareholders want to vote?

This is a personal blog by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight and does not necessarily reflect ShareSoc’s position.

With regard to concerns about the need and demand for voting services, there is some good data in the Mail On Sunday today which is helpful in demonstrating the need for providing a good, quick, easy to use voting service. Viz

Older investors are leading the way in influencing the companies they invest in, according to a new survey by Interactive Investor.

A third of investors aged over 65 are registered to vote at the annual meetings of the companies in which they hold shares, according to a survey of the wealth manager’s customers.

However, only a quarter of its investors aged 55 to 64 are registered – and this number drops again to a fifth of those aged 45 to 54. Younger investors are least likely to vote. Just 5 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds are registered to vote and only 2 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

The full article is here. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/investing/article-9821699/Older-investors-leading-way-influencing-companies-invest-in.html and quotes me

Cliff Weight, director of investor campaign group ShareSoc, says most investment platforms do not encourage customers to vote because they don’t think there is sufficient demand. But he adds: ‘Until you provide a service, you don’t know if people want it. It’s like if something’s not on the menu, you don’t know if people will order it.’

ShareSoc and UKSA continue to lobby the Government, BEIS and the Law Commission to restore shareholder’s rights eroded by the the introduction and growth of nominee accounts and platforms.