From weddings and concerts to industry conferences and shareholder meetings, large gatherings have been impacted by coronavirus-related restrictions. In fact, most S&P 500 companies this year moved their shareholder meetings from an in-person event to online, according to The Wall Street Journal in a recent article, “Shareholders Feel Muted as Companies Switch to Virtual Annual Meetings.”
Faced with the option to postpone the meeting, 87 percent of businesses opted for a virtual event compared with 23 percent of meetings held remotely in 2019, according to data provider MyLogIQ. The article further notes that companies who moved to a virtual shareholder meeting found them to be cheaper and less time-consuming, but shareholders complain they offer less scope for participation as many companies ask for questions in advance, respond only to a select number of them and do not disclose how many were received.
The article, however, notes that technology providers are looking for ways to improve virtual shareholder meetings.
We couldn’t agree more with this statement. This means listening to feedback from companies and shareholders alike and addressing concerns and challenges going forward. At Mediant, we believe in providing easy and equal access to all shareholders because, as part owners in a company, they have a right for their voices to be heard.
Increasing shareholder engagement begins with providing a frictionless shareholder experience. Our Digital Shareholder Meeting (DSM) solution accomplishes this by:
- Authenticating nearly all registered as well as beneficial owners regardless of broker, enabling them to vote and ask questions
- Providing the annual report, proxy statement and registration on the same page
- Participating via preferred channel: mobile, tablet and computer
- Having customizable registration
In addition, DSM allows for question logs and meeting recordings, which can be posted by companies. We are always working on designing enhancements that further improve the shareholder experience and increase the participation and transparency that was noted in the article.
We also believe that having dedicated experts with unparalleled industry knowledge to support both shareholders and companies is key to a having a successful digital meeting. That’s why we provide call center support for shareholders and technical meeting support for all attendees.
As with all our investor communications solutions, our focus is on building technologies that drive shareholder engagement and meet shareholders where they are.
Request a demo to learn more about MIC Digital Shareholder Meeting.