“The revolution in shareholder democracy will take years to be fully realized, but it is one that, if executed correctly, can strengthen the very foundation of capitalism.”
- Larry Fink, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BlackRock
Levin emphasizes simplicity of the messages and reinforcing
not just what you are doing to make a change but clearly displaying how you are making progress. Social media posts, videos, and blogs are all being leveraged to get the message out to the retail investor. Remember, we are not in this alone. “IROs sometimes feel
lonely,” Watson comments. “Work with marketing, with corporate governance, and more. Have a bigger team around you to share the work. Tat way you can think about the longer term, so we are not panicking.” Te BlackRock pilot is the first of its kind, which means there
is still much for IROs, issuers, fund managers, broker dealers, proxy advisors, transfer agents and just about the entire invest- ment community to learn. Let’s learn together. Te IR community should continue this discussion. Share your own thoughts and best practices for communicating with retail investors. Discuss your methodologies for analyzing your shareholder base and best educating your management teams on the impact Voting Choice may have on your proxy process. Te importance of corporate governance and investor steward-
ship will only get stronger, but the IR community can get stronger alongside these developments. Only time will tell, but let’s not wait for the contested vote to take action. As Fink has said, “Te revolution in shareholder democracy
will take years to be fully realized, but it is one that, if executed correctly, can strengthen the very foundation of capitalism.” IR
Kimberly Esterkin is Vice President of Investor Relations at ASGN Incorporated and a member of the NIRI Board of Directors;
kimberly.esterkin@
asgn.com.
References “It’s all about choice,” BlackRock;
www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/ publication/its-all-about-choice.pdf
“Te transformative power of choice in proxy voting,” BlackRock; www.
blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/investment-stewardship/blackrock- voting-choice/proxy-voting-power-of-choice
“Empowering investors through BlackRock Voting Choice,” BlackRock; www.
blackrock.com/corporate/about-us/investment-stewardship/blackrock- voting-choice#u.s.-pilot-program
“Every Vote Counts: Te Importance of Fund Voting and Disclosure,” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;
www.sec.gov/about/commissioners/ allison-herren-lee
“BlackRock Expands Voting Choice to Millions of U.S. Retail Shareholder Accounts,” February 13, 2024, Marketwire; https://marketwirenews. com/news-releases/blackrock-expands-voting-choice-to-millions-of-u-
s-r-4617767606652067.html
“Millions of Fund Investors Are Getting a Voice,” Te New York Times, February 26, 2024;
www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/business/vanguard-
blackrock-state-street-investing-voting.html
niri.org/ irupdate
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