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Do you submit Proxy Votes?
03-22-2019, 11:38 PM
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#1
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 342
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Do you submit Proxy Votes?
It is Annual Meeting/Proxy season. The time of year when there is an increase in the number of stock proxy statements to consider. Many times the choices are pretty limited. e.g. For/Against this board member, or do you approve of this specific accounting firm. But in general:
- Do you read the proxy?
- Do you vote your proxy?
- If you vote do you just accept what the company recommends?
- Do you concentrate on those small shareholder raised actions specific to that business/industry?
- Like to have a vote on CEO and leadership pay (clawback)?
- Like having a separate CEO and chairman?
Good corporate governance is very important, but for a small shareholder this must be a waste of time??
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03-22-2019, 11:42 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,844
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Quote:
Originally Posted by triangle
It is Annual Meeting/Proxy season. The time of year when there is an increase in the number of stock proxy statements to consider. Many times the choices are pretty limited. e.g. For/Against this board member, or do you approve of this specific accounting firm. But in general:
- Do you read the proxy?
- Do you vote your proxy?
- If you vote do you just accept what the company recommends?
- Do you concentrate on those small shareholder raised actions specific to that business/industry?
- Like to have a vote on CEO and leadership pay (clawback)?
- Like having a separate CEO and chairman?
Good corporate governance is very important, but for a small shareholder this must be a waste of time??
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Yes
Yes
NO
No
No - Board of Directors Job
Yes
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03-23-2019, 06:01 AM
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#3
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Citrus Hills
Posts: 235
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Submitting the proxy vote also ensures that you are a shareholder of record. Making contact with shareholder services, whichever service the corporation uses once a year ensures that you will continue getting the dividend and it not be diverted in the belief you are a missing person. Realistically, this likely takes a few years to happen, but the easiest way is to vote the proxy.
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DISS-MISSED! work in Dec. 2018
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03-23-2019, 06:08 AM
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#4
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,714
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Running_Man
Yes
Yes
NO
No
No Yes
Yes
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My response is almost the same as RM’s.
Companies and mutual funds with proxies spend money to contact shareholders and solicit their vote. Not voting the proxy costs us money
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Do you submit Proxy Votes?
03-23-2019, 06:27 AM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
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Do you submit Proxy Votes?
I had a first-time occurrence (for me) relating to proxy voting just yesterday: an automated phone call from IBM reminding me to vote.
I’m hit-and-miss with respect to proxy voting but pay extra attention with certain stocks that I hold which have unusual news associated with operations. Recent examples would be Wells Fargo and Boeing.
[ADDED] No idea if the call was legit, although I do own some IBM shares. Since the number was not in my contacts it rolled over to voicemail and I listened to the message later.
__________________
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03-23-2019, 07:47 AM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,770
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Running_Man
Yes
Yes
NO
No
No - Board of Directors Job
Yes
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Ditto
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03-23-2019, 08:21 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,145
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Yes - it's pretty much for mutual funds when they occasionally request one. DH has one stock and he always does the proxy votes.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
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03-23-2019, 08:42 AM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,695
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB
My response is almost the same as RM’s.
Companies and mutual funds with proxies spend money to contact shareholders and solicit their vote. Not voting the proxy costs us money
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I'm with MichaelB.
Has anyone ever seen any of the results of these votes anything but overwhelming in favor toward what the Board recommended? I don't think I've ever seen it closer than 90/10. I have sometimes voted against the Board recommendations on fund issues, as opposed to Board members.
__________________
Retired in late 2008 at age 45. Cashed in company stock, bought a lot of shares in a big bond fund and am living nicely off its dividends. IRA, SS, and a pension await me at age 60 and later. No kids, no debts.
"I want my money working for me instead of me working for my money!"
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03-23-2019, 08:55 AM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Coronado
Posts: 3,706
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We only have a few individual stocks, mostly those of former employers and a couple that we bought for the shareholder benefits. DH likes to attend the annual meetings for a couple of companies, so he votes those. Otherwise I just read them and will vote if there's something interesting. If I would vote the same way the board recommends, then I don't bother.
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03-23-2019, 09:35 AM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,902
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I vote if they send me the materials or easy online access to the information. Those that require unique log ins, emails, phone calls, and fussing I ignore.
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03-23-2019, 09:22 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Boise
Posts: 7,882
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scrabbler1
Has anyone ever seen any of the results of these votes anything but overwhelming in favor toward what the Board recommended? I don't think I've ever seen it closer than 90/10. I have sometimes voted against the Board recommendations on fund issues, as opposed to Board members.
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My answers are the same as RM's.
To scrabbler1's question, the proxy vote on whether Hewlett-Packard Company should acquire Compaq was highly contentious and the result of the vote was very close to 50/50.
I was working for HP at the time, and thus owned a fair number of shares (mostly via options, IIRC). Since I felt strongly about the issue, I voted all of my shares (in various locations - option account, taxable account, RSU account, etc.).
Since the proxy battle was intense, both sides sent multiple proxies - speculation was that confused shareholders might vote all proxies as recommended, and in the case of multiple conflicting votes for the same shares, the last vote chronologically was how the vote was tallied. But each side used the same color, so if you were pro-merger you voted the white proxies and if you were anti-merger you voted the green proxies (or maybe vice versa).
There was speculation at the time, which I personally agree with, that there was a quid pro quo between the then-CEO and a large German bank - if the bank voted it's shares pro-merger, then that same bank's investment banking arm might get more use by HP in the future. The bank voted pro-merger at the very end, which was enough to tip the balance.
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"At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough, and what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events, may in fact be the first steps of a journey." Violet Baudelaire.
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03-23-2019, 09:31 PM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,604
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Col. Klink
Submitting the proxy vote also ensures that you are a shareholder of record. Making contact with shareholder services, whichever service the corporation uses once a year ensures that you will continue getting the dividend and it not be diverted in the belief you are a missing person. Realistically, this likely takes a few years to happen, but the easiest way is to vote the proxy.
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To clarify - does this situation only apply to shares directly registered in your own name and not those shares owned via a broker, 401k plan etc?
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03-23-2019, 09:34 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,370
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Quote:
Originally Posted by triangle
It is Annual Meeting/Proxy season. The time of year when there is an increase in the number of stock proxy statements to consider. Many times the choices are pretty limited. e.g. For/Against this board member, or do you approve of this specific accounting firm. But in general:
- Do you read the proxy?
- Do you vote your proxy?
- If you vote do you just accept what the company recommends?
- Do you concentrate on those small shareholder raised actions specific to that business/industry?
- Like to have a vote on CEO and leadership pay (clawback)?
- Like having a separate CEO and chairman?
Good corporate governance is very important, but for a small shareholder this must be a waste of time??
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Skim, yes... usually, never, no, yes, yes, probably.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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03-23-2019, 09:35 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,604
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare
I vote if they send me the materials or easy online access to the information. Those that require unique log ins, emails, phone calls, and fussing I ignore.
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I like the way that you think GrayHare!
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03-24-2019, 04:56 AM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,417
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AFAIK, one's vote is weighted upon how many share you have. My piddly votes/shares doesn't change anything compared to some large private investor fund that may own millions of shares.
Still, I tend to vote but usually vote for the current board.
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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03-24-2019, 06:04 AM
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#16
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 385
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I vote.
If the stock has done well over the past year I vote to keep the directors. If not, I vote to throw the bums out. I vote no on all celebrity directors. Usually vote against the pay issues and for more shareholder "say" initiatives. Always vote to change the auditor because it is always a good idea to review what the prior company was doing.
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03-24-2019, 06:17 AM
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#17
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Citrus Hills
Posts: 235
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gauss
To clarify - does this situation only apply to shares directly registered in your own name and not those shares owned via a broker, 401k plan etc?
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Yes. Applies if shares are in your name such as when you make a share purchase directly from the company or a service such as Computershare. It happens infrequently, but in particular when someone does not cash dividend checks and does not vote the proxy. There was a recent reminder about this in a recent proxy mailing I got from Computershare.
__________________
DISS-MISSED! work in Dec. 2018
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03-24-2019, 06:28 AM
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#18
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,714
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As a reminder, proxy votes on executive pay are advisory and not binding. Shareholder approval is only needed to authorize additional shares of stock, and once approved, the BoD has great flexibility in its use. Stockholders have no authority over executive compensation.
Coca Cola had this problem with its 2014 Executive Equity Plan. The plan was to authorize 500 million new shares as incentive for management and executives. The shareholder vote approved by a large margin of votes cast but less than half of shares outstanding, as major institutional holders abstained but were public with their criticism, including Warren Buffet, the largest shareholder. Technically approved, the Board nonetheless redesigned the program to reduce scale.
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"Buzz buzz", said Babbity Bumble
03-24-2019, 07:07 AM
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#19
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: The Shire
Posts: 1,504
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"Buzz buzz", said Babbity Bumble
Quote:
Originally Posted by scrabbler1
Has anyone ever seen any of the results of these votes anything but overwhelming in favor toward what the Board recommended? I don't think I've ever seen it closer than 90/10.
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I've always seen it written in the fine print that when a proxy isn't returned, management votes those shares.
What's more opaque to me is the process by which an individual shareholder can raise a proposal to be voted on. I'm not talking about activist investors who buy billions of $$ worth of stock and demand board seats. I mean little people of ordinary means.
There was a famous gadfly who would buy 100 shares in many companies and manage to introduce proposals which made it on the lists for a lot shareholder votes. I never saw any approved by the overall vote, but that individual kept buzzing around for years. It made me wonder why there weren't more of those.
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Paying it forward is the best investment.
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03-24-2019, 09:25 AM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Col. Klink
Yes. Applies if shares are in your name such as when you make a share purchase directly from the company or a service such as Computershare. It happens infrequently, but in particular when someone does not cash dividend checks and does not vote the proxy. There was a recent reminder about this in a recent proxy mailing I got from Computershare.
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I believe that's for shares when compuserve is the transfer agent for the issue and you are buying directly. If the shares were owned as a pool(401k, other broker), like @Gauss is asking, compuserve has no idea who the registration is for.
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