Our job is to provide you with relevant information and news as it relates to your assets. We strive to seek out the information and relay it back to you in such a way, so you can make decisions on how to manage your wealth and your asset protection plan. Many of you are likely individual investors and as of last July, it seems David has won a small battle against Goliath.
You may have noticed in the past few months when you receive your shareholder ballots that if you don’t reply, your broker will send you several reminders asking for your vote. I know I have noticed it. And in years past, you received one notice requesting your vote and if you didn’t reply, that was the last you heard of it.
In July 2009, the NYSE Rule 452 was amended to disallow the automatic broker vote. What this means is that if you don’t vote, your broker cannot vote for you. Pre-July 2009, if you didn’t vote, your broker could cast a vote on your behalf. And 9 times out of 10, the broker would just vote yes to the board recommendations unless there was a major movement to oust executives.
Historically, only about 30% of the shareholder ballots are returned with a vote. Which leaves 70% with no vote, and before last year, the broker likely just voted in favor of the board recommendations. Now, without your vote, the broker cannot vote on your behalf, which makes your vote much more important. This is great news for the small investor. We actually have won a small battle against the Wall Street behemoths.
Very great information.