Why You Should Become An Active Shareholder

Many investors feel attending annual general meetings and voting on issues like directors’ remuneration is pointless, but Simon Brown maintains that this is an important part of being a responsible shareholder.

- Simon Brown

I have written before about annual general meetings (AGMs) being rather dull affairs that in some cases barely last as long as the complimentary cup of coffee (if any is provided).

There are virtually no questions from the floor and voting is mostly done by proxy (with the shareholders being absent but instructing the chairperson how to vote on their behalf). And practically all resolutions get carried by massive majorities.

As shareholders, this is partly our fault because private investors tend to not even bother voting. This is because private investors often take the view that their votes are too small to count. This is true, but just because our view doesn’t win doesn’t mean we shouldn’t vote. This is a very important part of being an investor.