From time to time we hear from shareholders who are dissatisfied and feel powerless to influence what is happening in their company. As a shareholder what can you do to have your say?
Our answer
We encourage you as a shareholder to tell your company what you feel about its performance. There are a number of ways you can do this:
visit its website. There may be a page for investors and some companies have an email link for communicating with their shareholders
write to all, or some, of the directors with your feedback
send your feedback to the company's Investor Relations Unit. Many companies now have these units which tell management and the board what you are saying.
From time to time you will receive quite lengthy documents from your company. Take the time to read them. Sometimes they ask you to vote on a specific proposal. You may still be able to vote without attending a meeting. Look at the documents. Do they include a proxy* form and/or a statement about the right to appoint a proxy? If they do, then you can still vote.
* A proxy is someone who you choose to attend the meeting on your behalf and to vote for you. Sometimes you can tell your proxy how to vote and other times you may leave it up to them. Read the document for information about this
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