After steady annual increases over the past decade, the number of VSMs jumped significantly in the first five months of 2020. [1] This is due to several factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including: social distancing guidelines from federal, state, and local authorities that dissuade groups of people from gathering; company travel restrictions on management, directors, and staff; and temporary permission to hold “virtual-only” shareholder meetings by several states that otherwise restrict them. Apart from factors related to the pandemic, the number of VSMs was expected to increase modestly year-over-year as familiarity with them grows among companies and shareholders, and as the greater shift toward digital communications unfolds.

Broadridge’s VSM service supports applicable rules and regulations for conducting shareholder meetings and provides functional choices for issuers and shareholders to utilize, consistent with best practices. [2] The platform provides a means for shareholders to vote at the meeting and, when meetings have shareholder proposals, proponents may present them by living voice. Participants can submit questions to management during the meeting, through a ‘question box.’ Many issuers utilize a function to enable validated shareholders to also submit questions in advance of their shareholder meetings.

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