Broadridge has extended its global agreement with European investment infrastructure, Upvest, to further deliver and enhance end-to-end proxy voting and shareholder disclosure solutions for Upvest clients and their end users.
The fintech giant will continue providing Upvest with a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for the full range of client proxy voting needs, including meeting notification, vote execution, and confirmation. Digital and entry card services are also included as they enable online and in-person voting at meetings.
Upvest will leverage Broadridge’s white-labeled, fully integrated interface for proxy voting via its own website. The partnership allows Upvest to meet SRD II regulatory requirements and deliver enhanced shareholder services for end-users.
Broadridge’s Shareholder Disclosure Hub will be utilized by Upvest’s clients for its comprehensive, proactive online reporting solution that enables them to meet the regulatory disclosure obligations in a single portal, minimizing risk and improving operational efficiency.
The goal is to deliver user-centric convenience and transparency for Upvest’s retail investors. Broadridge’s end-to-end solution across global markets enables Upvest to extend its B2B services quickly and effectively to meet growing client and industry demand.
“A differentiated and outstanding investor experience”
Demi Derem, SVP of International Investor Communication Solutions at Broadridge, said: “We are thrilled to be chosen by Upvest as their proxy voting and shareholder disclosure partner. Our corporate governance solutions, including Global Proxy and Shareholder Disclosure help our clients meet their regulatory obligations and enhance services for investors. We continually invest and innovate to ensure we remain best in class.”
Til Rochow, co-founder and CPO at Upvest, commented: “We are truly excited to work alongside Broadridge to provide our clients and their end users with best-in-class proxy voting and shareholder disclosure solutions. This partnership further cements our goal of delivering a differentiated and outstanding investor experience for our clients.”
Broadridge extended ProxyVote App to retail investors
It was in 2023 that Broadridge enhanced its ProxyVote App to make it easier and more transparent for retail investors to participate in corporate governance and vote their proxies. The features help investors to view relevant information more easily and quickly on proxy proposals, preset their voting preferences on topics that matter most to them, see their votes counted as cast, and receive automatic updates on final results.
With Broadridge, individual investors can now preset voting instructions in advance of shareholder meetings. The ProxyVote App provides an easy way for them to specify how they want to vote on common types of proposals, including elections of directors and say-on-pay, among others. Their preferences are indicated when they receive their ballots. They can easily view proxy information and make changes before they click to cast their vote.
Updates on Meeting Results: The ProxyVote App updates investors with their vote detail during the meeting and with the final vote results once the meeting has concluded.
Vote Confirmation: ProxyVote.com and the ProxyVote App both confirm votes once submitted, providing shareholders with even greater levels of assurance and trust that their votes are counted as cast.
Director and Proposal Deep Links: Shareholders can easily access proxy information, including direct links to Directors up for election or proposals on the agenda. This provides quick access to detailed information for more informed voting.
ProxyVote App Enables Pass-through Voting: There is growing interest by asset managers to receive voting indications from their investors for the underlying equities that make up the investment funds. This is referred to as client directed or “pass-through” voting. The enhancements launched in Broadridge’s ProxyVote App are a foundation for enabling pass-through voting by individual investors.
Ease of Use Through Multiple Platforms: Broadridge is the only proxy service provider to have an app in the market that allows investors to submit their votes and confirm that their vote has been tabulated. The ProxyVote App is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play. Broadridge also provides the flexibility for investors to vote on the platforms of their choosing including broker apps, online via www.proxyvote.com, by phone, mail or virtually at annual meetings.
Last year, Danske Bank deployed Broadridge’s global proxy voting technology that streamlines the proxy voting process and ensures greater accuracy and speed. The move enables Danske Bank’s clients to make more informed and timely investment decisions. Live operations for proxy voting with Broadridge commenced in September. Danske Bank is now benefitting from the unified and resilient solution to support efficient investor voting for meetings in all regions including EMEA, the Americas and Asia/Pacific.
