isuffrage.org  

Corporations control
your world.

Control them.

Are you worried about global warming, bloated executive compensation, corporate money in politics, or oil companies sponsoring genocide in Darfur? We the people own the corporations responsible for all this—through stock holdings, mutual funds and other investments. In theory, we can change their behavior. Now there is an initiative to turn that theory into practice.

Imagine you invest in a mutual fund. The fund has always voted the shares it holds on your behalf, but today it offers you a choice. You can have the fund continue to vote the shares, or the proxy rights can be transferred to a third party of your choosing—perhaps an environmental group, a trade union, or a professional association.

Now suppose an on-line "proxy exchange" is established, allowing millions of investors around the world to conveniently transfer proxy rights to whomever they like. What will recipients of all those proxy rights do with their new economic power? How will corporations be transformed? Welcome to the Investor Suffrage Movement. READ MORE

Latest News

More attention from the media

April, 30, 2008

Clear Profit and Global Proxy Watch, two digital newsletters about
responsible investing and corporate governance, just ran articles about
the Investor Suffrage Movement. IR Magazine, a print magazine for investor
relations professionals, is running a piece in June.

 

Described on CorpGov.net

April 21, 2008

The Investor Suffrage Movement and our proxy transfer trials were
described on the corporate governance website CorpGov.net. James
McRitchie, author and manager of the site, encouraged readers to
"consider joining what I think will be an important movement."

 

Proxy Transfer Trials Underway.

April, 16, 2008

Members are conducting proxy transfer trials—granting each other
proxy rights and attending shareholder meetings to test how broken
down the long-neglected proxy machinery is. Read of one eye-opening
experience from the trials, and then sign up to participate yourself..

 

Investor Suffrage Movement Launched!

March 18, 2008

Investing $2,500 of seed capital, Glyn Holton launched the Investor
Suffrage Movement with a website isuffrage.org. Goals for 2008 are
to incorporate as a non-profit, develop a membership, and run
initial tests of members transferring proxy rights among themselves.

 

Glyn Holton Addresses the ICPM.

June 5, 2007

At its Toronto meeting, the International Center for Pension
Management
hosted Holton to address a group of some 50 pension
executives on the concept of a proxy exchange. Attendees conducted
roundtable discussions to brainstorm and develop feedback.

 

Featured in Policy Innovations.

March 8, 2007

Funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Policy Innovations seeks
out and promotes practical solutions to global economic challenges.
For one week, the concept of a proxy exchange was the featured item
on the Policy Innovations homepage.

 

Concept Published.

November 1, 2006

The Financial Analysts Journal is the world's leading peer-reviewed 
practitioner journal in finance. Glyn Holton published his concept of a
proxy exchange in the journal's November/December 2006 issue.
That paper was the first time the concept appeared in print.