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Corporations
control
your world.
Control
them.
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The Investor Suffrage Movement is
a grassroots initiative to fix what is wrong with
corporations while preserving what is good. We are
motivated by an intriguing idea, first published in
2006, that has the potential to profoundly alter
corporate behavior and strengthen our economy.
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
a non-profit, a trade union, or a professional
association.
Now suppose an on-line "proxy exchange" is established,
allowing millions of investors around the world to easily
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
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We The People ... |
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"I know no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of
the society but the people themselves; and if we
think them not enlightened enough to exercise their
control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is
not to take it from them, but to inform their
discretion by education."robert Monks
- Thomas Jefferson
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Latest News |
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September, 2009
The United
States Proxy Exchange Is already advocating for the rights of
shareholders. Over the past two months, it has organized two
substantive
letters to the SEC on proposed new rules. Co-signers have included
prominent
shareholder activists John Chevedden, John Harrington, Jim McRitchie,
Robert
Monks and Steve Nieman. Read the letters
here and
here.
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August 15, 2009, 2009
The United
States Proxy Exchange is up and running with a handsome new
corporate seal. You can
read about the seal and the artist who designed it.
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May 7, 2009
Today, the
Christian Science Monitor ran a wonderful feature article about
the
Investor Suffrage Movement. You can read the piece
here.
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May 7, 2009
It is proxy season! Field agents have moved a total of eight
resolutions at five
shareholder meetings. Almost all have passed! Field agents are
scheduled
to attend another three meetings to move five resolutions. This is
in addition to
field agents attending meetings simply to vote a proxy and show a
presence.
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May 7, 2009
Today, we filed articles of incorporation for the Investor Suffrage
Movement
and the United States Proxy Exchange. The former will continue as an
activist
group. The latter will be the legal entity through which we shall
transfer proxies.
Our next step is to obtain non-profit status for both corporations. |
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March 7, 2009
Institutional investors have faced a roadblock to filing many
shareholder
resolutions—someone has to attend the shareholder meetings to
formally
move each resolution. A new program removes this costly and
time-consuming
burden by making our growing network of field agents available to
attend
meetings and move resolutions on behalf of institutional investors.
Read more. |
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October 31, 2008
In
October, we recruited our first ten field agents. Shareholder activist
John
Chevedden lead, receiving badge no. 00001. See the
entire list.
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August 22, 2008
We are organizing a team of
volunteers throughout the United States and
internationally. Called field agents, they will perform shareholder
related
activities on behalf of other shareholders—tasks such as filing
shareholder
proposals and attending annual meetings as legal proxies.
Read more.
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August 10, 2008
Investor Suffrage Movement
t-shirts have our logo on the front and
a
catchy saying on the back. The cost is $24.95 plus shipping.
Order yours now.
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June 17, 2008
Our monthly e-mail newsletter
Investor Suffrage News just launched.
This will
be our primary means of keeping in touch with the growing community
of people interested in the movement. If you aren't receiving the
newsletter,
sign
up today. |
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June 11, 2008
The Associated Press wrote a wonderful piece on the movement that
opened
"The proxy voting forms that many
investors toss aside could one
day become
prized armaments in
battles over how companies are run."
The
Chicago Tribune,
Boston Globe ,
Hartford Courant and other newspapers ran the story.
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June 2, 2008
Our first round of proxy
transfer trials ended successfully. We attempted
five proxy assignments in the US and Canada. Three succeeded. We
learned valuable lessons from all five and plan to conduct additional
trials in the future. Thanks to all who participated! |
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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. |
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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."
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April, 16, 2008
Volunteers 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.. |
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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 and run initial tests of
volunteers
transferring proxy rights
among themselves. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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