Georgeson Canada has launched a new service to help public companies contact shareholders and immediately gather their votes, all with one phone call, the proxy and corporate governance advisory services said Monday.

Aimed at improving the response rate of retail shareholders in the corporate voting process, the TeleVote process quickly and efficiently contacts shareholders and immediately takes their voting instructions over the phone.

Georgesen Canada says the new service eliminates the need for re-mailings, reminder calls, and other proxy solicitation communications, which can increase expenses for issuers and overwhelm shareholders.

“Based on our experience in the United States, we have found that the TeleVote process can increase the retail voting response rate, in some cases up to 60%. Quite a jump from the traditional response rates generated from other solicitation means,” said Roy Shanks, president, Georgeson Canada. “The real value in the TeleVote process is in the simplicity it creates for shareholders. There are no forms to fill out, papers to mail in, they simply answer the phone and vote.”

As opposed to telephone or internet voting, which requires the shareholder to initiate the process, the TeleVote process proactively contacts the shareholder and gives them the opportunity to vote immediately, an “instant vote.” That is great news for issuers when considering the critical role the retail investor votes play in the approval of board initiatives.

“For many companies, a large percentage of their shareholder base is in retail or individual investor hands. Our experience indicates that without additional prompting after a mailing, the response rate for retail shareholders is very low, approximately 5 to 10%,” noted Shanks.

IE