Broadridge Financial Solutions has launched its new Virtual Shareholder Meeting (VSM) service, which allows corporate issuers to conduct their annual shareholder meeting electronically. The online meeting format, which can be streamed as audio or video feed, is aimed at increasing participation in annual general meetings and may drive up the volumes of corporate actions events as a result.
According to the vendor, the new service allows for the authentication of shareholders that wish to participate in the online events. Robert Schifellite, president of the Investor Communication Solutions division at Broadridge, adds: “Broadridge has the highest level of infrastructure and data security in place to ensure that our clients’ virtual meetings are supported by the most reliable technology available today.”
Participants are also able to vote and ask questions via the online portal and this may mean that issuers may choose to conduct these events purely online, says Broadridge. The aim of the service is therefore to create stronger connections between corporations and their shareholders, claims Schifellite.
In order to provide the new service, Broadridge partnered with TalkPoint, a producer of live internet broadcasts. Nicholas Balletta, CEO of TalkPoint, explains that the webcasting service has been seamlessly integrated with Broadridge’s components of the VSM to make sure the events run as smoothly as possible for the end users.
The VSM is one of a number of electronic services that Broadridge is rolling out aimed at the shareholder communications segment of the market. Another recent offering is the Investor Network, the vendor’s investment oriented social networking site created to serve the investment community.
